The Los Angeles local diversity committee, supports the firm wide diversity committee and practice group leaders in four primary areas: (1) entry level recruitment, (2) lateral recruitment, (3) development and retention of attorneys, and (4) diversity awareness.  Diversity attorneys in the Los Angeles office participate in a wide variety of activities relating to increasing diversity within the legal profession, and are continually looking for new opportunities and approaches to increasing diversity within the office.

The Los Angeles diversity committee consists of partners, associates and staff members of diverse background. The chair of the committee, James Hsu, serves on the firm-wide diversity committee.  The managing partner of the LA office, Ed Reeser, who is the winner of the Firm’s 2007 Duane Quaini Diversity Award, serves on the committee.  The committee also has representatives on the Firm’s legal development committee and the LA office’s recruiting committee.

Located in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, the demographics of the Los Angeles office reflects the community in which it is located.  The Los Angeles office boasts an impressive track record of recruiting, retaining, and promoting the best attorneys and law students from all backgrounds.  Women now account for 42 percent of all of the attorneys in the office, and 30 percent of the attorneys in the office come from diverse backgrounds. 

The Los Angeles office has developed numerous programs to ensure that all of our attorneys have the opportunity to develop to their full potential, including:

• Conducting extensive in-house training programs, including a writing program specifically tailored to the particular needs of the individual attorneys participating in the program.
• Establishing a formal mentoring program for our junior and mid-level attorneys.
• Encouraging and supporting our attorneys in local bar association, community organization, and pro bono activities.
• Facilitating business/marketing opportunities for our diverse attorneys.

In the past year, representatives from the Los Angeles office have spoken or participated many diversity-related events, including the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association California and National Convention, the CAUSE Project Next Generation, and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Our managing partner was recently selected as one of 25 people named to a new California State Bar diversity committee.  The newly formed Council on Access and Fairness is tasked with increasing diversity in the legal profession by means of recruitment, retention and advancement.  The group includes lawyers, judges, academics and career services professionals, all appointed by the state bar's board of governors.