Biglaw

Top 30 Biglaw Firm Changes Billable Hours Policy To Include Bonus Credit For Up To 50 Hours Of Diversity Work

This firm truly cares about the diversity of its workforce.

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Biglaw firms across the country are implementing all manner of initiatives to bring attention to the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion among their ranks. We’ve previously acknowledged Dorsey & Whitney, Hogan Lovells, Davis Wright Tremaine, Reed Smith, Cooley, Baker McKenzie, Ropes & Gray, Locke Lord, Foley Hoag, K&L Gates, Robinson+Cole, and Stoel Rives as firms where approved diversity and inclusion-related work will be billable for attorneys and will count toward bonus thresholds. We now have news that yet another firm has amended its billable hours policy in the name of promoting diversity.

WilmerHale — a firm that brought in $1,243,384,000 gross revenue in 2020 — has been focused on this important initiative since May, when it announced this policy change to recognize associates’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

We appreciate that our efforts to continue to broaden the diversity of our organization require a commitment from our attorneys to spend time on a variety of activities both to support our recruiting efforts and to build a culture of inclusion within the firm.

To recognize these efforts, we are amending our current Bonus Eligible Time policy to include up to 50 hours of firm time spent on activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion programming as follows:

  • attending law school sponsorship and diversity events
  • coffee chats and phone calls with prospective candidates
  • attending fall recruiting diversity receptions and related events
  • participating in summer program training programs and presentations
  • leadership roles with office level diversity committees and affinity groups (planning heritage month activities, organizing agendas, leading group activities)

WilmerHale seems to truly care about the diversity of its workforce. The firm has continued to climb in the American Lawyer’s annual Diversity Scorecard (recently soaring from No. 63 to No. 37), has been ranked as one of the best law firms for women by Working Mother since 2007, has received a 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index since 2009, and has been Mansfield Plus Certified by the Diversity Lab since 2018.

“Diverse individuals make organizations stronger by broadening perspectives, deepening access to talent, and helping to foster innovation,” notes co-managing partner Susan Murley. “Expanding our strategic lens on the world with a focus on diversity and inclusion is quite simply both fair and makes business sense.”

Congratulations to WilmerHale on affirming its already strong commitment to diversity in the legal profession. What is your firm doing to support DE&I within the legal profession? Please email us to let us know.

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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