Diversity
Our Commitment to Diversity
Munger, Tolles & Olson strives to ensure that its lawyers reflect the diversity present in our communities, jury pools and board rooms. We believe the firm’s success in doing so provides a significant strategic advantage. But, diversity is more than just a business imperative for the firm. We at MTO are enriched by a diverse workforce, and our diversity initiatives drive productivity, innovation, career advancement and workplace satisfaction.
We have a long tradition of supporting diversity, and are proud of our leadership in this area. One of the firm’s founding partners, in 1962, was a woman, and since that time our managing partners have included women, minority, and gay attorneys. We sponsor and participate in community diversity initiatives, such as “pipeline” programs designed to increase diversity in law schools. And our attorneys have been honored for their legal work on issues related to diversity by the ACLU, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Central Legal de la Raza, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Disability Rights Legal Center.
Internally, we have adopted a formal Diversity Strategic Plan, which sets forth specific goals, action items and timetables to support various firm initiatives related to the recruitment, retention and promotion, professional development, and mentoring of diverse attorneys.
The American Bar Association recently reported a troubling decline in the number of minorities in law firms and in funding for diversity programs that has coincided with the downturn in the economy. The trend at MTO has been the opposite. We have continued to successfully recruit, retain, and promote minorities, women, and other attorneys who enrich the diversity of our firm. MTO has consistently ranked at the top of The American Lawyer magazine’s Diversity Scorecard, and outperforms peer firms in terms of diversity.
We know that achieving diversity can only be accomplished through consistent and sustained effort. We are committed to that effort and are determined to make further progress on diversity issues both within our firm and in the legal profession.
More information about our diversity initiatives is available in the box to the right.
