Our Commitment to Diversity
Our Diversity Policy
One of our core values and objectives is to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace and to develop the outreach initiatives needed ensure that such values and objectives are shared by everyone at our firm. Diversity, to us, means recognizing, accepting and including differences, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. Our Strategic Plan recognizes that our continued success depends upon our ability to recruit, hire, train, mentor and retain excellent and diverse attorneys and staff. Maintaining an inclusive organization where all feel welcomed and empowered to succeed enables us to provide the breadth of experience and perspective that best serves our ever more diverse clientele and community. And of course, our ongoing effort to increase our diversity and inclusiveness is simply the right thing to do.
Our Long-Standing Commitment to Diversity
We have a tradition of supporting diversity initiatives both within and outside of the Firm. Among the first large Connecticut law firms to have a woman partner, we have been a leader in addressing and advancing women's causes in the legal profession, and continue to have the highest percentage of female partners among large firms in Connecticut. We assisted in the formation of the Connecticut Lawyers Group on Minority Hiring and Retention in the late 1980s and were an original signatory of the Statement of Sixteen Connecticut Law Firms Regarding the Hiring and Retention of Minority Lawyers in January 1991. The principles of that Statement helped guide us in developing our hiring, mentoring and retention programs and policies to attract and retain diverse legal and non-legal personnel.
In 1993, we established our Diversity Committee, comprised of partners, associates and staff. The Diversity Committee’s original and ongoing mission includes three essential initiatives: (i) to act as a study group and to conduct programs to educate the Firm concerning diversity issues and to suggest diversity policies to implement at the Firm; (ii) to sponsor Firm-wide outreach activities and events, as part of our effort to increase the number of diverse attorneys at the Firm; and (iii) to act as a resource on diversity matters for the Management, Hiring, and Associates Committees, as well as other groups in the Firm. For 15 years, the Diversity Committee has pursued these initiatives and the Firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.
Together with other members of the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity and diversity-based law school and bar organizations such as the South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut, the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, the Black Law Students Association at the University of Connecticut Law School, the Connecticut Hispanic Lawyers Association, the Lambda Law Society at the University of Connecticut Law School, and the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association, we continue to work to make Connecticut an attractive environment for all lawyers and law students within which to thrive.
To receive our Diversity Plan, please contact Mary Mulligan our Director of Legal Personnel, at mmulligan@goodwin.com.
Members of the Diversity Committee include:
Hartford
Gabe J. Jiran, Chair
Maria L. Drag, Director of Human Resources
Susan C. Freedman, Partner and Member of the Management Committee
LaTanya Langley, Associate
Eric J. Lubochinski, Associate
R. Michael Meo, Partner and Chair of the Associates Committee
Mary Mulligan, Director of Legal Recruiting
Lori E. Romano, Counsel
Kevin M. Roy, Associate
Gary S. Starr, Partner
Lyn Gammill Walker, Diversity Partner
Emily H. Wagner, Associate
John E. Wertam, Partner
Princess V. Wiggins, Associate
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Diversity and Inclusiveness
On Diversity and Inclusiveness
"Our 2008 Diversity Plan articulates the business justification for diversity and inclusiveness, as well as stating clearly that diversity and inclusiveness simply make this a better place to practice and to be. It focuses on integrating our diversity and inclusiveness efforts into the fabric of our culture as much as possible, and asks each of us to consider what he or she will do this year to foster diversity and inclusiveness at Shipman & Goodwin."
- Scott L. Murphy, Managing Partner
"For many law firms, diversity is a matter of policy. For us, it’s a matter of pride."
- Robert Simpson, Partner
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