By Nicholas Even, Partner and Co-Chair, Attorney Diversity Committee, Haynes and Boone, LLP
AT HAYNES AND BOONES, diversity on our legal teams renders better results for our clients.
Our Diversity Committee is comprised of twenty-one partners, thirty-three senior attorneys and associates, and nine key staff members. We meet as a group monthly, but also work very efficiently within our seven subcommittees: Minority Attorney Initiatives, Women Attorney Initiatives, LGBT, Working Parents, Pipeline Initiatives, Recruiting, and Business Development & Technology. The work of the Committee and subcommittees has led to the adoption of diversity and equality-related policies and programs, and the implementation of new initiatives designed to drive the hiring and retention of our diverse lawyers.
We strive to be proactive, not merely reactive. For example, an increasing number of states, counties, and municipalities have adopted laws protecting against discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Long before many of those laws, however, Haynes and Boone included gender identity within its Equal Employment Opportunity policy, and included transgender issues within its workplace training. We recognize that our ideals are only as strong as the actions we take to uphold them, and we remain open to new initiatives that will help us realize our goal.
