Diversity Initiative wins third award

The Managing Partners Diversity Initiative was the recipient of the Ohio Society of Association Executives 2005 Achievement Award at their award banquet in Cincinnati. The category was Commitment to Diversity, recognizing exceptional accomplishments in the promotion of diversity in the workplace or providing increased access by under-represented groups to education, training and employment.

A sampling of accomplishments that garnered this reward are:

• Completed the fourth annual diversity initiative survey that tracks the progress of signatory firms. Since 2000, the number of minority attorneys has more than doubled, beginning at 46 (comprising 3.7 percent of the total attorney population) to the current 109 (comprising 7.65 percent). While the number of all attorneys has grown 15 percent since 2000 (186 attorneys), the number of minority attorneys has grown 137 percent (63 attorneys). The numbers of minority attorneys at the partnership level has increased from 13 to 33, and associates from 31 to 70. Partners are considered critical recruitment magnets, as they participate in the leadership of the firm.
• Conducted two Annual Managing Partners Networking Receptions, opportunities for partners and associates of color in firms to be introduced to and network with prominent attorneys in the Columbus legal community.
• The Columbus Bar completed the first year of its mentoring program in the spring of 2005, which was developed with input from the Managing Partners Diversity Initiative.
• The Minority Clerkship Program has grown from an average of fifty applicants to nearly ninety, due in large part to an increased interest in firms hiring minority associates after graduation from law school.
• Three law firms have initiated individual scholarship programs for law students of color since the beginning of the initiative with the latest offering in the spring of 2005.

This program has also won the 2003 ABA Partnership Award and the United Way of Central Ohio’s 2003 Corporate Diversity Champion Award. Questions about the Diversity Initiative can be directed to the Diversity Director at 614/221.4412 or diversity@cbalaw.org.