Recruiting

• Alston & Bird visits more than 40 law school campuses and job fairs each year, including minority job fairs hosted by HNBA (Hispanic National Bar Association), NLGLA (National Lesbian & Gay Law Association) Career Fair and Lavender Law Conference , NLLSA (National Latina/o Law Student Association), BLSA (Black Law Students Association), and the Southeastern and Sunbelt Minority Job Fairs.
• We have supported scholarship events including those hosted by the Emory Black Student Association, Harvard Black Student Association and the University of Pennsylvania Black Student Association.
• Two major diversity events were held during our 2008 Summer Program. The first was a “Meet Your Diversity Committee Lunch & Learn.” The Lunch & Learn allowed summer associates to meet with the Regional Diversity Committee members and learn about the details behind the firm’s diversity program and plans. The second was a social event that celebrated Atlanta’s rich, diverse history. It was held at the Martin Luther King National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia.

Pipeline Efforts

• Alston & Bird is a Leadership Firm with Practicing Attorneys for Law Students (“PALS”) in New York. PALS is dedicated to enhancing the skills and careers of minority law students and early career attorneys by offering customized mentoring, educational and professional development opportunities. PALS provides resources to augment the law school and employer training of, respectively, minority law students and beginning lawyers, and will continue to offer its services free of charge. For more information about PALS, visit www.palsprogram.org.
• On the Path to Law is newsletter published twice a year by Alston & Bird and distributed to law schools and diverse student organizations throughout the country. It is intended to help students navigate their way through interviewing and hiring processes. The first issue featured many of our diverse attorneys who offered advice and suggestions to law students.
• The firm participates in a number of pipeline programs in our various offices, including the Gate City Bar Association’s Justice Robert Benham Law Camp and the State Bar of Georgia Diversity Program’s Pipeline Project.
• The firm is a sponsor of the Mexican American Bar Foundation (MABF). MABF provides financial assistance to men and women of Chicano and Latino heritage in support of their pursuit of legal careers.
• The firm participates in a number of pipeline programs in our various offices, including the Gate City Bar Association’s Justice Robert Benham Law Camp, the State Bar of Georgia Diversity Program Pipeline Project, the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association’s annual pipeline event, “Lighting the Path to Legal,” and the Florida State University Minority Business Society’s annual corporate tour and the Ballou High School in Washington, DC.
• The firm is a contributor to the American Bar Association's Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund.
• The firm is a participant in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Legal Diversity Clerkship Program.

Increasing Retention

• Retention of our diverse attorneys is essential to the successful management of our diversity efforts. To achieve greater results in retention, we continue to evaluate employee benefit programs to support our diverse workforce. Examples of our benefits include:
  • ¾ Domestic partnership insurance benefits.
  • ¾ A stand-alone, state-of-the-art, near-site child care center in Atlanta which is available to all A&B employees. The firm recently purchased space in Bright Horizons’ child care centers in our NY, DC and Charlotte offices. All offices now provide back-up care for children on spring and summer breaks or for other emergencies.
  • ¾ The Network Access program provides access to 400+ Bright Horizons childcare centers across the country for full-time and backup childcare. In addition to providing center-based back-up care, the Back-Up Advantage Program offers in-home child care, in-home sick care and in-home elder care.
• In 2006 after an internal study designed to increase the number of women in the firm’s partnership ranks, the firm adopted a formal Alternative Career Path Policy. The policy openly addresses the challenges of balancing the demands of family and career. The policy: (i) sets no duration or time limit to achieve partnership; (ii) recognizes that an associate may be considered for partnership, notwithstanding the fact that he/she is on an alternative schedule, and (iii) establishes a process by which an associate can gain access to information and guidance in making a proposal for an alternative schedule.
• We established Best Practices guidelines for planning maternity leave for practice group leaders and attorneys. Multiple support systems are in place for pregnancy, returning to work and new parent support.
• The Women’s Initiative, a committee of the Diversity Steering Committee, is comprised of both women partners and senior associates from each office. The Women’s Initiative, chaired by a senior partner, serves as a catalyst for change, and provides internal and external opportunities and events for the women in the firm to meet, share experiences and build their careers. The group has formed an outreach network for women returning from maternity leave, comprised of other attorney moms, to assist in determining and avoiding possible issues that could come up in the transition and to provide emotional support during this difficult time.
• The Practice Group Leader Diversity Initiative brings members of the firm’s Diversity Committee together with practice group leaders to gain input and to share information relative to each group’s diversity and mentoring efforts. This initiative takes place within the context of the firm’s bi-annual leadership meetings and fosters awareness of diversity issues at the group level.
• In 2006, the Diversity Committees instituted the Diversity Committee Liaison Program whereby, committee members serve as informal liaisons with the firm’s diverse attorneys. The liaison program also serves as a feedback mechanism on the issues and concerns the diverse lawyers are experiencing.

Mentoring

• To foster retention of all attorneys, in 2006 the firm implemented a more aggressive mentoring program responsible for helping younger lawyers develop personally and professionally and to attain their personal and professional goals. As part of this effort, each practice group leader is required to assign a mentor to each 1st, 2nd and 3rd-year associate in their group, as well as lateral associate hires. The firm allocates funding to mentors to defray a portion of the expenses associated with their efforts.

Promoting Diversity

• During 2006 Alston & Bird served as co-counsel, with the ACLU and Lambda Defense, representing the plaintiffs in a case before the Fulton Country Superior Court contesting the constitutionality as to whether “Amendment One” to the Georgia Constitution, passed in 2004, violated the single subject rule of the Georgia Constitution, because it deals simultaneously with the separate topics of same-sex marriage and civil rights unions. After a victory for the plaintiffs in the Superior Court, the appeal was heard by the Georgia Supreme Court, which reversed the Superior Court’s decision.
• The firm played a key role in securing the personal historical papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through the Community Foundation of Atlanta, a consortium established to provide leadership and financing in purchasing the collection to be housed in Atlanta. This effort ensures that Atlanta, the birth place of Dr. King, will retain some of the most valuable historical documents pertaining to his life and work related to civil rights.
• Alston & Bird is a member and sponsor of an ABA Minority Counsel Program.
• The firm is a signatory of the Action Plan of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County General Counsel and Managing Partners Diversity Initiative, the New York City Bar Statement of Diversity Principles, and the New York County Lawyers' Association Statement of Diversity Principles.
• Alston & Bird is a member of the American Institute for Managing Diversity (AIMD). John Latham, the firm’s Diversity Partner, serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees for AIMD.
• The firm is a member of the Atlanta Large Law Firm Diversity Alliance & the Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium.
• Alston & Bird maintains an active membership in the Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium. Our chief human resources officer recently presented as a panelist at their Fourth Annual Symposium.

Communication

• Diversity Advocates, “John Latham & Alston & Bird – Broadening the Importance of Diversity”
• MultiCultural Law – The 2008 Top 25 Law Firms for African-Americans
• MultiCultural Law – The 2008 Top 100 Law Firms for Women
• MultiCultural Law – The 2008 Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity
• MultiCultural Law – The 2008 Top 50 Law Firms for Associates
• Diversity in Action: An Update From the Diversity Committee
• Change in Motion Magazine

October 6, 2009	Alston & Bird Assists with Research Related to Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009
September 14, 2009	Alston & Bird Tops Corporate Equality Index for Fifth Straight Year
September 1, 2009	Alston & Bird Ranked 10th in Diversity in 2010 Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms
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