Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Overview
Images from “Art of Change:” Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice Artistic Installation created by Artists for Humanity for Foley Hoag’s Boston office
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) At Foley Hoag, we believe our people are our greatest asset. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment that attracts, engages, and retains the best possible talent. Our diversity of experiences, backgrounds, locations, viewpoints, and ideas differentiates us as an employer of choice and helps us foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. Foley Hoag’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion traces its roots to the founding of the firm in 1943. Henry Foley and Garrett Hoag were determined to hire the very best lawyers, based entirely on individual merit and without exclusion — an attitude that set them very much apart from others in the Boston legal community of that era. Those twin traditions of excellence and inclusiveness have remained guiding forces in the firm’s culture. Lawyers of different backgrounds, skills, and experiences bring diversity of thought and perspective to our firm, enriching the culture and enhancing the quality of our work. As of December 31, 2021, women represented 45% of our legal workforce, and 24% of our attorneys are people of color. At Foley Hoag, we acknowledge that we have a long way to go and are fully committed to continuing to move the needle forward, every day.
The Vision Through sustained organizational commitments, we aim to continue building upon previous achievements and to lead in new areas. At Foley Hoag, we are committed to expanding opportunities for all our people without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristic. Each person is valued for their talents, expertise, experience, and perspective. Our goal is to reflect the diverse communities and clients we serve and create an inclusive work environment for all our people. We accomplish this by embracing the individual skills, perspectives, and experiences our people bring to the firm and harnessing them for high performance and improved legal solutions.
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The Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion The Foley Hoag Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee acts as an advisory body to firm management and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Department on matters regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion across the firm. Co-chaired by the firm’s Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, the Committee is comprised of lawyers and business professionals of varying backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Click here for the Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s Mission Statement.
Rosa J. Nunez
Kenneth S. Leonetti
Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Partner, Co-Managing Partner
Boston
Boston
Affinity Groups At Foley Hoag, we want our people to feel included, valued, and respected and have access to equitable opportunities to succeed. We are thoughtful in maintaining practices and resources that support and encourage our people to enjoy long and productive working careers at our firm. To this end, we support the efforts of our employee affinity groups: The Women’s Forum, Attorneys of Color, the LGBTQ+ Network, Women Associates Group, Womxn of Color, Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Affinity Group, Black Attorneys Collective (BLAC), La Asociación Latina and Agents of Change. Click here for more information about Foley Hoag’s affinity groups and find ways to get in touch.
La Asociación Latina
AAPI
AFFINITY GROUP
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AT TORNE YS OF COLOR
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Diversity Awareness and Training Programs At Foley Hoag, we are passionate about investing in our people. We offer a vast array of innovative learning and development opportunities, educational events, programs, and resources that aim to engage, support, empower, and celebrate attorneys and business services professionals of historically underrepresented backgrounds. At Foley Hoag, we take mentoring very seriously! Our formal mentoring programs include: ELEVATETM, a mentorship program for all incoming first-year and lateral associates that thoughtfully pairs new attorneys with mentors from the DE&I Committee. Designated mentors help bolster the internal support network of new associates and laterals while providing them with career advice recommendations to aid them throughout their journey at the firm. The Department of DE&I and the Committee on DE&I designed this program to ensure that our future leaders enjoy a successful integration to Foley Hoag.
The Women’s Mentoring Circles. Launched in 2013 as an opportunity for Foley Hoag’s women attorneys to build community, seek and provide mentorship and expand their internal networks, the circles have evolved into spaces where trusted colleagues can support one another, offer guidance, and thoughtfully discuss both professional and personal matters in a confidential setting. Membership is voluntary and open to all attorneys at the firm who identify as women or non-binary.
Foley Hoag community members have access to a myriad of in-house trainings and interactive workshops on a range of topics, including: •
Two virtual, on-demand DE&I training programs for all firm-personnel, focusing on the basics of DE&I, identity and belonging, inclusive communication, power, privilege and unconscious bias.
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Unconscious Bias sessions for Interviewers.
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Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian and Xenophobic Harassment.
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Interrupting Unconscious Bias in Performance Reviews.
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LGBTQ+ 101 + allyship.
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Understanding Religious Diversity in the Workplace.
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Most recently, we launched our DE&I Speaker Series, a forum where we invite experts and activists to the Foley Hoag community for firmwide learning and development opportunities.
Our firm honors and commemorates key diversity milestones such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, Asian American Pacific Islander History Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month.
To continue to re-affirm our commitment to advancing and promoting DE&I in our workplace, in April of 2021, the firm announced its new unlimited billable credit policy for DE&I and legal recruiting activities. This policy is similar to our current pro-bono policy and encourages all of our people to participate and be part of our journey. We invite you to learn more and join our efforts by visiting our website. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Overview 5
Diversity Recruitment At Foley Hoag we are committed to attracting, retaining, and promoting outstanding lawyers and business professionals from all backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. These traditions emerged from our founders’ determination to hire the very best lawyers, based entirely on individual merit and without exclusion. With this foundation, we strive to bring together lawyers and business professionals of different backgrounds, skills, and experiences because we recognize that this diversity enriches the firm’s culture and enhances the quality of our work. In 2018, the firm launched REACHTM, our designated diversity mentoring program for 1L law students from underrepresented backgrounds in the legal profession. Our firm’s intent behind this program is to extend our outreach and invest in the development of our future leaders. Through REACH, our attorneys have been able to make impactful relationships with many first-generational law students. We support our REACH mentees with engagement opportunities and invitation to in-person and virtual events such as DE&I Speaker Series and DE&I-centered celebrations and communications. Foley Hoag is proud to partner with programs aimed to foster and develop the next generation of attorneys from underrepresented backgrounds, such as the Seizing Every Opportunity Law Fellowship (SEO) and the Law in Tech Diversity Collaborative (LiTD). Additionally, we regularly sponsor and participate in conferences and job fairs organized by law student groups and other organizations dedicated to addressing recruitment, retention, and promotion of underrepresented groups in the legal industry.
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Charles J. Beard, II Diversity Fellowship As part of this long-standing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are proud to sponsor a diversity fellowship for outstanding first-year law students from backgrounds underrepresented in the legal profession. This fellowship is named in memory of our former partner, Charlie Beard, who was the first Black lawyer promoted to partner at a major Boston law firm. Charlie, known for his wise counsel, humor and intellect, believed education held the key to personal development and success for young people. Therefore, it is particularly fitting to honor Charlie, a staunch advocate for cultural and racial diversity, with this fellowship. Fellowship recipients receive a paid summer associate position in our Boston office and an award of up to $45,000 to assist with law school tuition. The award is paid in three installments: $15,000 upon completion of the 1L summer with the firm; $15,000 upon completion of the 2L summer with the firm; and the remaining $15,000 upon joining the firm as a full-time associate. New Hire Onboarding and Professional Development Programs The DE&I Department hosts quarterly DE&I Coffee Chats. These informal gatherings are 60-minute introductions for all new hires (business services professionals and legal personnel) to learn more about our team, our department’s initiatives, and our firm’s commitment to DE&I. The DE&I Department hosts a professional development summer program called ELEVATETM for summer fellows from programs such as The Charles Beard Fellowship, Seizing Every Opportunity (SEO), and Law in Tech Diversity Collaborative. Throughout the summer, we facilitate professional development brown bag lunches on topics ranging from networking, building your professional brand, mental health and resiliency practices, imposter syndrome, and additional related topics.
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The Mansfield Rule Certification Foley Hoag is Mansfield 4.0 Certified! The Mansfield Rule Certification program, managed by Diversity Lab, is named after Arabella Mansfield, the first woman lawyer in the United States. Its goal is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership. The Mansfield Rule has become the standard by which law firms track, measure, and report progress with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion. To be Mansfield certified, a firm must affirmatively consider at least 30% percent women, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities, or LGBTQ+ lawyers for top leadership roles, senior-level lateral hiring, promotions into the equity partnership, and meaningful participation in client pitches. The Mansfield Rule process has also informed our recruitment and promotion efforts as part of the firm’s strategic plan for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. We are proud that the firm has met and exceeded the Mansfield 4.0 certification requirements for 2021. We are continuing our DE&I efforts by participating in the Mansfield Rule Certification 5.0 program.
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Pro Bono Work We take great pride in the fact that we have been able to employ our resources and legal talent to help further advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across the nation. Examples include the following: •
Foley Hoag prevailed in a highly charged and visible lawsuit in which we partnered with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law to challenge the Massachusetts Redistricting Act on the basis that it diluted minority voting strength in the Boston area. This most recent success, which changes Boston’s political landscape, is reminiscent of our representation of plaintiffs more than 30 years ago in the landmark case requiring desegregation of the Boston schools.
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For two decades, we defended on behalf of our client, the NAACP, consent decrees implemented in actions to remove barriers to the integration of the Boston Police and Fire Departments, and we continue to work with a variety of cities and towns to assure that they utilize non-discriminatory hiring practices.
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Foley Hoag has a legacy of working to promote diverse educational environments. For example, in 2013, our lawyers worked with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (“AALDEF”) to submit an amicus brief in the case of Fisher v. The University of Texas to uphold the use of race in UT’s admissions policy. After a decision on remand by the Court of Appeals in UT’s favor, and a second appeal by the plaintiffs, the Supreme Court amicus brief we filed for AALDEF in Fisher II was cited in the Court’s majority opinion reaffirming Fisher I.
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We have represented many organizations that empower women and people of color in the United States and abroad to create and foster businesses and other entrepreneurial opportunities in their communities, such as Accion International, the Center for Women and Enterprise, Initiatives for a Competitive Inner City and others.
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Our lawyers have assisted the NOW Legal Defense Fund in defending the Violence Against Women Act. Our attorneys have worked to assist victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in obtaining protective orders and other forms of relief for over 25 years, including a recent victory in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
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The firm is presently participating in the ACLU of Louisiana’s Justice Lab. The initiative, “Justice Lab: Putting Racist Policing on Trial,” seeks, over time and in a sustained and deliberate fashion, to bring cases in Louisiana challenging racially motivated stops and seizures under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments in an effort to test the impact that litigation can have on police conduct. Over thirty litigators at the firm, including a dozen partners, have signed up to work on this initiative and have participated in the ACLU’s in-depth training.
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We have represented organizations (such as The Arc of Massachusetts, which works to enhance the lives of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities) to fight discrimination against those with disabilities.
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We co-filed a federal lawsuit with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and another firm to obtain federal benefits for same-sex married couples. The suit resulted in the first district court ruling striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The First Circuit affirmed our victory on appeal, declaring that the plaintiffs had the same federal spousal benefits as any other married couple.
Read more about our firm’s pro bono legal work here.
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Our Commitment to Social and Racial Justice Foley Hoag is pleased to reiterate its strong support of the Black Lives Matter movement and ongoing efforts to achieve racial justice throughout the US and in the cities in which we work and live. In recent years, we have witnessed a heightened awareness of and response to the systemic racism against Black Americans, the AAPI community, and other underrepresented groups.
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These momentous and significant events have afforded us the opportunity to reevaluate and consider our firm’s role in society. We believe that lawyers have a unique responsibility to ensure everyone has equal justice under the law. We would like to share with you some important firm initiatives in response to police brutality, hate, racial and social injustice, and our continued efforts to fight for equality and provide opportunities for all communities to thrive.
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Juneteenth Instituted as a Permanent Firm Holiday In June 2020, the firm announced its intention to recognize Juneteenth (June 19) as an annual firm holiday. During these unprecedented times where Black Americans find themselves having to assert their humanity in the midst of a global health crisis, Juneteenth serves as a time for reflection and planning for the future. Its recognition signifies a degree of reckoning with America’s history that is long overdue.
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Counseling and Support
Foley Hoag Foundation
We have made available free trauma/counseling support to our colleagues who have been impacted by recent events of police brutality and hate crimes in our nation.
The firm has made hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the Foley Hoag Foundation to support two special and immediate rounds of micro-grants to community organizations centered on Black and AAPI racial justice work in Boston, Washington D.C., and New York. Since that time, we have been using our social media platforms to publicize these organizations and the critical work they are doing.
Partnerships and Sponsorships At Foley Hoag, we are proud to support and partner with organizations whose missions are to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across the nation. Some of our most recent partners are:
Greater Washington, DC Area, Inc. (APABA-DC) https://www.apaba-dc.org/
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund https://www.aaldef.org
Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts www.aalam.wildapricot.org
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, DC Area, Inc. (APABA-DC) https://www.apaba-dc.org/
GLAD – LGBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders https://www.glad.org
Hispanic National Bar Association https://hnba.com/
The LGBTQ Bar https://lgbtbar.org/
Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association https://mablacklawyers.org/
Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys https://massblackwomenattys.org/
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) https://www.masstpc.org
National Disabled Law Students Association https://ndlsa.org/
National Association of Women Lawyers https://www.nawl.org/
Women’s Bar Association https://wbawbf.org/
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About Foley Hoag’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Department Led by the firm’s Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, our team of DE&I professionals share a steadfast commitment to equity and justice in the workplace and beyond. Together, they bring a breadth of experiences and skillsets to Foley Hoag. Collectively, their work has extended from the corporate to the non-profit sectors. They are inspired by the incredible legacy of social justice that this firm carries and are committed to further reflecting this legacy in the policies, practices, and culture of Foley Hoag.
Images from “Art of Change:” Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice Artistic Installation created by Artists for Humanity for Foley Hoag’s Boston office © 2022 Foley Hoag LLP. All Rights Reserved.
January 2022
We encourage you to reach out to the DE&I team with questions or comments. You can reach us at: DiversityandInclusion@foleyhoag.com.