Diversity: Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin

 

            In surveys conducted by The National Law Journal and The Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer, with the most recent one taking place in 2006, our firm has been identified, both on a national and regional level, as one of the leading large law firms in the categories of minority hiring and advancement. We highly value our minority shareholders and associates. There are numerous instances of these men and women handling high-exposure and complex litigation, as well as playing vitally important roles in the management of our firm. While we are proud of the rich diversity already existing in our firm, we believe we can do even better and have been initiating additional steps to assure that our actions are commensurate with our expressed deep commitment in this area.

            Minority attorneys at Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin are members of, and participate in, numerous minority organizations, including the National Bar Association (African-American attorneys), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National Hispanic Bar Association, the Barristers' Association of Philadelphia (membership primarily made up of African-American attorneys practicing in the Philadelphia region), the South Asian Bar Association of Philadelphia, the Asian American Bar Association of the Delaware Valley (membership is primarily made up of Asian American attorneys practicing in the Philadelphia region), the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania, and the Tampa Bay Hispanic Bar Association. Additionally, minority attorneys serve on Minority and Diversity Committees and Subcommittees of various national and local professional organizations. 

            MDWC&G recruits minority candidates in a variety of ways. In the Philadelphia region, over the past few years, our Hiring Partner has established relationships with career placement officers at each of the six local law schools. Beginning in 2006, we utilized those relationships in order to identify and invite minority students from each of the six, local law schools to an evening cocktail party that MDWC&G co-sponsors with two other law firms. Invitations are sent to each of the students identifying various leaders of the Philadelphia Bar Association and various Judges who will be in attendance to show support for the diversity efforts of MDWC&G and the two other participating firms. Each of the firms sends five to seven senior attorneys to participate in the evening. In 2006, at our inaugural event, 74 law students attended. In 2007, we had 102 law students attend. This has become our signature recruiting event in the Philadelphia region and has placed us on the radar screen of many candidates who were simply not familiar with our firm and who, historically, had not sought employment with our firm. We have also seen a significant increase in the number and quality of minority candidates that have sought interviews with our firm. As a result, we have seen an increase in the number of minorities hired as law clerks or attorneys in large measure, we believe, as a result of this event. We are in the process of establishing a similar event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

            Our firm also participates in minority job fairs and targets the legal industry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Suburban Philadelphia, and in Wilmington, Delaware. In addition, as a matter of course, we seek to identify minority attorneys and law students interested in a career in litigation, and invite them to apply to our firm.

            We have also increased the scope of our minority recruiting efforts to encompass the additional states in which we maintain our offices.

            Our firm has also recently implemented a mentoring system where our minority shareholders reach out to our younger minority associates to provide them with the support, counsel, and encouragement that can make a very significant difference in their professional progression.

            For more information on our diversity recruitment efforts, please do not hesitate to contact:

Butler Buchanan III, Esquire
Shareholder, Professional Liability Practice Group
Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin
1845 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Direct Dial: (215) 575-2661
Fax: (215) 575-0856
Email: bbbuchanan@mdwcg.com