Foreword

In my 35 years of practice at Weil, I have seen the significant evolution of diversity and inclusion within the legal marketplace. Commitment to the recruitment, retention and advancement of diverse talent has been a pillar of Weil’s culture since our inception. In fact, Weil senior partner Ira Millstein chaired the New York City Bar committee that first looked closely at diversity in the profession and steered Weil toward the adoption of its first diversity policy, which then served as a model for the City Bar. This was game-changing for its time. And, in my tenure at the firm, there have been myriad other examples of how we all, as lawyers, have evolved to better think about and appreciate the vital importance of diversity and inclusion, and how we have formalized our efforts to effect lasting change.

That said, I know more than ever how much ground the legal industry still has to cover in becoming sufficiently diverse and inclusive as a profession. Like all our peers in the industry, we have been disappointed at both the pace of change and the continued lack of diversity in the legal profession, especially within the partnership ranks in private practice and across the highest levels of management and decision-making.