Barnes & Thornburg announced that it has been named to Bloomberg Law’s second Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Framework. Barnes & Thornburg is one of 43 U.S.-based law firms recognized for its level of disclosure of diversity-related metrics and distinguished performance against six core pillars: demographics, leadership and talent pipeline, recruitment and retention, business innovation and strategy, marketing, and diversity and inclusion in the community.
“The desire to incorporate DEI into the selection process for outside legal services presents a new challenge for the industry, but Barnes & Thornburg has distinguished itself as a law firm worthy of consideration,” said Joe Breda, president of Bloomberg Law. “Through a demonstrated commitment to DEI, Barnes & Thornburg is helping to move the legal industry forward and we recognize their performance by naming them as a member of our 2022 DEI Framework.”
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“Barnes & Thornburg’s focus in 2022 remains centered on the three pillars of our commitment, Sponsorship, Integration, and Culture, with goals ranging from launching a firmwide diverse summer internship initiative to refashioning our Diverse Supplier Program to implementing firmwide implicit bias training,” said Dawn Rosemond, firm diversity partner at Barnes & Thornburg. “Recruiting, retention and advancement, though, have priority at Barnes & Thornburg as illustrated by the Bloomberg Law DEI Framework. The firm scored more than 20 points higher in the Bloomberg Framework’s Recruitment & Retention pillar than the current industry average.”
“Our work is not done though. Part of our vision is ‘to be the preferred firm and national standard for equity and inclusion.’ Thus, we must focus intently on caring for our talent and cultivating an environment that advances all,” Rosemond said.
Bloomberg Law’s DEI Framework was developed in 2021 in collaboration with Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index team, as well as diversity leads at corporations and U.S.-based law firms. Performance was assessed across more than 85 metrics, each associated with one of the framework’s six core pillars.
Among the key findings of the 2022 report:
- 83 percent of firms say they have a chief diversity officer, and nearly all (91 percent) have a public statement regarding their commitment to diversity and inclusion
- Women make up half (50.8 percent) of all law firm associates, and just under one-third (29.4 percent) of partners. Six percent of firm associates and 2.7 percent of partners are Black, 11.3 percent of associates and 4.2 percent of partners are Asian American.
- This year, 70 percent of firms require diversity in the pool of candidates for management and leadership positions, up from 58 percent last year.
- There are meaningful differences between firms that made the list of 2022 DEI Framework member firms and those that did not. Among firms that made the list, 54 percent said practice group leaders have clear diversity and inclusion goals included as part of their annual performance review, while only 10 percent of non-member firms said their practice group leaders have these goals.
- Additionally, nearly all (97.7 percent) member firms provide opportunities for attorneys to voluntarily disclose disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression through firm collection procedures, compared to 40 percent of non-member firms.
With more than 700 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New York, Ohio, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.
