“The State Bar is proud to showcase this amazingly robust inaugural group of DEI Leadership Seal recipients, all of whom have demonstrated their commitment to concrete actions toward a more inclusive legal profession,” said Leah Wilson, State Bar Executive Director. “We were excited to receive so many applications and look forward to establishing a community of visible leaders—from law firms, nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses―who share both the vision for and commitment to a legal profession that looks more like our diverse state.”
Gold Recipients
Ten employers are receiving a Gold DEI Leadership Seal, for implementing at least nine of the program’s ten action items. They are:
Covington & Burling LLP
Disability Rights California
Fifth Season
Inner City Law Center
Legal Aid Association of California
LimNexus
Mullen & Filippi, LLP
O'Melveny & Myers
OneJustice
Tittmann Weix LLP
Silver Recipients
Fourteen employers are receiving Silver DEI Leadership Seals, for implementing at least seven action items:
Alameda County Homeless Action Center
Children's Law Center of California
Community Legal Aid SoCal
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Hanson Bridgett LLP
Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi LLP
Locke Lord LLP
Morrison Foerster
Robins Kaplan LLP
San Francisco City Attorney's Office
The Colleges of Law
Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders
Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP
Youth Law Center
Bronze Recipients
Ten employers are receiving the Bronze DEI Leadership Seal, for implementing at least five action items:
Buchalter
California Lawyers Association
Federal Home Loan Bank San Francisco
Haynes Boone LLP
Holland & Knight
Kahana & Feld LLP
Legal Services of Northern California
Office of the Los Angeles County Counsel
Ventura County District Attorney's Office
Webber Law Group
Recipients are listed on the State Bar’s DEI Leadership Seal webpage and can carry the seal on their own materials and websites.
Another 43 employers (including the State Bar itself) are now on record as having committed to the program, with a year to complete the action steps that would earn them a seal. “While we are disappointed to not have achieved seal status this first go round, we look forward to earning our seal in the coming year,” said Wilson.
The State Bar’s 2022 Diversity Report Card found that the demographics of California’s licensed attorneys do not reflect the diversity of the state’s population. To further its goal of increasing DEI in the profession, the State Bar published Calls to Action that legal employers and attorneys can implement, and the DEI Leadership Seal program utilizes these Calls to Action as the centerpiece of this effort.
The State Bar expects to convene seal recipients later this year to share best practices and ideas for improving the program. In future years, DEI Leadership Seal Action Items will be modified to encourage employers to commit to additional, more ambitious steps toward diversity, equity, and inclusion.
