Diversity Initiative

The Gibbons Diversity Initiative (GDI) is designed to help create a more diverse attorney workforce by implementing programs that promote inclusion both at the firm and throughout the legal community, particularly with respect to women and minorities. Diversity provides valuable perspectives, cultural competence, and talents that allow us to be more creative, effective, and ultimately successful in the practice of law and service to our clients. GDI is a comprehensive strategy that puts into action our longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. It involves all aspects of the firm’s operation.

Gibbons has received significant recognition as an employer of choice for women and minorities. Most notably, Gibbons was awarded the prestigious, national 2009 Catalyst Award, becoming only the third law firm to ever receive this honor, one of the preeminent corporate honors recognizing outstanding achievement in the advancement of women in the workplace. Gibbons was one of four recipients in 2009; the other recognized companies were global in size and scope, with the next-smallest winner having 26,000+ employees.

Gibbons is recognized by the two leading publications addressing diversity issues in the legal profession. Minority Law Journal ranked Gibbons # 33 in its national 2009 “Diversity Scorecard.” The firm ascended more than 100 spots on the chart in one year, reflecting the publication’s new focus on increased racial diversity among a firm’s partnership along with its overall percentage of minority attorneys. Gibbons is the only New Jersey-headquartered firm in the Top 100, and it is the highest-ranking law firm in its region dedicated to the needs of middle market clients. In addition, MultiCultural Law ranked Gibbons 25th on its 2009 list of the Top 100 law firms for diversity. Gibbons was also ranked on MultiCultural Law’s specialized lists: # 72 among the top law firms for women; # 5 for African-Americans; and # 24 for Hispanics.

In 2007, Working Mother magazine published its first-ever list of the “Best Law Firms for Women” and featured Gibbons as the only New Jersey-headquartered firm among 50 firms nationwide to be honored for commitment to the retention and advancement of women. In 2009, the firm became one of only 14 firms to have made the list three years in a row.

Thanks to its innovative, generous human resources policies and benefits, including those that promote the roles of women and minorities, Gibbons has also recently been named:

2008 “Corporate Citizen of the Year” - NJBIZ magazine

“One of the Best Places to Work…”

• …in America (Medium Sized Companies)
  — Society for Human Resources Management, Great Places to Work Institute, 2008
• …in New Jersey
  — NJBIZ magazine, 2005 - present
• …in Pennsylvania
  — Philadelphia Business Journal, 2007 - 2008
  — Central Penn Business Journal, 2007

Recruiting and Cultivating a Diverse Workforce
GDI’s internal component focuses on recruitment, training, mentoring, retention, and innovative programming to ensure an inclusive workplace and workforce.

• Recruitment: Gibbons recruits new and lateral lawyers with strong legal skills and diverse backgrounds. To assist in identifying minority law students, the firm consistently participates in local and regional minority job fairs and other minority recruiting events, and funds and participates in law school events sponsored by minority student organizations and journals. For example, Gibbons is a member of the New Jersey Law Firm Group, a consortium of law firms and public agencies devoted to advancing minority placement in New Jersey’s legal community.
• Training and Development: Gibbons devotes substantial time and resources to the training and development of all its lawyers. These programs are designed to provide associates with increased director-level contact, to help broaden their substantive knowledge on selected topics, and to impart valuable skills that will improve their practice. GDI’s training series consists of monthly meetings run by various directors in the firm, as well as outside speakers. Various training programs also focus specifically on the development of minority and women attorneys; for example, Gibbons recently held a ten-week sales training course designed for minority directors and counsel, to provide an overview of effective business development strategies and showcase numerous building blocks that this particular audience could use as a foundation for their practice development efforts. The Gibbons Women’s Initiative and Diversity Initiative each present substantive legal and non-legal educational programs and a variety of civic and cultural networking opportunities for an esteemed group of corporate women and minority executives and leaders, respectively.
• Mentoring: The firm’s mentoring programs formalize the relationship between senior and junior attorneys and provides a means for the firm’s next generation to gain insight and assistance from more established attorneys. Junior attorneys develop action plans covering the areas on which they would like to focus and mentors assist them in reaching their goals. Our director-to-associate and associate-to-associate mentoring programs provide valuable career guidance, institutional and professional knowledge, and support through careful mentor/mentee matching and monthly meetings. Associates at various levels in the firm are paired with Directors (partners), also at various levels, who assist with integration in all aspects of firm life, provide career counseling, and identify opportunities for growth. In addition, the Women’s Initiative has implemented mentoring circles within the firm, comprising women attorneys at various levels of experience who meet quarterly to discuss sensitive issues, air viewpoints, learn personal and professional development strategies, and share ways of balancing family and work needs. These women-specific support networks supplement the firm’s broader mentoring program.
• Retention: The firm attracts and retains its top-tier workforce through such initiatives as the “Gibbons Experience,” a generous benefits program that includes many policies specifically designed to promote the equality and success of our women and minority professionals. For example, after parental leave, an attorney can opt to return to work first on a 60 percent basis of the hours expected of a full-time attorney, and after one year on an 80 percent basis for an indefinite period of time. These policies do not affect an attorney’s ability to be promoted. In fact, in 2006 the firm promoted two part-time attorneys to the posts of Director and Counsel. Additionally, Gibbons supports an emergency child care program, paying 85 percent of the cost for this service day it is used.

Gibbons also helps our professionals achieve work/life balance through technology initiatives that provide the flexibility to work remotely as necessary. Though the firm has always adapted to new technologies, upon moving to our brand-new Newark headquarters in 2007, the firm implemented state-of-the-art systems that support a truly mobile workforce—allowing employees to connect seamlessly to the firm’s network and all other technology capabilities, whether they are in courthouses, client meetings, or home offices. One application allows employees to have calls automatically forwarded to their mobile phones, PDAs, home phones, or even other locations. In addition, Gibbons outfits personnel with laptops, or with the appropriate software for their home desktop computers, to enable remote access to the firm’s entire network, replicating the employee’s office desktop at home. This allows for increased client communications, with attorneys being reachable from a variety of locations, and also creates the flexibility needed to assist in work/life balance.

External Leadership
The firm’s external outreach supports numerous minority legal and business organizations, providing opportunities to meaningfully connect with the diverse communities we serve. Through GDI, Gibbons strives to make a significant, lasting impact on diversity in business and the legal profession in a way that enhances client service and business success. Gibbons has made it a priority to encourage leaders within the legal industry to implement diversity best practices. The firm is a signatory to important initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion:

 

• Minority Corporate Counsel Association: The firm is a member and participant in the MCCA, an organization established to advocate for the expanded hiring, retention, and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and law firms. The MCCA sponsors a number of programs designed to assist law firms in enhancing diversity.
• Signatory to the New York City Bar Diversity Principles: The firm is a signatory to the NYCB’s Diversity Principles, which advances long- and short-term goals for increasing diversity in the legal profession.
• Bar Associations: Gibbons is a sponsor and supporter of the Garden State Bar Association, National Bar Association, and Hispanic Bar Association. The Garden State Bar Association has defined its purpose as enhancing and improving the status of African American and all minority attorneys in New Jersey. The National Bar Association is the nation's oldest and largest national association of predominately African American lawyers and judges, with 84 affiliate chapters and a professional network of over 20,000 lawyers, judges, educators, and law students. The Hispanic Bar Association is dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic attorneys within the legal community.
• Gibbons is a sponsor and supporter of numerous community organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
• The Women’s Initiative’s Link-Building Committee researches other women’s organizations sharing a similar mission with a view toward more collaboration in producing jointly-sponsored programs and networking opportunities.

Supplier Diversity
Gibbons understands that providing excellent service to its clients extends beyond providing high-quality legal counsel, which is why Gibbons created a supplier diversity program as a component of its overall diversity initiative. GDI’s supplier diversity program, GDI-123, is a first for the legal industry; the program engages clients and provides women- and minority-owned businesses and law firms procurement and other strategic business opportunities. We also conduct education sessions to assist our suppliers in the certification process and have actively participated in workshops to gain visibility in the minority- and women-owned business community.