At Davis Polk, we are strongly committed to cultivating a workplace that supports diversity. We believe that diversity in backgrounds, experiences and ideas enriches our workplace experience and enhances the quality of the work we do for our clients. Our differences translate into the ability to look at problems from multiple perspectives and to be more creative, thus strengthening the firm's collaborative approach.
Davis Polk's Diversity Committee is devoted to advancing our firmwide diversity initiatives relating to the recruitment, retention and promotion of our lawyers. The Committee, consisting of 12 partners from across our practice, includes all members of the firm's Management Committee.
The firm's Diversity Committee works closely with our Personnel Committee to monitor diversity hiring and retention statistics on an ongoing basis. The Diversity Committee also evaluates the overall effectiveness of our various diversity initiatives and focuses on enhancing our performance in this area.
In addition, the firm conducts periodic internal surveys of lawyers on the workplace environment, including diversity-related issues. Finally, the firm participates in various external surveys on diversity policies and statistics, such as those published by NALP, American Lawyer, Vault and MCCA, in order to benchmark our performance relative to our peers and the profession in general.
The firm also supports a number of affinity groups, for lawyers who share common interests or backgrounds, designed to enhance our ability to offer networking, mentoring and Pro Bono opportunities. They include affinity groups for African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latino-American, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT), Asian/Asian-American, women and parent lawyers.
Our diversity efforts begin with our recruiting program. Each summer, we hire several future law students through the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) program, which provides law firm jobs to minority students the summer prior to starting law school. We also visit over 35 law schools and job fairs each year in order to meet a diverse group of law students.
Davis Polk's Manager of Legal Recruiting & Diversity oversees the firm's diversity recruiting initiatives for lawyers and law students of color, as well as LGBT candidates. These initiatives include annual diversity receptions and events, attending diversity-focused job fairs (such as the Lavender Law Career Fair, HNBA Job Fair, Northeast BLSA Job Fair and the National Asian Pacific American Conference) and sponsoring law school events organized by minority student organizations.
The firm, as well as our individual lawyers, sponsors or otherwise supports (through board membership and other advisory roles) a number of external organizations that promote diversity and equality in the legal profession and in the community. Examples of such groups include:
Current leadership positions held by Davis Polk lawyers in organizations that promote diversity and equality include:
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