May 13, 2021 (New York, Los Angeles) – Proskauer, a leading international law firm, is pleased to receive Facebook’s Law Firm Diversity Champion Award which was presented at a virtual ceremony on May 12, 2021 by Facebook’s General Counsel Jennifer Newstead.
For the third year in a row, Facebook analyzed diversity data from its largest spend U.S.-based law firms, applying a scoring methodology to measure diversity across a number of dimensions. Proskauer ranked first out of 40 in Facebook’s 2020 diversity survey analysis. Additional top-ranked firms included White & Case, McDermott and Baker Hostetler.
“We greatly value our relationship with Facebook and are truly honored by this recognition. Proskauer recognizes that having an organizational culture that is firmly grounded on the three interrelated but distinct pillars of diversity, equity and inclusion is fundamental to our ability as legal counsel to effectively service our clients – and it’s simply just the right thing to do,” said trial lawyer and labor & employment partner Keisha-Ann Gray. Proskauer’s Facebook client team is co-led by Keisha-Ann and partners Bart Williams and Patrick Lamparello.
“Facebook is committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the global community we serve, and we expect a similar commitment from our outside counsel,” stated Facebook General Counsel Jennifer Newstead. This award reflects high performance in critical areas such as diversity staffing on Facebook matters, meaningful and measurable opportunities given to the diverse attorneys on Facebook matters, diversity initiatives at the Firm, diversity makeup of the incoming partner class, and whether the Firm has a diverse relationship partner, with diverse attorneys identified as Black, Latinx and LGBTQ+ are weighted more heavily than other diverse identities.
“Across the legal profession, we must double down our efforts to develop policies and programs that help establish a society with systems that are all fair, just and inclusive. This year has crystalized that we all must stand for something,” said Diversity & Inclusion Officer Peter Wilson, Jr. Some of the impactful Firm policies and programs that support Proskauer’s culture of inclusion are:
- “Collaborate for Change,” a campaign focused on activism and antiracism that includes a speaker series for participation by the entire Firm, its alumni and client community; a racial justice fellowship for a Proskauer lawyer; an annual 25,000 pro bono hours minimum commitment to racial justice causes; and open feedback from employees, which has led to the Firm’s observance of Juneteenth as a holiday for our US offices
- Caregiver Return (“CaRe”) automatically gives 100% of pre-leave compensation for all primary caregivers returning from leave, to work a reduced schedule
- Inclusion Training Program, a multiphase education plan for all employees addressing topics like bias, cultural competence, and inclusive leadership
- Silver Scholarship Program for diverse law students
- With the goal of bettering the legal profession as a whole, “Proskauer Prep” is a first-in-kind training initiative for pre-law women to advance their careers no matter what path they chose to take after law school
- Women’s Sponsorship Program for senior women associates and recently promoted women partners and senior counsel, a robust mentoring platform for up-and-coming leaders
- Mentoring Circle Program teams-up diverse associates with partner mentors
- Proskauer Affinity Groups for women, LGBTQ+ and minority lawyers offer networking and training opportunities, among other benefits
Proskauer’s Diversity Task Force, which includes two members of the Executive Committee, the Managing Partner and the Firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Officer, drives the design and accountability of these programs hand-in-hand with our dedicated diversity and inclusion professionals.
About Proskauer
Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our culture. We are 725+ lawyers serving clients from offices located in the leading financial and business centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. We work with asset managers, private equity and venture capital firms, Fortune 500 and FTSE companies, major sports leagues, entertainment industry legends and other industry-redefining companies. We are a people business, comprised of some of the brightest and most creative minds, working together to drive success for our clients.
