Law Firm Chair Commits to Legal Diversity Initiative

Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that Chair Matthew P. Feeney has pledged his personal commitment to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s (LCLD) Leaders at the Front initiative. Leaders at the Front is an initiative designed to dismantle systemic barriers preventing underrepresented attorneys from achieving the highest levels of leadership within law firms and corporate legal departments.

“Snell & Wilmer has created a results-oriented action plan that provides a pathway for diverse lawyers to grow in their careers and assume leadership positions within the firm and in the wider legal profession. I am honored that many of my colleagues have made similar pledges so that together we can have real impact on advancing diversity,” said Feeney.

Through the Leaders at the Front initiative, LCLD is asking its more than 400 Members, who include corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners, to make personal commitments to DEI and implement organizational changes that are specific, meaningful, and measurable. These Leaders’ Pledges are available on LCLD’s Leaders at the Front website. LCLD also provides resources to help its Members create impactful pledges and a platform for leaders to share plans and best practices so that a collective voice across the industry will create transformational change.

Feeney’s pledge is available here and includes a commitment to continuing to work with Practice Group Leaders to pursue DE&I objectives at the Practice Group level, engaging with clients during client audits to further assess potential collaborations to advance diversity in the legal industry, and creating a comprehensive lateral associate and partner recruiting strategy aimed at identifying diverse talent and ensuring diverse candidates will be considered for all lateral hires.

LCLD was founded in 2009 with the goal of building a legal profession that looks like the nation it serves. Recent events have made it clear that there is still a long way to go in achieving that goal, making the Leaders at the Front initiative more important than ever before. In fact, according to a recent study commissioned by LCLD and conducted by Coqual (formerly Center for Talent Innovation), a nonprofit think tank that studies diversity and inclusion in the workplace, it’s not just about increasing the number of diverse attorneys within an organization, but about removing the impediments to success that diverse lawyers face, including limited diversity in law firm and legal department leadership and lack of access to crucial networking and sponsorship opportunities.

“This is an opportunity for leaders to promote meaningful change,” said Feeney. “Snell & Wilmer is proud to be part of this movement.”

The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity is an organization of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners—the leadership of the profession—who have pledged themselves, through our Leaders at the Front initiative and other means, to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. Their  action programs are designed to attract, inspire, and nurture the talent in society and within member  organizations, thereby helping a new and more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to positions of leadership. By producing tangible results in those institutions, LCLD works to promote inclusiveness in its organizations, their circles of influence, and broader society, with the ultimate goal of building a more equitable and diverse legal profession.

Founded in 1938, Snell & Wilmer is a full-service business law firm with more than 450 attorneys practicing in 16 locations throughout the United States and in Mexico, including Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, California; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Boise, Idaho; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; and Los Cabos, Mexico. The firm represents clients ranging from large, publicly traded corporations to small businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit swlaw.com.