Akin Gump’s commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and to delivering the absolute best possible service to our clients were founding principles of the firm, and this tradition continues to motivate us to achieve and exceed our goals. Ranked as one of the largest law firms in the nation, Akin Gump has maintained a longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusiveness at all levels.
The firm works to ensure the recruitment, retention and promotion of women and minorities by embracing a culture of inclusiveness and equal opportunity. When Robert Strauss began the practice of law, few firms welcomed individuals of his religious and ethnic background. That experience, coupled with the understanding that our success in the global market and the delivery of unsurpassed client service depend on the diversity of our workforce, prompted Akin Gump to pursue a leadership role in promoting diversity within law firms.
The following excerpt from our Partnership Admissions Policy summarizes Akin Gump’s commitment to diversity:
As historical barriers to achievement in the legal profession have continued to fall, the best and brightest lawyers in their fields, and the best and brightest young lawyers emerging from law schools, come from ever more diverse backgrounds. Our success in the global market, and our success in meeting internal objectives of excellence in mentoring, supervision and professional development, depends on ensuring that we achieve and maintain a critical mass of diversity in our partnership and in our associate population.
A key aspect of building and sustaining diversity and inclusiveness at Akin Gump has meant ensuring that the firm’s committees and management structure reflect the diversity that we strive for across the firm. Since 2008, Kim Koopersmith, a female partner in the New York office, has held the role of Managing Partner for the firm's U.S. offices. The firm’s management structure also includes a Partner-in-Charge in each office. Of the firm’s 14 offices worldwide, the Partner-in-Charge of the Washington office is African American, a female African American partner heads the Abu Dhabi office and a female partner heads the Houston office. The Hiring Committees and Associates Committees across the firm, along with firmwide committees including the Management Committee, Partnership Admissions Committee, Diversity Committee and Pro Bono Committee also reflect the firm’s diversity, with numerous women and minority lawyer members.
Akin Gump maintains a two-tiered Diversity Committee system, with both a firmwide committee and local office committees. The firmwide committee is chaired by Nancy Chung, an Asian American partner from our New York office. The firm’s Diversity Committees on both the office and firmwide levels reflect the diversity of Akin Gump and consist of minority, female, openly gay and non-minority attorneys. These committees provide an opportunity for attorneys and personnel to proactively communicate questions, concerns and ideas to firm management and to recommend additional means by which the diversity of the firm can be enhanced. The local diversity committees in the U.S. offices are responsible for the development and implementation of diversity-related initiatives for their location or region and for coordinating their diversity efforts in furtherance of the firm’s diversity goals.
The firmwide Diversity Committee is composed of the following partners—
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David Botter
Nancy Chung
Chip F. Cowell
Katherine M. Katchen
Karol A. Kepchar
Kim Koopersmith
R. Bruce McLean
Trey M. Muldrow III |
Mary L. O'Connor
J. David Park
Anthony T. Pierce
Marissa Román Griffith
Rick Rosenblum
Jody Scheske
Valerie A. Slater |