Diversity and Inclusion
When deciding among law firms, do you consider diversity and inclusion important?
We do. At Andrews Kurth, diversity and inclusion are more than just "buzz words." They are core values and key to our business and people strategies.
We recognize that in order to compete for talent in today’s marketplace, we must provide a workplace where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, with universal access to tools and resources so that everyone can perform to their fullest potential. In so doing, we believe that we can create a workplace that is intellectually stimulating, professionally rewarding and fun.
Diversity and Inclusion Vision
Andrews Kurth embraces diversity and inclusion as a business imperative and our responsibility. We strive to be a leader in the legal profession by building a high-performance team of diverse individuals to create a positive experience for our clients and firm community.
We define "diversity" broadly to respect such personal characteristics as race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion and disability as well as our individual qualities, talents, perspectives, backgrounds and experiences.
By "inclusion" we recognize the importance and value of bringing together individuals and their different perspectives in our various workplace processes.
To advance our diversity and inclustion strategy, we have the following internal structures and resources in place:
- Diversity Committee, with full-time Partner and Chief Diversity Officer
- Women’s Initiative Team
- Inclusive policies and benefits, e.g., medical and dental benefits for domestic partners
- Professional Development Team, with a dedicated lawyer resource
- New employee orientation and on-boarding, which includes our customized Diversity and Inclusion Orientation
- Formal and informal mentoring
- Enhanced maternity and non-primary caregiver leave
- Accountability for participation in diversity and inclusion matters through the annual attorney performance review process
Diversity and Inclusion Outreach
In addition, the external organizations that help us with our recruitment and retention strategies include:
- Partnership for Attorney Retention, Founding Member
- Council on Legal Education Opportunity, a talent pipeline development organization that works with undergraduate and law school students
Participation in minority career fairs, including:
- Vault/Minority Corporate Counsel Association Regional Career Fairs
- Sunbelt Career Fairs
- Participation in bar association programs to identify minority law students to be included in our summer associate programs
- Participation with law school career services departments and minority law student organizations to offer sessions for students on: interviewing skills; successful summer clerkships; and mentoring, relationship building and networking
Through these efforts, we better position our firm to build a diverse and dynamic team of extraordinary professionals.
What Our Candidates Say
“At Andrews Kurth, I had the opportunity to meet with many successful women attorneys. This was not the case at other firms I interviewed with."
"It's very nice to see the emphasis that Andrews Kurth places on recruiting a diverse group of individuals; it means a lot to us when choosing firms."
"Thank you for taking the time to come to the UT law school. Many law firms reach out to the law school, however, I appreciate when firms put some sort of effort to bring diverse employees to interact with us. For me, it shows a sense of commitment to diversity, and it also shows me that it is possible for someone of a minority background to obtain significant positions in the firm."
