• Home
• »
• About JW
• »
• Diversity

Preeminence requires diversity. We at Jackson Walker have a responsibility to our community, clients and to each other to foster and promote diversity. The firm is committed to that responsibility and philosophy through awareness, action, and a culture in which all individuals are afforded the opportunity to excel. We support the recruitment, hiring, and advancement of minorities and women within the legal profession.

Recruiting

Recognizing the importance of having a diverse law firm, Jackson Walker has historically been active in recruiting women and minority attorneys. As reported by the American Bar Association, law schools are currently comprised of approximately 50% women and 20% minorities. Historically, the firm's recruiting efforts -- including invitations to interview and offers for clerkships -- have resulted in percentages of women and minority attorneys that reflect and often surpass comparable percentages at law schools. Jackson Walker's recruiting department routinely participates in the Dallas Consortium on Minority Hiring and the Sunbelt Minority Hiring Conference. The firm also offers opportunities for minority law students within the firm. For example, Jackson Walker was honored as a "Diversity Champion" for its involvement in the Houston Bar Association's Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Summer Internship Program. The internship was created in order to help first-year law students obtain exposure and opportunities in corporate legal departments, government legal departments, legal aid organizations, and law firms.

Retention

Historically, law firms have been less than successful in retaining women and minority attorneys. Jackson Walker has confronted this challenge with the following three approaches: mentoring, strengthening, and promoting.

In order to create a comfortable working environment for our attorneys and foster their development, the firm believes that mentoring plays an important role. The firm uses a combination of assigning mentorships and encouraging natural relationships to occur. The firm offers many networking opportunities through which younger attorneys can work with and get to know senior attorneys. Through these relationships the younger attorneys are able to further their knowledge and experience of the law by pairing up with a more seasoned professional.

The firm encourages women and minority attorneys to pursue business development opportunities, while also serving as a role model for developing lawyers. Many of our lawyers are active, including taking on leadership roles, in organizations devoted to the advancement of women and minorities, such as the following:

• Committee on Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession: For the last ten years Bruce Ruzinsky, partner and head of our Diversity Committee, has served on the Houston Bar Association's Committee on Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession. He has twice since co-chaired the entire Committee and served as Chairman of the First Year Summer Clerkship Program Sub-Committee.
• YMBL Sunshine Foundation of Austin: Jackson Walker partner, Tim Taylor, served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the YMBL Sunshine Foundation, of which he was a founding director and its first president. This foundation provides financial support for The Sunshine Camps, which have provided disadvantaged Austin children with leadership and scholarship programs in camps and at their schools.
• Women's Business Conference: Jackson Walker is a platinum sponsor of the Greater Dallas Chamber Annual Women's Business Conference. JW has had a long and successful history at the Women's Business Conference, serving as one of the initial gold sponsors. Retta Miller, partner, was chair for the first three years (1996-1998), as well as co-chair in 1999 and 2000. Joan Sostek, partner, has served as a co-chair or committee chair of that conference from 1999-2003. Katherine Staton, partner, was chair in 2005 and will also serve as chair for the upcoming conference in 2006.
• Dallas Women's Foundation: JW partner, Retta Miller is a past president. The foundation's mission is to raise money, responsibly fund community programs that help women and girls realize their full potential, and advocate increased philanthropy by and for women and girls.
• National Association of Women Business Owners ("NAWBO"): Jackson Walker serves as general counsel for the DFW Chapter of NAWBO and maintains a hotline to assist NAWBO members with legal questions. In addition, Jackson Walker has served as a major underwriter of the annual luncheon for several years and has supported other NAWBO educational programs, both financially and with human resources.
• Women's Business Council - Southwest ("WBC-SW"): Jackson Walker is a corporate partner of the Women's Business Council, whose mission is to provide procurement opportunities for women-owned businesses. Jackson Walker attorneys serve on the Board and Executive Committee.
• Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW):JW is an active partner in Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio. JW partners have served on the Board of Directors, executive committees, and as President of the Fort Worth and San Antonio Chapters.

• Texas Bar Association Minority Conference
• The Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce
• J.L. Turner Legal Association
• Minority Corporate Counsel Association

Jackson Walker has also developed an Alternative Work Schedule Policy intended to provide associates with an alternative work schedule compatible with personal and family responsibilities and with the needs of the firm, while at the same time maintaining the opportunity for professional growth, experience, and career advancement. The program is intended to ensure that associates who have family commitments remain on partnership track.

Jackson Walker's commitment to retaining and enhancing diversity in the firm was evident by partner elections in 2005. As featured in the Texas Lawyer, Jackson Walker named the largest number of minorities to partner compared to other Texas firms. The firm named four minority partners, of which three were women.

Other Noteworthy Programs

• For the inaugural year of the American Bar Association's (ABA) Minority Internship Program, Jackson Walker partnered with the ABA and the Tribune Company to send Cedric Scott, a minority Jackson Walker lawyer, to intern at the Tribune Company for six weeks. This internship is part of a diversity initiative by the ABA Forum on Communications Law to increase the interest of media law among minority lawyers.
• Jackson Walker also hosts a women's retreat for its top women clients and partners. This retreat allows Jackson Walker's women attorneys to further strengthen their business development relationships with the firm's clients.