Diversity and inclusion is woven into the fabric of our firm. We are diverse in race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, and religion, and we are most certainly stronger for it. We are a certified women-owned business and proud member of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (“NAMWOLF”). We are strong financial and in-kind supporters of Women for Economic and Leadership Development (“WELD”); an organization whose mission is to develop and to advance women’s leadership to strengthen the economic prosperity of the communities it serves. We proudly count ourselves among the list of early adopters of the “Columbus Commitment,” an initiative put forward by Columbus, Ohio mayor, Andrew Ginther, and the Columbus Women’s Commission. Signers of the Columbus Commitment are businesses committed to pay equity. John Perez was privileged to be invited to speak on a panel at the Columbus Commitment launch event, where he discussed our firm’s transparent and equal compensation model.
We have received the following awards related to our firm’s diversity, inclusion and advancement of these principles in our community:
- Corporate Citizenship Honoree, Columbus Business First, 2022
- Diversity Champion Award, Ohio Women’s Bar Association, 2018
- Outstanding Diverse Organization, Columbus Business First, 2018
- Smart Women Advocate for Advancement, John Perez, 2017
- Family Friendly Award, Ohio Women’s Bar Association, 2011
In our philanthropic work, our firm focuses on building pathways to economic opportunity for under-represented populations. Through our latest endeavor, The Overcomer Foundation, we hope to provide child care scholarships to single mothers who are taking the next step in their education. We hope to eliminate the barrier of child care cost to empower more women, and particularly single mothers, to attain higher levels of education in the hopes that they will move their families off the benefits cliff and to a place of economic stability. All the while, we hope to enroll the children receiving the scholarships in quality child care so that they are better prepared for school academically, socially, and emotionally. We leverage our strong network and our capital to reinvest in the economic development of our community and in doing so we hope to increase opportunity for diverse candidates in our labor pool.
Our firm’s specific diversity statistics are as follows:
- 64% of our attorneys are women
- 20% of our employees are minorities
- 13% of our attorneys identify as LGBTQ
- Each of our firm’s offices are led by a diverse attorney.