Ropes & Gray Expands Support for Diversity in Legal Community

In The News
October 8, 2015
Attorneys:

As part of its continued commitment to workplace diversity, global law firm Ropes & Gray hosted the 2015 Northeast Regional Conference of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

Co-hosted by the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts (AALAM), the conference was held at Ropes & Gray’s Boston office on Oct. 3. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and nearly 75 state and local Asian Pacific American bar associations.

The conference was attended by more than 180 of attorneys and other legal professionals from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

At the conference, Ropes & Gray finance partner Michael Lee discussed essential elements of capital market offerings, raising debt versus equity and the key industry players, in a panel session titled Help! My Company Needs to Raise $1 Billion in the Capital Markets.

“The conference provides a platform to bring together a wide range of professionals to discuss issues that are important to Asian Pacific Americans in the legal sector,” said NAPABA President George Chen. “It represents another positive step towards promoting the advancement of lawyers of diverse backgrounds at all levels.”

Ropes & Gray’s support of the conference follows closely behind the firm’s establishment of the Roscoe Trimmier Jr. Diversity Scholarship announced on Aug. 11. The scholarship will provide up to five outstanding second-year law students with a $25,000 award to offset the expenses of their legal education. Scholarship recipients will also receive a paid summer associate position at the firm following completion of their second year. The scholarship honors the memory of Ropes & Gray trial lawyer Roscoe Trimmier, the firm’s first African-American partner and a pioneering leader of the firm’s diversity efforts. 

Ropes & Gray has consistently been recognized for its commitment to diversity. The firm was recently named a finalist for the Thomas L. Sager Minority Corporate Counsel Association Award, an honor it previously received in 2012 and 2013. The Sager award recognizes firms for their commitment to improving the hiring, retention and promotion of women and diverse lawyers. In June, the 2016 Vault “Best Law Firms for Diversity” rankings recognized Ropes & Gray for the seventh year in a row as one of the top five U.S. law firms for overall diversity. In August, the firm was named the winner of NAPABA’s Law Firm Diversity Award for 2015.