Ropes & Gray Receives Prestigious Recognition for Asian Pacific American Diversity
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) has named Ropes & Gray the winner of its Law Firm Diversity Award for 2015. The firm was recognized for its outstanding commitment to the recruitment, retention and promotion of Asian Pacific American lawyers to partnership and firm leadership roles.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this award from NAPABA, an organization with which Ropes & Gray has had a lengthy and meaningful relationship,” said partner and firm diversity committee member Rocky Tsai, who also serves as co-chair of Ropes & Gray’s Attorneys of Color affinity group.
Ropes & Gray will receive the award at the annual NAPABA Convention on November 7 in New Orleans.
“Ropes & Gray has a long and proud history of being an industry leader when it comes to workplace diversity,” said NAPABA president George C. Chen in a statement announcing the award. “It is a tremendous honor to be consistently recognized by your peers as one of the nation’s leaders in diversity practices, and NAPABA applauds the firm’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.”
The NAPABA award is the latest in a string of honors and accolades that the firm has received for its diversity and inclusion initiatives. For the seventh consecutive year, Ropes & Gray was ranked in the top five U.S. law firms for overall diversity in the 2016 Vault guide released July 21. The firm, which ranked third for overall diversity, also ranked in the top five of each of the diversity-related categories, including LGBT, individuals with disabilities, women, military veterans and minorities. Ropes & Gray was also recently named a finalist for a Thomas L. Sager Award from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. The Sager award recognizes firms for their sustained commitment to improving the hiring, retention and promotion of women and diverse lawyers; Ropes & Gray was previously honored with this award in 2012 and 2013.
Commitment to Diversity
At Ropes & Gray, diversity has long been an essential part of our firm identity. We are committed to fostering an inclusive community of professionals of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations and family structures. We see our individual differences as an asset that enhances the quality of life for each of us and strengthens what we can accomplish as a firm.
The firm works hard to promote the recruitment, retention and advancement of people of diverse backgrounds at all levels. We are proud of the policies we have put in place and the culture we have fostered to ensure that talented people of all backgrounds can thrive and succeed here.
Ropes & Gray has consistently been recognized as one of the nation’s leading law firms in the area of diversity overall, as well as with respect to minorities, gays and lesbians, and women. For example, the firm received a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI), administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The CEI score is based on policies aimed at making the firm a welcoming workplace for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees.
On August 11, 2015, the firm announced the Ropes & Gray Roscoe Trimmier Jr. Diversity Scholarship, which 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 Mr. Trimmier, who was an accomplished trial lawyer, the firm’s first African-American partner and a pioneering leader of the firm’s diversity efforts.