Pledge

PREAMBLE TO THE PLEDGE TO DIVERSITY
IN THE COLORADO LEGAL COMMUNITY
May 2006

The Pledge to Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Colorado law firms was originally signed in April, 1993. Our purpose then was to set forth clear, realistic and attainable goals for the enhancement of racial and ethnic diversity in Colorado law firms. We agreed to join together in this undertaking because it was apparent to each of us that, despite individual efforts and good intentions, we had been unsuccessful in achieving the level of diversity that we wanted and should have attained.

We of the Colorado legal community take great pride in our profession. Ours is a profession of representing the rights of the privileged, the underprivileged, the many, and the few. We, as attorneys, should understand better than most the meaning of the words "Equal Opportunity." Yet we are acutely aware that, in Colorado, as elsewhere, equal opportunity in the legal field has not been fully available. We have made progress in the years since the Pledge was first signed in 1993 and again in 2000 and 2005, yet there are still far too few attorneys of diverse backgrounds recruited, hired, trained, retained, and invited to join the partnership ranks in Colorado law firms--large, medium or small, and to join the equivalent ranks within other legal departments. We believe that the Colorado legal community must make positive and determined efforts to remedy this failure.

We have learned since the Pledge was first signed that the necessary changes will not be achieved by words alone. We believe that in order to achieve the goals stated in the Pledge, it is necessary for us to not only commit philosophically to those goals, but to commit resources towards activities which we as a group believe will have a positive impact.

We are but a microcosm of the greater society within which we live. However, we propose to lead rather than follow, move forward rather than stand still. It is now time to formally expand the goals and beliefs set forth in this Pledge to specifically include, without limitation, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, and sexual orientation within the word diversity ("Diversity" or as used, "Diverse"). The signatories and supporters of this Pledge believe that Diversity, in its many facets, enriches us all.

PLEDGE TO DIVERSITY
IN THE COLORADO LEGAL COMMUNITY

EACH SIGNATORY PLEDGES:

I. To pursue full and equal participation of Diverse attorneys at all professional levels in its law firm or legal department by:

(1) Hiring and retaining Diverse attorneys;

(2) Providing Diverse attorneys equal access and opportunity for training, mentoring, guidance, evaluation, and opportunities to grow and succeed;

(3) Providing Diverse attorneys equal opportunity to participate fully in positions of firm or department leadership as well as administrative, professional, social and marketing activities;

(4) Inviting to partnership or shareholder status or the equivalent rank in other legal departments Diverse attorneys who meet the requisite criteria;

(5) *Promoting greater sensitivity to the value of Diversity at all levels of the firm or department, including implementing Diversity and sensitivity training wherever feasible;

(6) *Adopting and enforcing a strong policy against discrimination at any level within the firm or department;

(7) *Adopting and publicizing a commitment to Diversity within the firm or department;

(8) *Establishing a position of leadership and/or a committee responsible for monitoring and advancing the firm's or department's commitment to Diversity;

(9) Including the firm's or department's commitment to Diversity as a subject for periodic discussion and review at firm or department meetings, including meetings of firm or department management; and

(10) Including contributions to the firm's or department's commitment to Diversity as part of any evaluation process for attorneys and firm or department administrative managers.

II. To increase the number of offers of employment extended to Diverse law students and attorneys by taking the following steps whenever possible:

(1) Establish a viable mechanism to initiate, monitor, periodically evaluate, and improve recruitment programs for Diverse law students and attorneys;

(2) Increase the pool of Diverse applicants who will meet the hiring criteria by:

(i) for those firms or departments that hire directly out of law schools, identifying and recruiting Diverse students through law school placement administrators, faculty members, present or former summer clerks, organizations of law students, job fairs, local receptions for Diverse law students, and other organized law student activities;

(ii) Developing, through the Pledge group, and participating in, a clerkship program for Diverse law students;

(iii) for those firms or departments that hire directly out of law schools, support recruitment efforts in law schools directed at law schools in Colorado or outside of Colorado in order to encourage Diverse law students to interview with Colorado legal employers, which may include on-campus interviews by member law firms as well as job fairs;

(iv) identifying and recruiting Diverse attorneys as lateral hires through referrals of law school placement administrators, faculty and/or other practicing attorneys and law firms, routinely listing available positions with local specialty bar associations, and consistently advising all recruitment sources of the importance of referring diverse candidates; and

(v) sharing the resumes of qualified Diverse applicants with other signatory law firms with the permission of the applicant; and

(3) Apply consistent overall hiring criteria to all applicants, which criteria should not be limited to academic performance, but should also consider each applicant's communication skills, leadership skills, integrity, resourcefulness, responsibility, client satisfaction potential, life experiences and other factors which demonstrate an ability to succeed in the legal profession;

(4) *Include Diverse attorneys on committees that have responsibility for recruitment, hiring, training, evaluation, retention and advancement of attorneys, if such firm or legal department maintains such committees; and

(5) *Setting goals for hiring Diverse attorneys within the firm or department.

III. To increase retention and promotion rates for Diverse attorneys by taking the following steps:

(1) Assist each newly hired attorney (regardless of Diversity status or level) in learning the firm's or department's culture, history, practices, and procedures;

(2) Ensure that Diverse attorneys are afforded, on a consistent basis, opportunities equivalent to those provided to all other attorneys in the quality and quantity of legal work assignments as necessary to develop skills and acquire experience for success and advancement;

(3) Ensure that Diverse attorneys have the same opportunity to (i) perform significant work assignments for important clients, (ii) receive interesting and challenging legal work, and (iii) receive training, guidance, mentoring, client contact, performance feedback, and other opportunities to grow and succeed;

(4) Ensure that the work environment is as hospitable and congenial for Diverse attorneys as it is for all other attorneys, and include Diverse attorneys in work-related social activities with other attorneys and clients;

(5) Include all new attorneys in programs that enhance their understanding of business concepts, client relations, client satisfaction, and their confidence in dealing with client matters;

(6) Adopt policies that prohibit law firm or department sponsored functions in places that discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation;

(7) Ensure that Diverse attorneys have the same opportunities as all other attorneys to achieve partnership status or equivalent ranks within other legal departments by (i) using the same criteria for all attorneys for partnership or equivalent rank evaluations and (ii) guiding the development of Diverse attorneys in the same manner as for all other partnership (or equivalent rank) track attorneys; and

(8) *Adopt mechanisms to monitor progress and compliance with these commitments, including, wherever feasible, internal surveys, questionnaires, interviews and other appropriate means for identifying problems and/or areas for improvement.

IV. To encourage the legal education of Diverse students in the Colorado law schools by contributing annually to one or more of the following:

(1) Programs which increase the opportunities for Diverse law students to serve as clerks in the Colorado trial and appellate courts;

(2) Any of the local bar associations' scholarship funds for Diverse law students; and/or

(3) Any other established scholarship funds or programs, including those provided at the local law schools which provide financial assistance to Diverse students attending Colorado law schools or establishing scholarship funds for Diverse students.

V. To evidence our support of this Pledge and to support activities which we believe will facilitate achievement of the goals stated herein:

(1) To contribute annually, an amount of money, determined by consensus of the undersigned firms, necessary to carry out the planning and implementation of projects agreed upon by the group.

(2) To commit the time of no less than one lawyer in the firm to actively serve on one or more committees which we intend to establish and maintain, to plan and implement projects in furtherance of the goals stated in this Pledge. It is anticipated that each firm will dedicate a minimum of 30 hours per year to service on such committees.

(3) To share general, statistical information with other firms or legal departments within the Pledge group on a confidential basis, including racial and ethnic demographics of attorneys within their firms or legal departments and specific steps taken to advance the commitments set forth in this Pledge and to share such information as appropriate outside the Pledge group on an aggregate basis only.

(4) To periodically review our progress toward achieving the goals stated in this Pledge and to reevaluate the projects and programs supported by the group to determine whether they have been, and will continue to be, effective in meeting Pledge goals.