In 2012, several partners, senior counsel and associates of the firm established a Diversity Initiative to develop strategies for fostering diversity and inclusion within the firm. Recognizing that the success of the firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts depends on providing all interested attorneys with a voice in those efforts, the Diversity Initiative has since evolved into a standing committee of the firm, open to all attorneys and governmental relations professionals who wish to be involved, the ranks of which now include some of the firm’s most junior attorneys, as well as some of the firm’s most senior partners.
Hooper, Lundy & Bookman's Diversity & Inclusion Committee fosters professional mentorship, promotes business opportunities and client generation, supplements our Recruiting Committee’s efforts to recruit women and minority attorneys and government relations professionals, bolsters retention and advancement within the firm for women and minorities and instills within the firm a culture of diversity and inclusion. Since the inception of the Diversity Initiative, the ranks of women and minority partners has significantly increased, and continues to grow.
In 2016, the firm’s Board of Directors approved adoption of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee’s Strategic Plan, which guides the efforts of the committee’s members. The stated mission identified in the Strategic Plan is to foster diversity and inclusion in the firm, through efforts aimed at enhancing recruitment, retention, development and promotion of personnel from a variety of backgrounds, and the Strategic Plan identifies goals, strategies, actions and metrics in furtherance of that mission.
The firm’s managing partners are members of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, an organization of more than 300 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who have dedicated themselves to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. Many of the firm’s lawyers, including many of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee members, are in leadership positions with minority bar associations, women’s associations and other professional groups, and the firm encourages involvement in those associations and supports related dues.
Through the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, the firm sponsors many diversity related events. Some highlights reflective of these efforts are:
- Member of the California Minority Counsel Program
- Host and sponsor of Women in Government Relations (WGR) Health & Social Policies Task Force events, including sponsorship of the Women in Government Relations Spring Gala Celebrating 40 Years of Advancing & Empowering Women.
- Annual sponsor of Women in Health Administration of Southern California (WHA).
- Sponsorship of association events, including not limited to, annual galas of Women in Health Administration of Southern California and the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association.
- Organizer and sponsor of other diversity focused events co-hosted by the California Association of Healthcare Leaders, and local chapters of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the National Association of Health Services Executives, Women in Health Administration of Southern California, the Asian Health Care Leaders Association, the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives, the Rainbow Healthcare Leaders Association and Women Health Care Executives, featuring discussions by respected and diverse healthcare industry leaders.
- Hosted receptions immediately following Hooper, Lundy and Bookman Managed Care Seminars conducted in Southern and Northern California.
- Participation in law school diversity recruiting fairs and receptions.
- Annual suit drives through which HLB employees may donate professional clothing to various local charitable organizations that provide interview attire to disadvantaged men and women seeking employment.
- Pro bono events, including the Los Angeles Veteran & Family Stand Down Clinic to provide legal counsel to veterans.
- Participation in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.
- Participation in the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Pledge for Diversity in the Legal Profession.
For additional information about the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, please contact co-chairs Sandi Krul or Monica Massaro.
