Morrison Foerster

We are constantly looking to improve and build on the trainings and programs we offer our lawyers. As a firm, we provide opportunities for our diverse, LGBTQ+, and women lawyers to talk candidly about issues they are facing and how we can address them.

Mentoring

Investing in the next generation of diverse, LGBTQ+, and women leaders is a key priority at MoFo. Our Diversity Mentoring Program supports the development of under represented minority associates by matching them with a partners who mentor the attorneys through their associate years. The Mentoring Program was a direct response to associate feedback.

The Diversity Strategy Committee (DSC), in consultation with the DSC co-chairs, carefully match associates with partners. Mentors are long-term career coaches who offer associates insight on a range of topics, including:

how to navigate the firm as an associate;
tips for success within their practice groups;
advice on the appropriate mix of work assignments within the framework of their practice groups; and
advice on finding opportunities for networking and inclusion that will help further the associates’ career advancement at the firm.

Sponsorship Initiative

The Diversity Strategy Committee works closely with senior lawyers to cultivate and promote a culture of sponsorship, and partners with the Women's Strategy Committee on firmwide sponsorship activities.

The steering committees of both the Diversity and Women’s Strategy Committees meet with practice group heads periodically to ensure high-performing diverse, LGBTQ+, and women senior associates have partner champions within their groups to support each associate’s growth and development.

Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

MoFo is a long-standing participant in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). Founded in 2011, LCLD focuses on developing attorneys who are committed to promoting diversity, LGBTQ+, and women’s programs within their professional communities. Fellows are immersed in a year-long leadership development program.
Current and past MoFo LCLD fellows include: Eric Tate (2011), Purvi Patel (2014), Tritia Murata (2015), Alexis Amezcua (2016), Alfredo Silva (2017), Eric Pai (2018), Christin Hill (2020), Crystal Kaldjob (2021), and Katie Vigianni (2022).

In addition to the LCLD Fellows program, MoFo also participates in the LCLD Pathfinder program for diverse, high-potential, early-career attorneys. Current and past Pathfinders include Chris Gloria (2020), Roman Swoopes (2021), Jocelyn Greer (2022), and Sumaiya Sharmeen (2022).

Town Hall Meetings

Our town hall meetings, held every other year, are a series of smaller, more intimate gatherings held in our local domestic offices. Our town hall meetings solicit feedback from our diverse, LGBTQ+, and women lawyers on local office culture.

During these meetings, current diversity, LGBTQ+, and women’s program initiatives and progress are discussed. Feedback from local offices is collected to ensure firm initiatives align with and address the needs of our lawyers.

Unconscious - Bias Trainings

As part of our commitment to inclusiveness, we believe we must proactively help attorneys and staff recognize and interrupt any potential unconscious biases that may affect our talent processes. In 2016, we launched a series of unconscious bias trainings designed specifically for our lawyers, which has since then expanded to include staff and are held periodically in each of our local offices. Training is also offered at MoFo University for all new and lateral attorney hires.

In addition to providing attorneys and staff managers opportunities to participate in ongoing trainings on how to recognize and interrupt unconscious bias, the firm distributes memos on how to interrupt bias in the recruiting and performance management processes. More recently, the Diversity + Inclusion team produced a series of short interviewer - training videos that provide useful tips on how to conduct an effective interview and thereby reduce the likelihood of relying on unconscious biases.

Responding to Associate Feedback Is a Priority: Conflict Resolution Program

Ensuring that our lawyers are prepared to handle conflict and equipped with the skills to navigate points of conflict, is crucial to the firm's success.