Morrison Foerster is an international law firm with lawyers practicing throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. Click to discover more.

mofo_share_image.jpg

Morrison Foerster

common-default.jpeg

Terms / Notices

Cookies

Privacy Policy

Reporting Hotline

Attorney Advertising

Alumni

  Linkedin

MoFo LinkedIN

  Facebook

MoFo Facebook

YouTube

MoFo Youtube

Morrison Foerster - Footer

Diversity Training and Programs

You have not solved the recaptcha challenge yet or session expired, try again.

Email Disclaimer

Disclaimer

<p>Unsolicited e-mails and information sent to Morrison Foerster will not be considered confidential, may be disclosed to others pursuant to our <a href="https://www.mofo.com/about/privacy-policy.html"><u><em>Privacy Policy</em></u></a>, may not receive a response, and do not create an attorney-client relationship with Morrison Foerster. If you are not already a client of Morrison Foerster, do not include any confidential information in this message. Also, please note that our attorneys do not seek to practice law in any jurisdiction in which they are not properly authorized to do so.</p>

Feedback

mofo-logo-2022.svg

People

Capabilities

Resources

About

Culture

Offices

Careers

Stay Connected


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: Alexis Amezcua (2016), Dario de Martino (2019), Tritia Murata (2015), Eric Pai (2018), Purvi Patel (2014), Alfredo Silva (2017), Eric Tate (2011), 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), and Aisulu Masylkanova (2021).
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.
For several years, MoFo has hosted a series of conflict resolution workshops in our San Francisco and New York offices. The original program was such a success that we adapted the curriculum to provide larger - scale training to include lawyers at all levels. These programs also train lawyers to resolve any conflicts that may arise with their teams or with clients.


<div class="mofo-body" dir="ltr"><p>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 attorneys of color, women, LGBTQ+, and attorneys living with disabilities to talk candidly about issues they are facing and how we can address them.</p><h5>Leadership Council on  Legal Diversity</h5><p>Founded in 2009, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) is an organization of more than 400 members, who serve as either general counsel of major corporations or managing partners of the nation’s leading law firms. Morrison Foerster has been a proud member for more than a decade and is committed to leading by example, taking action, and preparing future generations of talented attorneys for the highest positions of leadership.</p><p>Each year, MoFo nominates one outstanding partner and two high-performing associates to be considered for the LCLD Fellows and Pathfinder Programs. These programs provide invaluable networking opportunities and curated professional development experiences designed to help develop practical strategies and critical skills around leadership and business development.</p><h4>MoFo Navigate</h4><p>MoFo Navigate is an umbrella initiative that houses all the firm’s mentorship and sponsorship programs. It is supported by trainings on how to get the most out of the mentor relationship and offers sessions in which mentor pairs can meet other mentor pairs and engage in mentoring circle conversations. It encourages collaboration and leverages insight, across departments, geographies, and time to create a support system that responds to the changing needs of attorneys as they grow and develop. MoFo Navigate is uniquely and specifically designed to promote greater inclusion, and train both mentors and mentees on things like the root causes of attrition and how to mentor more effectively across differences. Learn more about <a href="/mofo-navigate" target="_self">MoFo Navigate</a>.</p></div>

<p>Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders</p>

Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders