Steven Baumer

• I will use my voice as a leader in my organization and in the profession to advocate for Inclusion, Diversity & Equity in the legal profession and in our communities where we work and live.
• I will use my position among my firm’s leadership to advocate for changes to improve the equity of processes such as recruiting, hiring, work assignment, development and promotion so that everyone has the same opportunities to succeed.
• I am committed to lead and promote an inclusive culture in which our people feel listened to, respected and able to bring their whole selves to work as we grow together as One Firm, playing close attention to our shared values, including Inclusion & Diversity, which are critical to our ongoing success.
• I will be intentional about the significance of diverse representation among leadership roles and committees and will strive to increase the number of diverse members in the following leadership populations: the Board and Leadership Team, Partners-in-Charge of each of our global offices, Practice Group Leaders, the Partner Promotion Committee, and the Partner Remuneration Committee.
• I will continue to regularly engage with our Affinity Groups and Affinity Group Leaders to identify challenges and opportunities and work towards measurable and meaningful progress towards equality of opportunity for all colleagues in the firm.

• Our firm has pledged to increase the diversity of our partnership through the introduction of Diversity Aspirational Goals which place a prominent focus and greater accountability on the levers impacting the diversity of our partnership which includes Aspirational Goals of 15% US/UK Racial/Ethnicity Partners by 2026 and 18% by 2030; 35% Global Female Partners by 2026 and 40% by 2030; 4% US LGBTQ* by 2026 and 5% by 2030.
• We further pledged the specific aspirational goal that by 2030 our partnership will be 50% diverse in the aggregate (incorporating women, LGBTQ*, lawyers of color and lawyers with disabilities), with an interim goal of 40% by 2026.
• We are ensuring partnership accountability for DEI not only by extending our practice group and department diversity reporting but also by assessing partner performance against a new framework, which includes an Inclusion & Diversity Cultural Foundation, providing our partners with clear guidance around the successful behaviors they are expected to demonstrate in support of the firm’s Inclusion & Diversity goals.
• We are prioritizing equality of opportunity through monitoring work opportunities and billable hours through a diversity lens to increase visibility of diversity hours differences and the development of structured work allocation initiatives and programs, which aim to eliminate disparities of opportunities for diverse talent in the firm.
• We are changing bonus eligibility rules so that Associates and Counsels can count up to 100 investment hours of approved activities, including Inclusion & Diversity activities, to be credited towards bonus eligibility.
• We are driving an inclusive culture through firmwide training based on the results of our Inclusive Culture Pulse Survey and which is focused on empowering and equipping our people to speak up and challenge exclusionary behavior and addresses the topics of Inclusive Leadership, Micro-Exclusions and Implicit Bias.
• We are proactively collaborating with clients in advancing DEI through the pioneering appointment of Daisy Reeves as the firm’s inaugural Inclusion & Diversity Client Relationship Partner who focuses exclusively on collaboration and thought leadership with clients and communities on best, and next, practice in DEI.
• We are collaborating with clients to leverage the LCLD 1L Scholars Program to strengthen the legal pipeline of diverse attorneys interested in our client’s business areas and sectors by providing the participants a robust training programs, practical experiences and mentoring opportunities along with assignments from, and activities with, the client.
• We are a founding signatory of the Mansfield Rule by Diversity Lab and have been consecutively recognized as a Mansfield Certified Plus law firm and is one of the ten firms piloting the Mansfield Rule Certification Program in the UK.

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