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Diversity

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Diversity

Diversity

At Keker, Van Nest & Peters, we recognize the importance of promoting diversity in the legal profession, and we think one of the best ways to do it is to encourage and support lawyers from underrepresented groups inside and outside of our firm. Being an effective trial lawyer is ultimately about communicating with a broad audience: judges, juries, witnesses and clients. We recognize that our strength, in part, comes from the varied perspectives of a diverse group of attorneys. We welcome attorneys who will contribute diversity to our firm so that we can reflect the community as a whole.

Commitment to Diversity

Our firm’s success depends upon bringing together the best attorneys from across the country and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace that enables everyone at the firm to thrive. As a firm, we are committed to diversity and inclusion and place a high value on achieving the advancement and proportional representation of underrepresented attorneys at all levels of the firm.

We recognize that fostering diversity in the workplace requires thoughtful and continuous effort. Our firm was an original signatory to the No Glass Ceiling Initiative of the Bar Association of San Francisco in May 2002 and, having successfully met those goals, we renewed our commitment in 2010. We are also a signatory to the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Goals and Timetables for Minority Hiring and Advancement and are meeting BASF’s current goals. While we are proud of our diversity numbers (19% of our partners are people of color and 29% are women, compared to the national average of 9% and 23%, respectively), we know that there is more work to be done within our firm and to diversify the legal profession overall, and we are committed to effecting that change.

We have created a formal Diversity and Inclusion Committee, comprised of partners and associates, that works to positively influence the firm’s work environment; drive the firm’s efforts to develop, maintain, and implement a diversity and inclusion plan; and promote recruitment, retention, and professional development of underrepresented attorneys within the firm and the legal profession as a whole. Through the Diversity and Inclusion Committee’s efforts, we have continued, strengthened, or implemented the following initiatives:

  • Networking and education events for lawyers from underrepresented groups
  • Mentorship programs
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • One of the most generous leave policies of any law firm nationwide
  • Participation in minority job fairs, student groups, and pipeline programs
  • Collaborative efforts with community groups and bar associations
  • Support of law students of color and minority bar organizations
  • Charitable giving and financial support of various minority-related organizations

The Committee and the firm as a whole are committed to adding to this list as we continue to improve our diversity and inclusion strategy.

Recognitions

Our commitment to diversity at every level—within the firm, in the legal profession, and through legal work on issues related to diversity—has been publicly recognized numerous times.

  • In 2019, we were named among the "best law firms for minority attorneys," by Law360.
  • In 2017, we received the California Bar Foundation’s Leading Change Diversity Award.
  • In 2013, we won the California State Bar's Diversity Award.
  • In 2012, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley (APABA-SV) chose Keker, Van Nest & Peters for its 2012 Law Firm Diversity Award.
  • In 2009, the Minority Bar Coalition, a network of more than 25 diverse bar associations, recognized Keker, the firm’s exemplary work to further diversity by awarding us the Diversity Champion award.

Although we are of course proud of these awards, our goal of advancing diversity is not fulfilled by such recognition. Nor is our success in advancing diversity obtained or measured merely in statistics. Beyond numbers and awards, we believe in and continue to strive for the betterment of—and an enduring impact on—people from underrepresented groups in our firm, our legal profession, and in our community.