I, Andrew Detherage, personally commit to the following:

Personal Commitments

• Champion and publicly recognize those going above and beyond to advance our firmwide DEI strategy and take such into account for purposes of compensation and bonus.
• Hold myself, my partners and all other leadership accountable to our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (inclusive of our Mission, Vision and Core Values) and use my voice to drive top-down tangible engagement regarding same.
• Coordinate with our Firm Diversity Partner, Office Managing Partners, Department Chairs (and other necessary stakeholders), to monitor and measure the substantive engagement, support and utilization of diverse talent on client matters to foster inclusion and the equitable distribution of work opportunities.
• Serve as an ambassador and mentor for diverse talent, including continuing to serve as an ad hoc Keymaker (sponsor) for select Black women lawyers, to support their development for advancement to equity partnership.
• Ensure that our firmwide strategic plan fully and substantively incorporates strategies and goals that advance diversity, equity and inclusion both in terms of our talent and the growth of the firm as a whole.
• Be a vocal champion of diversity, equity and inclusion within our firm, in the communities we serve and throughout the legal industry.
• Empower my leadership team to participate on an ongoing basis, in training opportunities related to inclusive practices, unconscious bias and managing diverse teams, to stay abreast of best practices and to lead by example.
• Visit with no fewer than four (4) clients and LCLD Members per quarter to discuss the firm’s (and my personal commitment), to enhancing the diversity of the profession and to explore opportunities to partner together to advance the careers of specifically identified diverse lawyers within the firm. Opportunities to be explored include identification of opportunities for our diverse lawyers to develop relationships with and obtain work from LCLD members to support the development of their practice and advancement within the firm, secondments of our diverse lawyers, specific recommendations of diverse lawyers to handle client matters, inclusion of diverse lawyers in partner succession planning, joint participant in public service projects where diverse talent from the firm and our clients can network and work alongside one another in support of a shared public interest

Organizational Commitments

• The substantive contribution to our DEI objectives and to the retention and advancement of diverse talent will continue to be a key practice management score metric which directly impacts partner compensation.
• Add new and grow our existing talent resource groups to better support and provide community for our diverse talent.
• We will continue our efforts to include our DEI commitment in our compensation determinations in furtherance of the Diversity Lab Inclusion Blueprint’s “Do Something Hard” initiative.
• Ensure that the firm’s succession plan protocols substantively incorporate the inclusion of diverse practitioners.
• Participate in a Leadership Luncheon w/LCLD and otherwise partner with LCLD to sponsor/support regional events and other LCLD programming.
• Impose a tracking mechanism that will be shared with the Management Committee to ensure that diverse talent involved in pitches are actually engaged in resulting work opportunities and are considered for billing credit opportunities where proper.
• We are Mansfield Certified (5.0). We will achieve Mansfield 6.0 certification and continue beyond participation in any current cohort, to actively work to integrate the spirit and letter of Mansfield into our business practices.