I, Michael Terry, personally commit to the following:

Personal Commitment

ADVOCACY

• I will use my voice as a leader in my organization and in the profession to advocate for DE&I in the legal profession and in my community. 
• I will use my position among my firm’s leadership to advocate for changes to improve the equity of processes such as work assignments, hiring, and compensation. I will articulate to my partners the importance of their active participation in our firm’s DEI strategy. 
• I will continue to work with the Diversity Committee to invest in the resources and support needed, such as our engagement of DEI consultants; and to implement recommendations, programs, and initiatives aligned with our DEI action plan. 
• I will meet regularly with our lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds to hear about their experiences and perspectives on ways I and the firm can support their development. 
• I will meet quarterly with our LCLD Fellows, Pathfinders and Alumni for updates about their experiences at our firm and, for current participants, their feedback on LCLD programming. I will ask each individual to come to the meeting with a recommendation for how the firm and the firm’s culture could improve. 
• I will be a vocal supporter of public policy initiatives and reforms specific to our Black Community. 
• I will be an active member of the Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and support its various programs and events. 
• I will implement our LCLD organizational commitment pledge. 

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

• I will personally sponsor one diverse junior attorney and one diverse new partner each year. As part of this relationship, I will ensure that each protégé receives a concrete stretch opportunity for internal/external visibility each quarter. 
• I will collaborate with a General Counsel to host an LCLD Leadership Lunch and an annual lunch with our current and former LCLD Pathfinders and Fellows. 
• I will ensure that diverse and women attorneys in our firm have the ability to participate actively in programs which promote their careers with organizations such as: Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Corporate Counsel Women of Color, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association, National Association of Women Lawyers, Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, American Bar Association, and National Bar Association. 

AWARENESS BUILDING AND EDUCATION

• I will continue to engage in transparent conversations across the firm about our different lived experiences. 
• I will continue to frequently consult with and collaborate with our diverse attorneys and staff about their professional and business experiences and goals, so we can determine ways to advance the firm’s DEI strategy. 
• I will pay particular attention to and build awareness regarding the experiences of our first-generation colleagues.

Organizational Commitment

ADVOCACY

• We will continue to encourage and to support associates’ pro bono and civic work for causes important to them. We will also continue to encourage our partners to lead by example. 
• We will continue our leadership in the Bar through our financial and pro bono support for the public interest community, including those actively promoting racial justice. 

PIPELINE EFFORTS

• We will recruit, retain, and promote lawyers from underrepresented groups to meet agreed-upon diversity targets. 
• We will prioritize diverse recruitment by considering exceptions to our no-lateral rule for attorney hiring. 
• We will continue to evaluate our interview and evaluation process to prevent unconscious bias from negatively impacting our recruitment of diverse associates. 
• We will prioritize diverse recruitment by deepening relationships with law schools with large populations of students from underrepresented groups. 
• We will build diverse interview panels for each open role at the firm so candidates have a more inclusive experience. 

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

• The partnership will review the firm’s origination credit process to ensure that practices such as credit-sharing and developing business are equitable. 
• Within two years, the firm will create partner compensation incentives that consider each partner's personal contributions to DEI efforts and initiatives, including but not limited to improving the diversity of client matter teams, designating underrepresented attorneys to serve in significant client relationship roles, and developing succession plans to ensure historically underrepresented attorneys inherit client relationships. 
• The Firm will maintain a diverse workforce by fostering a culture that values the unique backgrounds, beliefs, skills and attributes of all people. 

AWARENESS BUILDING AND EDUCATION

• We will continue to employ experts in the DEI field to train and to assist in evaluating and implementing policies that develop our abilities to advance equity at our firm and to lead inclusively, including by creating opportunities for regular feedback on these goals. 
• We will expect every partner to have at least one annual goal explicitly tied to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace culture. 
• We will continue to engage in lifelong education and learning across DEI topics, including through organizational training resources, educational programs, guest speakers, career chats, workshop, etc. that the firm organizes. 
• We will incentivize participation in the LCLD Pathfinders and Fellows programs by providing up to 50 hours of billable credit for participation. 
• We will ensure the firm appropriately recognizes and compensates attorneys engaged in activities/leadership that advance the firm's citizenship priorities, including DEI efforts. 

BUSINESS AND CLIENT DEVELOPMENT

• We will ensure that pitch teams are comprised of diverse talent. 
• We will leverage the relationships of our networks in pursuit of increasing the diversity of our clients. 
• We will ensure that client meetings explore client interest in DEI collaborations. 
• We will work with an LCLD Member General Counsel to develop a secondment program for diverse 1Ls. 

METRICS

• We will focus on diverse attorney retention and promotion to leadership positions with a goal of achieving and maintaining 30% diverse attorney representation at all levels of the organization 
• For all attorney interviews for summer associate positions, we will set a goal of achieving at least 30% diverse talent among attorneys called back for interviews. 
• For all open positions at the firm, we will set a goal of achieving at least 30% diverse talent among candidates evaluated for any position.