Microsoft Recognizes Latham as “Most Innovative” for Diversity

Through its annual Law Firm Diversity Program, which aims to “help increase diversity in the legal profession,” Microsoft has named Latham & Watkins the winner of its inaugural “Most Innovative” award in the area of diversity and inclusion. The award highlights the firm that has “the best ideas, foster[s] an open dialogue across our [Microsoft’s] partner firms, and create[s] a connected community amongst our providers for sharing learnings and lessons.”

Latham’s diversity initiatives, which were “overwhelmingly favored by their peers,” include:

• Addressing socioeconomic diversity, by broadening support and outreach to First Generation Professionals;
• Addressing lateral hiring diversity, by being the firm law firm to sponsor the California Minority Counsel Program job board, which aims to reach and promote diverse lateral candidates;
• Addressing professional and leadership development, by tailoring training sessions for law students and associates at Latham’s Diversity Leadership Academy to improve professional success and development; and
• Addressing diversity and inclusion culture and awareness, which the firm does through its Inclusion Initiative, which encourages lawyers and staff to take actions that increase inclusion at a local and global scale.

Latham's lawyers, paralegals, and professional staff worldwide comprise a rich mixture of different races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, cultures, and primary languages. The firm’s commitment to diversity enables it to draw from a remarkable wealth of talent to recruit and retain the best lawyers in the world and to provide innovative legal solutions for clients’ most complicated business challenges.