Andrew M. Martin

Since I was the first person in my family to go to college, my parents firmly believed that higher education should lead to a professional career. I studied finance and marketing at the University of Cincinnati, and did several banking internships in New York City. I fell in love with New York City for many reasons, but I especially appreciated the extensive community of gay professionals. It seemed that New York City had room for everyone, and was happy to have you. So after graduation, I immediately moved to Manhattan and accepted a position as a Management Associate in Citibank’s Private Banking Division.

While working at Citibank, I interacted daily with Citibank’s trusts and estates professionals. The group was filled with old-school trust and estate attorneys, who I noted were often fond of wearing bowties, and who advised high-net worth families on intergenerational wealth issues. I saw how important and trusted these men were to the families they advised, and how their role was much more than just a banker. They were advisors that the family members trusted, and they would seek their advice and honest insights, on a whole host of different topics. I felt very drawn to that role of trusted advisor and decided to attend Fordham Law School’s evening J.D. program, so I could continue to work at Citibank. Today I represent hedge funds and banks, rather than individual families, but I still feel that pride of being trusted to provide extraordinarily valuable advice to those clients who rely on me.

My previous firm was a small legal boutique with a tightknit culture where everyone’s opinion was important, and we were focused on doing great work for great clients. Once we decided to join Crowell in 2021, we were uncompromising about preserving that strong culture built on diversity and respect. Crowell was more than just the right fit, it was actually a better fit in many ways. Both firms valued the same things, but Crowell had found a way to incorporate those values into everything that is done here at the firm. It’s really quite amazing.

As a white male, who is gay, I know I’ve had it easy compared to many others. I elected to always be “out” about my sexuality in a professional context. I understood that my decision might cost me a promotion in the future, but the damage caused by hiding who I really was would have been far too high a price to pay. Fortunately, looking back now, I don’t think that I’ve been denied any professional opportunities in my career due to my decision, and now talented LGBTQ+ professionals are in high demand.

I appreciate that sometimes people who are “non-diverse” may see the topic of diversity as unfamiliar or challenging. I feel strongly that we need to make it safe for everyone to talk about diversity and inclusion in an open and honest manner, because we want input from everyone. Everyone has to be a part of growing the solution, and no one should feel excluded from the discussion. While each of us experience diversity on our own personal level, it is the journey that we take together collectively as colleagues that can be truly transformational.

And how should we measure the success of our DEI initiatives at Crowell? In my opinion, the first measure is in the numbers: the headcount must be diverse. It’s not easy to achieve, and it begins with nurturing the right talent. For example, I was very impressed by our most recent cohort of summer associates, who were very impressive individuals, but they were also wonderfully diverse as a class. The next measurement would be about the diverse client teams and practice groups we put together here at the firm. When you have colleagues from diverse backgrounds work together, you have more diverse thought, which produces better ideas and outcomes, creating more value for our clients. And because we’re so intently focused on growing diversity, I know Crowell will also strengthen and grow our client base over the long term.