Dedicated Programs

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee  

The mission of Crowell & Moring’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, composed of lawyers and professional staff from a variety of Crowell offices, is to help build and retain a diverse community of legal professionals that reflects and fosters the firm’s commitment to client service through teamwork, innovation, equity, and inclusion. In collaboration with firm leadership, the Committee develops and coordinates diversity and inclusion efforts and facilitates community-building firm-wide. Firm leaders are active members of the Committee. Their championship has helped to drive initiatives such as Crowell’s DEI billable credit policy.

Sponsorship Program  

Recognizing the crucial role sponsorship plays in the growth and development of lawyers, Crowell & Moring was one of the first law firms to create a formal sponsorship program, ensuring that every lawyer has equitable access to the advocacy, support and opportunities necessary for their success. Sponsorship involves the use, influence, relationship capital and/or position to create opportunities for another, intervening on their behalf, or advocating to enhance their career development and advancement. The firm’s annual Sponsorship Program focuses on the inclusivity and promotion of women, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers of color and consists of a variety of workshops, programs and internal networking opportunities. The program targets associates, counsel and partners from a broad range of practice areas and geographic locations and provides meaningful opportunities to our high-performing lawyers, particularly women and lawyers from diverse backgrounds. Through this program, we aim to: 1) further develop our strong pipeline of talent; 2) broaden diverse talent visibility within the firm leadership ranks; 3) equitably promote access to critical relationships across the business; 4) accelerate key development opportunities; and 5) encourage a greater sponsorship culture at the firm.

Allyship Training  

Addressing bias and building empathy requires collective effort and is only the first step. We provide the additional training and guidance to help make progress stick. We host programs and trainings focused on the concept and action of allyship, introducing the topic to our firm community and inviting intimate and courageous conversations in order to allow us to better understand the impact and immense responsibility that each of us holds in making our firm a more inclusive and welcoming environment. This allows us to better serve our own communities and, ultimately, our clients.

Social Mobility  

Social mobility, ensuring access to economic opportunities and providing the ability to progress through society, is central to any effort to promote diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities. Focusing on social mobility is central to our efforts to diversify the places in which we live and work. Our London office leads Crowell’s efforts to make an impact in this area. Lawyers and professional staff work to support the organization, Education and Employers, through their Inspiring the Future program which connects schools with volunteers from the world of work, giving children and young people insights into careers and inspiring them to be ambitious.

Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI)  

Creating future women leaders only happens by recruiting, retaining and developing our women lawyers. Our Women’s Leadership Initiative, or WLI, has hosted and moderated discussions with thought leaders and experts on the topics of allyship and the advancement of women in the workplace, with a particular focus on racial and ethnic intersectional experiences. Other takeaways have included practical strategies for interrupting the status quo, eliminating toxicity in the workplace, the history of feminism through the lens of race and the role that white women can play in the pursuit of an anti-racist world.

Accessibility  

We are committed to challenging attitudes on, and increasing our understanding of, disability and removing barriers for disabled people at our firm. Through these efforts, we work to ensure that people of all abilities have equitable opportunities to reach their full potential. For example, in 2018, the firm became a signatory of the “ABA Pledge for Change: Disability Diversity in the Legal Profession,” affirming our commitment to disability inclusion, and committing to encouraging others in the legal industry to be accountable to these values. We also signed onto Diversity Lab’s Disability Inclusion Commitments to build on our disability inclusion efforts. Both commitments have involved our annual conversations with clients and our community on the importance of disability awareness, self-education, and empathy toward others. In addition, our London office has received Disability Confident Committed accreditation from the UK government, and the firm prides itself on inclusive recruitment and support of our employees with disabilities.

Crowell Caregiver Network  

Balancing professional and caregiving responsibilities takes support and intentionality, and Crowell colleagues are ready to help. Open to both lawyers and professional staff, CCN provides resources, support and a safe discussion forum for lawyers and professional staff who are navigating the challenges of balancing their professional lives and caregiving responsibilities. The focus of the network encompasses parenting as well as challenges associated with caring for aging and/or ill parents, persons with disabilities, special needs adults and children and other loved ones.

Professional Staff DEI Training and Support  

Our DEI training initiative spans the entire Crowell community, including programming on inclusive leadership, the intersections on business development and DEI, community conversations and allyship dialogues, and mental health practices for our professional staff. This focus allows us to ensure we are building culturally responsive teams across the firm, and that all feel supported.

Pledges and Commitments  

In addition to our Crowell Rule, Diversity Pledge, and Disability Inclusion Commitments Pledge, we have made several public commitments consistent with our values. Amidst the rise in anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, Crowell signed onto the ADL’s Workplace Pledge to Fight Antisemitism. We also seek to support our Jewish employees through the establishment of our Jewish Affinity Group, educational and awareness-building programs on anti-Semitism and Jewish history and culture, ensuring equitable religious accommodation policies, and speaking out against anti-Semitism. We also joined the Alliance for Inclusion and Justice, a community of law firms that facilitates educational opportunities and pro bono assistance with the vision of fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive legal profession that incorporates and respects the views and contributions of Arab and Muslim legal professionals. We whole-heartedly support these values and seek to be active in achieving both organization’s goals to combat hate and discrimination.

Anti-Bias and Anti-Discrimination Trainings  

Each year, the firm hosts two trainings on combatting bias, one on effective feedback, and one on effective interviewing. We also hosted in 2024 a series of Anti-Discrimination trainings in the wake of rising acts of anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, along with other forms of hate that our community members face based on their race, gender, and sexual orientation. These conversations are relevant and important reminders for us all to seek continuous improvement and education to become better allies.

Mentoring and Promoting Diverse Pipelines of Talent

How are we equitably supporting women and lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds, from all walks of life, on their career journeys? Crowell offers programs to promote sponsorship and mentorship to not only provide support, but the necessary access to advocacy that all lawyers need to advance in their careers.

Sponsorship on the Journey to Success

The path to success is never the same for all. While some may provide guidance through traditional mentor programs, Crowell & Moring goes further. Building on our history and culture of sponsorship, we have developed a unique Sponsorship Program that matches high-performing lawyers with partner sponsors to help them grow and develop into the leaders they aspire to become. From start to finish, there is a particular emphasis on the inclusivity and promotion of women, LGBTQ+ attorneys, and attorneys of color, with a variety of workshops, programs, and internal networking opportunities.

Maximizing Development Through Mentorship  

Every new associate is assigned a partner mentor and peer mentor to ensure they receive the integration assistance, training, guidance and work assignments necessary to be successful. The Mentor Program helps lawyers build meaningful bonds, access important information, accelerate their progress, and receive meaningful development opportunities.

Creating a Pipeline for Diverse Talent  

Attracting and retaining diverse talent requires sustained effort. Crowell sponsors a number of pipeline initiatives throughout the year, including LCLD’s Pathfinders and Fellows program, LCLD’s 1L Scholars and Success in Law School Mentoring programs, and the Colorado Pledge to Diversity. We have also endowed upwards of $500,000 to The University of California, Irvine School of Law to support the Crowell & Moring Diversity Scholarship, which supports the promotion of diversity in the legal profession. In addition, we have established the Crowell Engineers in Law (CEIL) program, an early pipeline career development internship for college students designed to help diversify the pipeline of engineering students to career opportunities as a patent legal service provider. Crowell is also an inaugural contributor to the California ABA/Antitrust Division’s Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship program, as well as a longstanding supporter of pipeline programs such as Legal Outreach – a program that provides social and academic support to help low-income youth in NYC matriculate to competitive colleges – and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s Corporate Work Study Program in Chicago.

Talent and Inclusion Partners  

In an effort to further embed DEI and Talent Development into our practice group business and firm life, Crowell established the role of Talent & Inclusion Partners. Each practice group has at least one partner in this role, dedicated to overseeing their respective practice group’s DEI, recruitment, and professional development practices. They are also responsible for helping other practice group partners and leaders aid in equitably developing and sponsoring their next generations of talent.

Mansfield “Next Gen” Pilot  

Going above and beyond our Mansfield Rule participation, for which we are 2.0-6.0 certified and 5.0-6.0 certified plus, we also signed onto the Mansfield Next Gen Pilot. This ambitious initiative challenges select participating firms to further increase our recruitment and leadership pipeline consideration pool percentages and build out initiatives to increase equity in our business generation and development practices. Through this program, Crowell has focused on improving practices involving equitable succession planning, ensuring a diverse pool of talent is represented and positioned in the long-term plans for client relationships and the strategic success of the firm.