Top 25 Biglaw Firm Offers Bonus-Eligible Diversity & Inclusion Billable Hours

The firm has been successfully running this program for almost a year.

onFebruary 8, 2021 at 1:48 PMFebruary 11, 2021 at 10:15 AM

Biglaw firms continue to roll out worthy initiatives when it comes to showing just how important diversity and inclusion are to the future of the legal profession. We’ve previously acknowledged Dorsey & Whitney, Hogan Lovells, and Reed Smith as firms where approved diversity and inclusion-related work will be billable for attorneys and will count toward bonus thresholds. We’ve just received word that another leading law firm has had a successful program like this that’s been operating quietly under the radar for almost a year, but now it’s time time to show them some praise.

Cooley — the firm that introduced special appreciation bonuses for associates and sits at #23 in the latest Am Law 100 rankings — rolled out its diversity and inclusion billable hours credit program on February 21, 2020 in a memo to all associates, technical advisors, and patent agents. Anyone working in one of those roles at the firm will receive up to 50 hours of billable credit for qualified activities that will count toward their productivity and bonus eligibility.

Here are the broad categories that are eligible for D&I billable credit at Cooley:

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From Above The Law

• Diversity committee and women’s initiative leadership – time spent carrying out responsibilities of committee leaders

• Affinity group leadership – time spent carrying out responsibilities of affinity group leadership, including drafting communications, planning events, leading calls and running initiatives

• Internal diversity mentoring and sponsorship – participation in formal Cooley diversity mentorship programs, including affinity group pairings, reverse mentoring, leave liaisons and sponsorship programs

• Law school relationships – representing the firm at law school diversity events and job fairs, participating in minority student organization panels and events and mentoring underrepresented law students

• Pipeline and closing efforts – outreach before or after a diverse candidate interview in an effort to attract them to Cooley, time spent managing the 1L Diversity Fellowship pipeline, and establishing recruiting relationships with candidates of diverse backgrounds

• Client partnerships – participation in client diversity programs, including Google’s diversity mentor program

• Other activities approved in advance by the director of diversity & inclusion

Congratulations to Cooley on its commitment to diversity, and for offering its attorneys and other timekeepers a way to create a more inclusive workplace.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.