The American Lawyer reports….
Big Law has made a big commitment to racial equality in the form of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance. With tackling such big issues, as well as cynicism from some about the firms’ own diversity efforts, will they be able to shift the tide on institutional racism?
Law firms have long undertaken, and promoted, pro bono work for various causes. Sometimes they affect change, sometimes not. But a concerted effort on the level of the new Law Firm Antiracism Alliance is something novel, both from the volume of participation as well as the ambitions of what the alliance hopes to accomplish.
As of June 23, over 125 law firms have signed on (one of the partner firms, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, is hosting a running list of the firms participating) to participate in the program, which has the lofty goal of addressing not just individual assaults on equality and social justice, but the structures in place that allow those inequalities to propagate.
The alliance’s charter states its purpose as seeking to “leverage the resources of the private bar to amplify the voices of communities and individuals oppressed by racism, to better use the law as a vehicle for change that benefits communities of color and to promote racial equity in the law and in government institutions.” Again, lofty goals.
While still in its early stages, the alliance eventually hopes to coordinate its efforts via a network of social and racial justice organizations that already have the institutional knowledge of what needs to happen to affect meaningful change.
The initial touchpoint for those efforts is running through Kimberly Jones Merchant and the Racial Justice Institute and Racial Justice Network at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, based in Chicago.
Jones Merchant said the genesis of this alliance was formed as she and other advocates from the RJI and RJN provided pro bono counsel training on how it is impossible to address poverty without talking about race.
Read more and how to join the alliance at
Full List of Firms Currently In The Alliance
Akerman LLP Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Allen & Overy LLP Alston & Bird LLP Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP Ashurst Baker Botts L.L.P. Baker McKenzie LLP Ballard Spahr LLP Bass, Berry & Sims PLC Blank Rome LLP Bodman PLC Bracewell LLP Buckley LLP Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP Chapman and Cutler LLP Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Cooley LLP Covington & Burling LLP Cozen O’Connor Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Crowell & Moring LLP Davis & Gilbert LLP Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Dechert LLP Dentons US LLP DLA Piper LLP (US) Dorsey & Whitney LLP Duane Morris LLP Dykema Gossett PLLC Eversheds Sutherland Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Fenwick & West LLP Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP Fish & Richardson P.C. Foley & Lardner LLP Foley Hoag LLP FordHarrison LLP Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Goodwin Procter LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP Haynes and Boone, LLP Herbert Smith Freehills LLP Holland & Knight LLP Honigman LLP Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Husch Blackwell LLP Ice Miller LLP Jenner & Block LLP Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Kelley Drye & Warren LLP Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP King & Spalding LLP Kirkland & Ellis LLP Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Latham & Watkins LLP Lathrop GPM LLP Littler Mendelson, P.C. Locke Lord LLP Loeb & Loeb LLP Lowenstein Sandler LLP Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr. e Quiroga Advogados Mayer Brown LLP McCarter & English, LLP McDermott Will & Emery LLP McGuireWoods LLP Milbank LLP Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone PLC Miller & Chevalier Chartered Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, PA. Moore & Van Allen PLLC Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Morrison & Foerster LLP Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP Nixon Peabody LLP Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP O’Melveny & Myers LLP Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Paul Hastings LLP Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Pepper Hamilton LLP Perkins Coie LLP Pierce Atwood LLP Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP Reed Smith LLP Robins Kaplan LLP Ropes & Gray LLP Schiff Hardin LLP Seyfarth Shaw LLP Shearman & Sterling LLP Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP Sidley Austin LLP Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. Steptoe & Johnson LLP Stinson LLP Stoel Rives LLP Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Thompson & Knight LLP Travers Smith LLP Troutman Sanders LLP Vinson & Elkins LLP Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP White & Case LLP Wiley Rein LLP Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP 2 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Winston & Strawn LLP Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP
