Barnes & Thornburg has been named a 2022 Top Performer and Compass Award recipient by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). The awards recognize law firms and corporations that show a strong commitment to building more diverse organizations and a more inclusive legal profession. The Top Performer award recognizes those organizations in the top 20 percent for participation in LCLD programs and activities. The Compass Award recognizes those individuals and organizations that fulfill all of the following requirements in a single calendar year:
- Member attendance at the LCLD Annual Membership Meeting and/or Member attendance at a Leadership Summit and/or submission of a Leader’s Pledge
- Participation in the LCLD Fellows and Pathfinder Programs
- Participation in an LCLD Pipeline program (the 1L Scholars program or the Success in Law School Mentoring Program)
LCLD is one of the nation’s leading organizations promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and was founded to “build a legal profession that looks like the nation it serves.” To accelerate progress in this regard, LCLD recently launched its Leaders at the Front initiative, which calls upon its more than 430 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners to “create personal action plans, and publicly commit to them, with the goal of building a more perfect union—in our organizations, our communities, and our world.”
During his tenure as firm managing partner from 2014-2022, Robert T. Grand made and wholly fulfilled a Leaders at the Front pledge containing more than 15 actionable commitments to advance diverse talent within Barnes & Thornburg. Grand's personal and organizational pledge included a commitment to the development of a diverse workforce in which all voices are heard and equity is woven into the fabric of the firm.
“These two honors from LCLD, coupled with Bob’s day-in and day-out effort to make good on his pledge commitments, reflect Barnes & Thornburg’s authentic dedication to change,” Firm Diversity Partner Dawn R. Rosemond said. “We are proud of how much we have accomplished and proud of Bob’s leadership in this regard, but know that the journey is never-ending. We look forward to the continued prioritization of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into the way we do business at Barnes & Thornburg with Andy Detherage, new firm managing partner, at the helm.”
With more than 800 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.
