Diversity and Our Firm
Beirne, Maynard & Parsons believes that building an attorney team that reflects diversity of gender, race, and ethnicity helps us achieve our most important goal: quality of service to our clients, to our communities, and to the legal profession. To that end, we actively recruit qualified minority and women candidates through both our general recruiting and interview process and participation in programs specifically geared to the recruitment, hiring, and retention of qualified minority attorneys.
Recruiting Minority and Women Attorneys
The firm's recruitment efforts are coordinated through a formal Recruiting Committee. This committee, working closely with the firm's Diversity Committee, makes recommendations to the firm regarding the recruitment program and new lawyer hiring, sets recruiting activities for the year, and selects and interviews potential candidates. Membership on the Recruiting Committee revolves over the course of several years, and the firm ensures that lawyers from different backgrounds are always on the committee, including female and minority lawyers at the associate and partner levels. The committee is specifically charged with seeking input from the firm's minority lawyers and exploring issues involving minority recruitment.
The recruiting process begins with the Recruiting Committee reviewing resumes and other submissions by qualified law students throughout Texas and the nation. Selected candidates participate in initial on-campus interviews, and some of these will be invited for office interviews. Throughout this process, the firm considers many factors affecting candidates’ potential to become strong lawyers and leaders within the firm, and minority candidates always receive equal consideration in this regard.
Outside of the general recruitment program, we also participate in programs designed specifically to provide opportunities for qualified minority candidates. These programs include attending minority recruiting social events sponsored by minority law student associations and purchasing tables at minority banquets (the proceeds of which fund minority scholarships); participating in regional minority recruiting and interviewing programs such as the Sunbelt Minority Recruitment Program; participating in minority job fairs; and interviewing at law schools that traditionally produce qualified minority candidates, including the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.
Professional Development of Minority and Women Attorneys
As part of our commitment to the professional development of minority and women attorneys, the firm encourages and sponsors its attorneys' membership in minority and female bar associations. The firm also encourages and sponsors its minority and female attorneys' attendance at the annual Texas Minority Counsel Program, where the firm's minority and female attorneys network with other similarly situated attorneys and in-house counsel.
Over the years the firm has continued to enhance its diversity program. Central to this effort is the Diversity Committee, which is chaired by the Diversity Partner and charged with managing the firm’s diversity program. This program includes but is not limited to:
- Establishing an effective diversity plan
- Promoting greater membership of the firm’s attorneys in minority and female bar associations
- Identifying job fairs and campuses at which the firm can recruit minority and female lawyers
- Enhancing retention by identifying and implementing methods to promote the business development and professional development opportunities of female and minority lawyers in the firm
Building an attorney team that reflects the diversity of gender, race, and ethnicity found in our client companies is the correct goal for our firm, and our recruitment and attorney development efforts and policies are clear reflections of that goal.
