By Michael G. Donahue, III, Esq.

The trial lawyer community must ensure that our belief in fairness and justice for all extends into our workplaces. When we create diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces, our firms will gain a broader set of experiences, ideas, perspectives, and solutions to become better advocates for our clients and strengthen our practices.

Last year, American Association for Justice  President Navan Ward  made diversity and inclusion a primary goal of his presidency of AAJ. In the words of President Ward, “a strong plaintiff bar is a diverse plaintiff bar.” To further that goal, he launched the AAJ Member Firm Pledge to Act. The Pledge offers participants the opportunity to have thoughtful discussions of ways to foster diverse and inclusive environments within their own law firms. The Pledge also provides participants with resources to assist them in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of minorities.

In January, NJAJ’s Board of Governors voted to support the Pledge and encourage members to join the initiative. By joining this initiative, AAJ Members Firms pledge to take concrete steps towards diversity and inclusion. Firms pledge to implement initiatives to support diversity at their firms. They also pledge to address issues that have adversely impacted their recruitment, retention, and promotion of minority attorneys. Further, they will make efforts through recruiting, hiring, and promoting to include and increase minority attorneys in their firms.

Firms are encouraged to consider minority attorneys in their applicant pools when they hire or promote minority attorneys. Firms are also encouraged to adopt retention and advancement policies that foster opportunities for all attorneys, including minority attorneys to succeed.

Upon making the Pledge to Act, firms identify a main contact at the participant’s law firm to  address questions regarding the participant firm’s demographics and hiring, promotion and retention practices. Answers are to be provided to initial and quarterly surveys.

Firms receive the initial and quarterly demographic surveys from AAJ. These anonymous surveys will be hosted by a third-party administrator for this program in order for AAJ to observe the overall progress of the Pledge.

The Pledge does not require firms to hire minority attorneys, but instead encourages firms to include minorities in the applicant pool of candidates when the participant firm engages in the process of recruiting or promoting an attorney or law student intern. It also does not require a firm to engage in the recruitment or promotion process if the firm otherwise did not plan to do so. AAJ provides resources to help locate potential minority candidates, in addition to any additional resources available.

Additionally, the initiative offers firms multiple other opportunities to foster diversity and inclusion within the plaintiffs’ bar outside of the recruitment and promotion process. AAJ offers resources that can assist in the recruitment, retention, promotion and diversity training process.

This is an exciting opportunity to advance your firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Stark & Stark as well as many other firms have joined the initiative. It is a tremendous way to demonstrate your firm’s commitment to DE&I through taking measures to realize meaningful progress and change. Please consider joining AAJ’s Pledge to Act.

Michael  G. Donahue, III, Esq. is a past president of NJAJ and a member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee  He is the managing shareholder at Stark & Stark in Princeton, NJ. He can be reached at mdonahue@stark-stark.com or at 609-895-7343.