CHICAGO - Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is pleased to announce that for the fifth consecutive year, it has been named to MultiCultural Law magazine’s listing of the Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity. Within this ranking, Katten was specifically recognized for its commitment to women’s initiatives, also ranking among the publication’s Top 100 Law Firms for Women. The rankings are announced in MultiCultural Law’s 2009 issue.
MultiCultural Law magazine selects its Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity based on statistics compiled by surveying more than 200 top law firms. Criteria for the listings include the diversity of each firm’s attorneys, the presence of diversity committees and mentoring programs within the firm, and firm wide leadership initiatives to support diversity. MultiCultural Law has established itself as a leading media advocate for law professionals. Distributed annually, it has a circulation of over 40,000 legal professionals, as well as distribution to numerous legal organizations, all Fortune 1000 general counsel, and all ABA accredited law school career offices.
Over the last three years, Katten has achieved a number of milestones in the area of diversity. These include naming Leslie D. Minier as its first Chief Diversity Officer and the launch of the firm’s inaugural Leadership Institute for Women of Color, an internal program designed for female attorneys of color at all Katten offices. The Katten Leadership Institute is the first program of its kind in the nation to proactively address the issue of women of color leaving law firms at a high rate by providing them with the tools that they need to ensure long-term success in their careers as attorneys at the firm. Additionally, in January 2008, the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, designed to foster racial and ethnic diversity in the Chicago legal community, selected Katten as its home through 2010. Finally, the firm has been named among the Top 50 Law Firms for Women and Top 100 Companies for Women by Working Mother magazine for the last two years.
Katten is dedicated to the achievement and promotion of diversity within both the firm and the broader legal community. The firm's National Diversity Committee addresses the steps necessary to accelerate the process of building diversity at every level within the firm, while its Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity is responsible for strategic planning to support the recruitment, retention and development of minority attorneys. The firm actively supports and promotes diversity within its workplace through various programs, including the Women's Leadership Forum, which fosters career development and advancement and provides support, mentoring and training programs for the firm's female attorneys, and the Minority Associates Committee, which is dedicated to the recruitment, retention and promotion of minority associates at the firm. Katten was also a lead signatory to the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women “Call to Action” this past year.