Perhaps the best evidence of success of our Diversity Strategy lies in the number of minority and women directors and in the number of leadership positions held by minorities and women. We have a strong track record of advancing women and minority lawyers to positions of leadership within the firm and within the legal community.

We hired our first female attorney in 1974 when few women were licensed to practice law. In 1980, we were one of the first Arizona law firms to elect a female director. In the late 1980s, we became one of the first large law firms in the Southwest to appoint a woman to its Management Committee.

Our tradition of inclusion permeates its culture to this day. Sarah Strunk is a director and serves as Chair of the firm’s Board of Directors and both Susan Wissink, Kim Arana and Leigh Burnside serve on our five-person Management Committee. Additionally, 32 percent of our attorneys are women who make up 25 percent of the firm’s director ranks. Approximately 8 percent of the directors and 19 percent of the associates are members of minority groups. In April 2015, Law360, for the first time ever, ranked the 100 best U.S. law firms for women, based on the firm’s female representation at the partner and nonpartner levels and its total number of female attorneys. We were ranked #22 nationally by Law360.

Women and minorities hold key leadership positions within the firm and manage a number of our top client relationships. Ann Morgan serves on the firm’s Compensation Committee. Dawn Meidinger is chair of the Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental practice.

We actively seek to recruit, retain, develop and advance a diverse mix of talented attorneys and allied legal professionals through various initiatives, including scholarship, internship, training, community involvement and mentoring opportunities. As part of these initiatives to further promote diversity, racial equality, and inclusion within our growing firm, we participate in:

• In 2019, the Fennemore Diversity Scholarship and Fellowship was the first of its kind partnership between Arizona State University and a law firm. Under the partnership, the firm provides a scholarship, which is matched by ASU, to cover the first year’s tuition. In addition to the scholarship, the partnership includes a paid fellowship at the firm for the recipient for the summer after their first year of law school. The goal of the partnership is to improve the diversity pipeline at ASU and the legal community in general.
• Diversity job fairs, including the Sunbelt Diversity Job Fair in Dallas, Texas
• A formal mentoring program for all associates
   

We support work-life balance through policies such as reduced-schedule options, an employee assistance program, and a parental leave policy. We are also focused on individual growth and improving the health and well-being for all of our colleagues.

Our attorneys have been recognized for their contribution to the community:

• Phillip Fargotstein, 2015 Diversity Leader by Diversity Journal for his role as Chief Diversity Officer on Fennemore’s Diversity Council
• Travis Pacheco, the current chair of our Diversity and Retention Council, is fluent in Spanish and comes from a ninth-generation Arizona family who first settled in Tubac, AZ in the 1770’s. Travis and his team work tirelessly to connect with diverse student groups, including recently collaborating with the State Bar of Arizona for a dialogue on racism, discrimination, and systematic injustices in the courts and the practice of law.

Our attorneys and staff are known as leaders throughout the communities where they live and work. They are active in more than 400 professional, civic and philanthropic organizations. In addition, the firm has an active Pro Bono Committee, which coordinates pro bono services in the communities where the firm has offices.

Our involvement ranges from service as officers in the American Bar Association to chairing state bar organizations, as well as a wide range of board of directors for non-profit and civic organizations. We annually support minority bar organizations, including AAABA (Arizona Asian American Bar Association) and Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association, and tables at events for organizations such as the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). We generously contribute to worthwhile charitable organizations, concentrating on those in which firm attorneys and staff are personally active.

We have participated in a pioneering joint study on Achieving Long-Term Careers for Women in the Law. This study stems from an American Bar Association (ABA) Presidential Initiative sponsored by the ABA and ALM Intelligence. The joint ABA/ALM effort focuses on key factors that influence law firms and individual attorneys within firms in fostering long-term careers for women in private practice. 500 of the nation’s largest law firms, including Fennemore Craig will provide recommendations on best practices for retaining and advancing experienced female attorneys into upper levels of the profession.

We are supporting a first-of-its-kind national survey of diversity and inclusion of attorneys sponsored by the American Bar Association (ABA), in conjunction with the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. The survey’s purpose is to identify the biases encountered by LGBT+ and/or disabled attorneys in the legal profession and to help develop and implement strategies to ameliorate such biases. ABA President, Linda Klein states, “This study is integral to the ABA’s continuing efforts to promote the full and equal participation of all diverse persons, including LGBT+ lawyers and lawyers with disabilities, in the association and the legal profession as a whole."

• We advocate for diverse perspectives in our work.
• We are focused on opportunities to advance talent and great ideas.
• We're committed to achieving a welcoming environment where great ideas thrive, and everyone knows they're a valued contributor.