Gordon & Rees's Diversity Committee is an official sponsor of the Third Annual Arizona Collaborative Bar (AZCB) Reception on Wednesday, September 6 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the art-filled chic boutique hotel Found: RE Phoenix located in downtown Phoenix. The annual reception is the AZCB’s most anticipated and best-attended event. Last year, more than 150 attorneys and members from the legal community attended and committed to supporting the efforts of the AZCB.
The AZCB is comprised of Arizona’s affinity bar associations. In just three short years, the AZCB has grown to include the following diversity bar organizations: the Arizona Asian American Bar Association, Arizona Black Bar, the Arizona Jewish Lawyers Association, Arizona Women Lawyers Association, Iranian American Bar Association – Phoenix Chapter, LGBT Bar Association-Arizona, Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association – Southwest Region, Native American Bar Association – Arizona, and South Asian Bar Association – Arizona.
The primary purpose of the AZCB is to make an annual commitment to one another to stay connected. The AZCB provides a pipeline of communication among the affiliated bar organizations and has resulted in the AZCB hosting meaningful professional development opportunities, including CLEs and networking events. A key goal of the AZCB is advancing diversity and inclusion in the Arizona legal community. For its efforts, the AZCB has been selected for the State Bar of Arizona’s 2017 Diversity and Inclusion Award presented annually at the State Bar convention.
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About GRSM Diversity
Gordon & Rees launched a new strategic plan more than 10 years ago that called for growth across the country. We knew our growth could be a catalyst to build on our culture of inclusion. At the time, there were few models to follow, so we charted our own course. Since launching the plan, we have grown our headcount by more than 300 percent and added more than 20 offices. We grew by being vigilant about inclusiveness in hiring, mentoring, retaining, and promoting.
Our strategy has produced wonderful results in the areas of diversity and inclusion, particularly in firm leadership. A case in point is our growth rate of office managing partners. We have increased the number of our diverse and women office managing partners at more than six times the rate of our office openings.
In May 2017, Gordon & Rees was ranked No. 32 on The American Lawyer's 2017 Diversity Scorecard. The firm was also ranked No.19 for diversity among partners and No. 53 for minority representation among equity partners. During the past 10 years, the firm has climbed nearly 100 spots on the Diversity Scorecard.
At Gordon & Rees, inclusion is something that starts at the top and we are proud that our firm leadership reflects our culture.
For more about GRSM Diversity, please click here.