Commitment to Diversity

Mission Statement

Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. has long recognized that diversity in the work place creates the synergy to our success, and forges unity of purpose in serving clients of all ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. The firm's diverse makeup puts it in the upper echelon of major law firms with 40 or more lawyers. Our women and minority members are actively involved in firm activities and its committee structure, including the Executive Committee, or serving as leaders in bar associations and other community and civic organizations.

The firm’s Diversity Committee ensures that our commitment to recruiting, retaining and promoting legal talent from diverse backgrounds and experiences remains strong. In its commitment to foster and encourage diversity, the law firm has been pro-active in initiatives such as membership in the New Jersey Law Firm Group, which is comprised of prominent New Jersey law firms, members of the judiciary, the Attorney General and county prosecutors, the mission of which is to encourage women and minority lawyer recruitment into the public and private sectors. Almost fifty (50%) percent of the firm's associates are minority or women attorneys, a testament to the firm’s commitment to, and successful recruitment of, minority and women hires.

Retention and promotion, however, are as important as recruitment, and we strive to create a work environment flexible in accommodating and advancing the needs of minority and women attorneys, and intolerant of harassment or discrimination in any form. We have implemented and will continue to develop mentoring, outreach and educational programs designed to maximize growth and leadership opportunities for our minority and women attorneys, and to ensure equal opportunity for all attorneys, without regard to race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, age, disability, marital and parental status or any other factor not relevant to individual talent and potential for leadership in our firm. We also have a number of attorneys who are veterans or reservists, and we accommodate those attorneys in honoring any continuing military obligations.

Diversity Program

Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. has a long-standing commitment to diversity among its professional staff. As evidence of its commitment, approximately 48% of all of our associates are women and minorities and approximately 36% of all attorneys of the firm, including partners and associates, are women and minorities. Based on published data, these percentages place the firm in the upper echelon among major law firms with respect to diversity. More importantly, as a result of the firm’s efforts, the overall percentage of women and minority attorneys has risen steadily from 21% in 2004 and 2005 to 36% in 2007, and for associates, 24% from 2004 and 2005 to 48% in 2007. Indeed, women and minority lawyers populate the firm’s internal governing committees, including the Executive Committee.

To further advance the firm’s commitment to diversity, a Diversity Committee has been established to develop and implement a Diversity Program. The key elements of the Diversity Program will be:

Recruitment

The firm does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, age, disability and marital and parental status. Our goal in recruiting has always been to maintain excellence of attorneys while seeking to increase diversity.

In its commitment to foster and encourage diversity, the firm has been pro-active in initiatives such as membership in the New Jersey Law Firm Group, which is committed to increasing diversity at member law firms through the recruitment and hiring of minority law students. The Group sponsors an annual job fair that is hosted by one of the three New Jersey law schools (Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark or Seton Hall). The firm has historically attended this job fair and has successfully recruited minority attorneys as a result of its participation in the Group.

In furtherance of this initiative, the firm is expanding its minority recruitment efforts by participating in other minority job fairs in the northeast and by establishing relationships with minority student programs at a number of law schools.

With respect to lateral hires, it has been the firm’s practice to engage women and minority-owned recruitment firms to assure diversity among candidates for lateral positions. As part of our Diversity Program, a committee of the firm has been established to focus on and develop other mechanisms to enhance diversity recruitment of lateral associates and partners. The Diversity Committee works closely with the firm’s Hiring Committee to achieve these goals.

Retention/Advancement

As part of our Diversity Program, the Committee proposes the establishment of a subcommittee to expand and enhance the firm’s retention and advancement of women and minority attorneys. As part of its historic efforts to retain and advance minorities and women, the firm has already established viable programs for maternity/paternity leave and part-time/flex time arrangements for attorneys. These programs will be reexamined and expanded on recommendation of the Committee and with the approval of the Executive Committee. Additionally, the Committee has initiated mentoring with assistance from the firm’s Associate and Marketing Committees, and has developed programs which will address topics of particular concern to women and minorities, including work/life balance, networking, rainmaking and community service. These programs formalize the firm’s efforts to promote the success of our minority and women hires.

Community Outreach

All attorneys of the firm are encouraged to engage in community activism. At this time, several of our partners hold leadership positions in statewide minority bar associations and non-profit charitable organizations that support the needs of women and minorities. The firm was one of a handful of New Jersey firms to sponsor the newly revitalized New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, the Broward County Women Lawyers' Association, and has been a sponsor and contributor to the Women’s Fund of New Jersey for many years. Firm members have also been actively involved in the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, Asian/Pacific American Lawyers Association, the Battered Women Legal Assistance Project, Partners for Women and Justice, the Deirdre O’Brien Child Advocacy Program (now “Deirdre’s House”), the Governor’s Counsel for Women, Township of Montclair Civil Rights Commission, the State Bar Diversity Committee, the NJCCA Diversity Committee, the Association of Professional Insurance Women, the American Bar Association, and state and county bar associations, all of which sponsor women and minority initiatives at every level. As part of our Diversity Program, the firm will continue to sponsor women and minority organizations and will create and host new social and educational activities with minority and women college students and student groups, minority and women law students and student groups and women and minority legal associations.