Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

The firm’s diversity efforts are focused in the following areas:

• Education: Increase awareness and appreciation of the unique attributes that each individual brings to our firm
• Recruitment: Communicate the firm’s commitment to hiring a diverse workforce
• Retention: Foster an environment that allows all individuals to excel and advance in their profession

Benesch is proud of its commitment to diversity and the successes that commitment has generated, both historically and today:

• Beginning in 1966, Robert Coplan, one of Benesch’s name partners helped start Cleveland Scholarship Programs (“CSP”). CSP is a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities and supports workforce development for Greater Cleveland through a broad range of financial aid and advisory programs. The firm still remains a very active supporter of CSP.
• Benesch was one of the first law firms in Cleveland to do inner-city high school recruiting for administrative staff.
• Going back to 1986, Benesch was the first major Cleveland firm to name a woman to its Executive Committee. Today, women and minorities occupy important strategic positions at all levels of the firm.
• Currently, female partners chair the General Practice Group, Corporate & Securities Practice Group and Business Succession Planning & Wealth Management Practice Group. The Firm’s Professional Development Committee, charged with nurturing and monitoring the professional growth of associates, is also chaired by a female partner.
• Benesch partners have served as active board and executive committee members of The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, formerly the National Conference for Community and Justice (“NCCJ”) for more than three decades. The firm supports and is involved in the Diversity Center’s mission of fighting bias, bigotry, and racism; and promoting diversity and acceptance. 
• An African-American partner at the firm was appointed by President Bush to the National Labor Relations Board and completed his term. He is now serving his second six-year term (a part-time position) on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Benesch is involved in many diversity programs and initiatives, including:

• Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)
• The LCLD is an organization of more than 265 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners—the leadership of the profession—who have dedicated themselves to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. For more information, visit www.lcldnet.org.
• Bar Association Minority Programs
• The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio 
• The National Federation for Just Communities
• Athena Awards – International organization that recognizes women and men for helping women reach their full leadership potential
• Minority Corporate Counsel Association
• National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
• e-Women Network
• Anti-Defamation League
• YWCA
• Human Rights Campaign Northeast Ohio

Recruitment:

• Benesch participates in the Midwest Minority Recruiting Conference 
• Benesch hosts receptions for first-year minority law students
• Benesch participates in Bar Association Minority Clerkship Programs

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Additional Information:

For more information about our firm’s diversity efforts, please contact Juan Morado Jr., Margo Wolf O’Donnell and Charanjit Brahma, Co-Chairs of Benesch’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Juan Morado Jr. at jmorado@beneschlaw.com or 312.212.4967.

Margo Wolf O’Donnell at modonnell@beneschlaw.com or 312.212.4982.

Charanjit Brahma at cbrahma@beneschlaw.com or 628.600.2241.