DE&I means appreciating the power of distinct and varied experiences—and expanding opportunity pipelines to be inclusive of those experiences so we identify the people or the right character and talent to continue OMM’s legacy. But appreciation is only one dimension—how do we also ensure that people feel a sense of opportunity and belonging, especially within an industry that has historically excluded those from underrepresented communities? DE&I gives us the power to create spaces of acceptance: our differences exist, but people should never feel like they don’t belong because of them. DE&I allows all our OMM colleagues—from lawyers to professional staff—to feel respected and valued, empowering them to do their best work.

Our Chair has the ultimate responsibility for DE&I at the firm—and he holds us accountable by embedding DE&I at the forefront of some of our most senior committee meetings. At our Policy Committee meetings, for example, DE&I is a permanent agenda item and members have the opportunity to comment and inquire upon our DE&I strategy. But there’s an additional layer of accountability that comes from our OMM community. DE&I has become an integral part of the firm’s fabric: no longer is it nice to do, it’s required. Our people expect us to lead with DE&I in mind while listening conscientiously to their perspectives on growth areas for the firm. When we identify opportunities to enhance our strategy in line with broader expectations, our people expect to be brought into the fold. This two-way accountability model continually pushes us to develop novel approaches to DE&I that align not only with industry trends but our OMM community’s expectations.

DE&I is a forever evolving landscape, so education, thought leadership discussion, and general conversation will always be a part of the work. But we need to move away from talking about the importance of DE&I and begin building DE&I into everything the profession and the firm does. We will always need the expertise and guidance of specialized DE&I professionals, but DE&I accountability can’t just live with them. The next frontier includes identifying DE&I gap to goal ratios across the firm and establishing effective execution strategies—that don’t just live with our DE&I team, but throughout our entire community. Luckily, we’ve started this: since 2021, as a result of a comprehensive DE&I initiative titled The Redesign Project, we identified adjustments and modifications throughout firm processes that strengthened DE&I throughout the career of our O’Melveny colleagues. Throughout arenas such as Work Coordination, OCI, Associate Lateral Hiring, Performance Development, Partner Admissions, and Pipeline Development, we’re not just emphasizing the importance of DE&I, but we’re building sustainable models that our leaders use to execute our DE&I priorities. We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m proud of our commitment thus far.