Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

A Historic Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

Awards and Recognition

Paul, Weiss has been recognized many times over for our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Recent awards and recognition include:

• • Recognized as one of 2023’s Top 50 Best Law Firms for Women & Diversity by Seramount (formerly known as Working Mother Media).
  • Recognized as one of the top law firm leaders for DE&I by the nonprofit Lawyers of Color in their Black Student’s Guide to Law Schools and Law Firms for 2023.
  • Ranked among the top 25% of “Most Diverse Law Firms” for 21 consecutive years, with two
    number one rankings, by The American Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard.
  • Awarded Mansfield Certification status for the “5.0” 2021-2022 certification year, indicating consideration of at least 30% women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities and senior lateral positions.
  • Awarded Gold Standard Certification by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF)
    annually since 2015 for our advancement of women lawyers.
  • Ranked eighth among 75 large firms in Law360’s 2022 “Glass Ceiling Report: Women in Law,” which draws on extensive survey data to examine women’s representation at all levels of U.S. firms.
  • Listed in Bloomberg Law’s 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Framework, which recognizes select firms for distinguished and transparent performance against key demographic, leadership, innovation and other performance criteria.
  • Shortlisted for “Asian Diversity Initiative of the Year” in Law.com International's 2022 Asia Legal Awards. 
  • Ranked in The American Lawyer’s “A-List” every year since 2017, most recently ranked sixth in
    2022.
  • Ranked among the top 20 law firms among large firms (601+) in the Law360 2022 Diversity Snapshot Report.
  • Received National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)’s 2021 Law Firm Diversity Award for recruiting, retaining and promoting Asian American Pacific Islander lawyers.
  • Shortlisted for 2021’s “Best Diversity Initiative” by The American Lawyer in recognition of Paul, Weiss’s Colleague Connect Circles program.
  • Shortlisted by the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers 2021 awards for “Innovation in Racial
    Justice.”
  • Ranked second on 2021's “Top 20 Most Innovative Law Firms in North America” list by
    the Financial Times, which scores firms based on racial and social justice, sustainability, client
    work and other factors.

Industry-Leading DEI Initiatives

At Paul, Weiss, DE&I is central to every aspect of the firm’s culture and every point in the talent life cycle — from pipeline development and recruitment to promotion and advancement. Our diversity initiatives and programs aim to strengthen the inclusiveness of our firm’s culture and contribute to the diversity of the legal profession overall.

Some of our flagship initiatives include:

• Pauli Murray Diversity Fellowship: Paul, Weiss launched the 2L Pauli Murray Diversity Fellowship for a select group of law students pursuing summer associate positions leading to full-time positions. In addition to experiencing our Summer Program’s substantive assignments, Pauli Murray fellows receive robust training and multi-faceted mentorship, as well as opportunities for client engagement and social events.
• Colleague Connect Circles: A unique mentorship and community-building program that forms
  small groups of associates, counsel and partners who meet regularly to foster professional and
  social relationships. Groups also engage with each other by attending DE&I workshops together on unconscious bias, LGBTQ+ allyship and other topics. Each Circle of partners, counsel and associates reflects the firm’s extraordinary diversity and variety of experiences and interests.
• Kids Book Club: The firm's Networks launched the Paul, Weiss Kids Book Clubs to complement the celebration of heritage months. For each Book Club meeting, a Network member reads a heritage-themed book with their child(ren) in front of a virtual audience of Paul, Weiss community members, many attending with their own children (who are often vocal participants). The Book Clubs bring more conversation about diverse perspectives and experiences into the homes of Paul, Weiss colleagues, allowing families to explore themes related to different lived experiences. As the Book Clubs bring Paul, Weiss into the home, and the home into Paul, Weiss, our community recognizes that inclusion and acceptance begins at the youngest ages!
• New York University Law School Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law Paul Weiss Student
  Fellowship Program: Paul, Weiss partnered with the NYU School of Law's Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law to create the Paul, Weiss Student Fellowships. Paid fellowships are
  available each year to NYU Law 2Ls who spend the academic year working closely with leaders within the Center on projects studying race and inequality throughout our society. Each year, the Paul, Weiss Student Fellows present their critical research to the firm and the Law School community.
• Annual Diversity Networking Reception: Our annual Diversity Networking Reception has
  become the premier summer networking event in New York City. The event connects lawyers
  and business professionals of color with one another and with the larger legal and business
  communities and has been a longstanding firm tradition for the past 20 years.

Past speakers at our Annual Diversity Networking Reception include:

• Cory Booker, New Jersey Senator and former Mayor of Newark
• Geoffrey Canada, President, Harlem Children's Zone
• Kenneth Chenault, former CEO and Chairman of American Express
• Harold Ford, Jr., former U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District and
  Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
• Kenneth Frazier, Executive Chairman & former CEO, Merck & Company, Inc.
• Sherrilyn Ifill, former President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Representative for New York’s 8th District, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and Paul, Weiss alumnus
• Vernon E. Jordan Jr., former Senior Managing Director of Lazard Freres & Co. LLC and former Political Advisor to President Clinton
• Loretta Lynch, former U.S. Attorney General and Paul, Weiss litigation partner
• Raymond J. McGuire, President, Lazard
• Charles J. Ogletree Jr., former Harvard Law Professor and author
• John Payton, former President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• April D. Ryan, White House Correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief for American Urban
  Radio Networks & CNN Political Analyst
• Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative
• Deborah C. Wright, former CEO and President of Carver Bancorp

Women at Paul, Weiss

Paul, Weiss has made tremendous strides in preparing and promoting women for partnership and
leadership positions, and we continue to promote women to our equity partnership at levels that
surpass industry benchmarks. We are sharply focused on the retention and promotion of women lawyers, and we are committed to providing them with the tools to achieve professional success.

In this video, women partners, counsel, associates and alumnae discuss what it's like to practice at Paul, Weiss and the strength of the firm's commitment to gender diversity and inclusion at all levels.

Women Leaders

Women lawyers at Paul, Weiss are at the forefront of leadership at our firm and in their fields. Paul, Weiss was the first major law firm to elect a woman partner, and we remain sharply focused on the retention and promotion of women lawyers. Our Women’s Network offers community and mentorship through a variety of programming and events. And women leaders at the firm serve as role models within the firm and across the industry.

"Women are at the forefront of leadership at Paul, Weiss. We embrace the diversity of women
lawyers at the firm and the breadth of experience they bring to the table."

- Valerie Radwaner, Firm Deputy Chair and Corporate Partner

In 2014, the partnership elected Valerie Radwaner as the firm’s first deputy chair after a successful career as a corporate finance partner. As deputy chair, Valerie helps the firm achieve its strategic priorities, creating a blueprint for what law firm leaders can do to help women succeed.

Valerie is also deeply involved in initiatives that empower women and lawyers of color, especially those at the beginning of their careers. She recently presented at Fordham Law School’s Leadership Academy for Women in Law and gave welcome remarks at a mentorship event for the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) East Young Lawyers Committee.

Inclusive networks

Open to all attorneys at the firm, Paul, Weiss’s formal networks focus on internal relationship-building, career development, recruitment and client relationship development. Each network sponsors cultural activities, career chats with partners, alumni and clients, and other social events to create learning opportunities for the entire firm as well as community-building within each network. The Paul, Weiss networks include Asian-Pacific Lawyers, Black Lawyers, Family, Latinx Lawyers, Pride@Work and Women.

The networks offer support, facilitate discussion and provide opportunities for networking inside and outside of the firm. By cultivating lasting ties with clients, law student organizations, bar associations, alumni and nonprofit groups, each network helps to make Paul, Weiss more inclusive.

Making a Difference

Paul, Weiss is committed to providing impactful public service and pro bono legal assistance to
individuals and organizations in need across a broad range of constitutional, civil rights, racial justice and other public interest matters. Today, we are a leader in nationwide efforts to advance racial justice and civil rights, secure rights for women and the LGBTQ+ community, challenge restrictive voting laws, and promote the economic empowerment of BIPOC-owned businesses.

In recent pro bono matters promoting diversity and inclusion, the firm:

• Won a verdict against white supremacist organizers of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. We continue to litigate high profile matters against individuals and hate groups responsible for storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
• Obtained a judgment against the Proud Boys’ governing body, three of the Proud Boys leaders and one of the extremist group’s supporters in connection with their conspiracy to commit intentional unlawful acts against Washington D.C.’s historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church and others supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
• Filed a federal class action in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of Jhisaiah Myers, a New York City police officer, against the Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County and the County’s Civil Service Commission challenging systemic racial discrimination in the hiring of police officers in Nassau County.
• Represented, alongside the Center for Reproductive Rights, the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was widely considered to
  be the most important reproductive justice case in decades. Following the Dobbs decision, we
  have played a lead role in the New York Attorney General’s Reproductive Health Task Force to ensure that health care providers, abortion funds and individuals understand and can avail themselves of their rights relating to reproductive choice. We also play a leading role in the Abortion Defense Network, a new program managed by six leading reproductive rights organizations: the Lawyering Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights, If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, the National Women’s Law Center and Resources for Abortion Delivery, in collaboration with state and regional public interest organizations, private law firms and public agencies, to safeguard abortion access.  We also are advising a growing number of abortion providers and funds on the post-Dobbs legal landscape.
• Representing, alongside the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and The New York Civil Liberties Foundation, Makyyla Holland, a Black transgender woman seeking redress for the violence, threats, discrimination and denial of medical care she experienced while incarcerated at Broome County Jail.
• Represented Edith Windsor in the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of
  Marriage Act (DOMA), leading to the recognition of the constitutional right of same-sex couples
  to be married. Our work on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community continues, including through
  representations of institutions that are integral to LGBTQIA+ neighborhoods, litigation to reform
  jail policies that lead to abuses against transgender people, representations of LGBTQIA+
  individuals in asylum proceedings, and scores of transgender name changes.
• Negotiated a favorable settlement in a federal voting rights lawsuit on behalf of Latinx residents
  of Islip, Long Island, ending a discriminatory voting system.
• Published, in collaboration with the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY), several influential reports on the rise of anti-Asian violence in New York City. The firm also
  represents individual victims of anti-Asian hate and their families on a pro bono basis.
• Supported, in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation and Echoing Green, non-profits focused on racial equity and non-profits with leaders of color by providing corporate, tax, employment, real estate and data privacy legal advice from our team of transactional lawyers.
• Assisted the Black Economic Alliance Foundation with creating a multimillion-dollar
  Entrepreneurs Fund that provides seed capital to businesses founded and led by Black
  entrepreneurs. We also continue to host workshops and clinics to support the economic development of Black entrepreneurs, Black-owned businesses and Black women-owned businesses, and advise numerous nonprofits that focus on BIPOC empowerment.
• Led the Commission on Equal Justice in the Courts in reviewing institutional racism in the New
  York state court system.
• Filing a putative class action lawsuit, in collaboration with The Legal Aid Society and Disability Rights New York, to require New York State to supply community-based housing and supportive services to formerly incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness
• Defended the rights of numerous individuals with physical and mental disabilities, including obtaining a landmark settlement on behalf of a class of individuals with mental illness residing in adult homes in New York City, and advocating on behalf of children with significant challenges who attend NYC Department of Education District 75 schools and need instructional support.
• Represented 400,000 NYCHA residents alleging discriminatory and unlawful NYPD stop and frisk practices, resulting in a settlement that included NYPD procedure changes to halt these practices.