Gordon & Rees Diversity Mission Statement

Gordon & Rees Diversity Brochure

Gordon & Rees was founded in 1974 in California, the most diverse of the fifty United States. With its headquarters in San Francisco and offices in each of the major metropolitan areas of the state, as well as offices now outside the state, we have a unique opportunity to embrace the cultural and ethnic diversity our state has to offer. Gordon & Rees is committed to optimizing this opportunity to hire outstanding individuals of diverse backgrounds, and to offer them a dynamic, challenging environment within which to develop their skills as lawyers. Our commitment to diversity encompasses all people within the firm, lawyers and staff alike, including people of different races, religions, cultural backgrounds, national origins, disabilities or medical conditions, sexual orientations, gender, gender identity and ages.

We believe that by continually working to live up to this commitment to diversity, we will ensure that Gordon & Rees will continue to be a firm of enthusiastic and talented people who provide the best possible legal services to the many different communities, both within our state and beyond its borders.

The management of the firm enthusiastically endorses this mission statement. A Diversity Committee exists to advise the firm's executive committee on the implementation of policies designed to advance the tenets of this statement.

Supporting the Diversity Pipeline Continuum

Recognized in 2006 by Minority Law Journal and MultiCultural Law for its progress in increasing diversity, Gordon & Rees will continue its commitment to diversity in 2007 with initiatives focused on "Filling the Minority Pipeline." In reference to targeted pipeline programs, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association has found that companies are offering internships, scholarships, and other opportunities not only to diverse law students and college-level students, but in many cases to those as young as high school age, with the goal of exposing young people to a career in law and other educational opportunities available to them. Some law department leaders claim that investing in "pipeline" programs will be one of the most important strategies of their diversity initiatives. Gordon & Rees' major projects support the continuum to increase and retain minorities in the legal profession.

The Gordon & Rees Diversity Continuum

• A joint scholarship with Palm Inc. organized by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). Gordon & Rees with PDA powerhouse, Palm Inc., will be jointly sponsoring a Lloyd M. Johnson Jr. Scholarship, given to ten newly accepted law students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help defray their education expenses. The total scholarship is $30,000 (a $10,000 commitment for 3 years).



• Gordon & Rees will provide 2 LSAT scholarships to financially disadvantaged minority students who would otherwise not consider applying to law school due to the expenses associated with an LSAT prep course and law school application fees.



• Gordon & Rees sponsored b.a.y. fund's Cap and Gown Gala, an event to raise funds and celebrate b.a.y. fund's efforts to help students be the first in their family to graduate from college. b.a.y. fund is a program that financially supports and mentors disadvantaged high school students so they will be the first in their families to finish college and break the cycle of poverty.



• Gordon & Rees hosted its third annual Diversity Roundtable Forum focusing on why diverse candidates are "leaking" out of the pipeline - primarily before and during law school and what efforts can be made at different educational levels to encourage diverse students to pursue a career in law.