Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The Ropes Multicultural Forum (RMF) supports and advances the firm's commitment to fostering an environment where individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities succeed professionally, fully contribute to the goals of the firm and are involved in the firm's leadership. The group provides a forum for lawyers who share and value all forms of differences between people, with a focus on diversity of race and ethnicity. 

The RMF conducts bi-monthly meetings and hosts special events that give racially and ethnically diverse attorneys the opportunity to connect with each other, share experiences and establish mentoring relationships. 

In conjunction with the firm’s DE&I team, the forum also sponsors heritage month celebrations, fostering cultural awareness among our lawyers and business support professionals and celebrating the richness of our diverse community.

Within the broader RMF are several affinity groups, including the Asian American Pacific Islander Lawyers Group, the Black Lawyers Group, the Latinx Lawyers Group, the Middle Eastern North African Lawyers Group and the Native American Lawyers Group. These groups enable members of the specific affinities to build a sense of community and connection.

Ropes & Gray has long been recognized as a top firm for women attorneys. We are one of few elite firms with a woman chair, and women hold many significant leadership positions at the firm, serving as department heads, practice group leaders, office managing partners and management committee members. Our longtime commitment to women’s advancement encompasses creative initiatives, mentorship and women-focused development programs, extensive personal investment from our women attorneys, and more. Our success as an industry leader for women is driven in large part by our Women’s Forum—a next-level resource designed to propel women to the top echelons of legal practice.

Established in 1996, Ropes & Gray’s Women’s Forum is geared exclusively toward helping women accelerate their careers by building deep relationships and skill sets that will position them to lead and progress. By offering workshops in networking, marketing, mentoring, leadership training and business development, the Women’s Forum plays a vital role in helping women lawyers navigate the unique challenges they may face as they advance their careers.

Mentoring Circles

• In order to foster an environment in which women attorneys can discuss topics of interest, such as networking opportunities, professional development, and issues faced by women generally, the Women’s Forum has designed a mentoring program based on “mentoring circles.”
• These small groups facilitate relationships between partners, counsel and associates, providing female attorneys with the opportunity to get to know colleagues in other practice groups and from various levels.

Investing in Female Talent

• The Joan D. Fuller Development Grant encourages women attorneys to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit and seek out initiatives that will help them achieve their professional goals. Joan D. Fuller (1928–2018), a partner in the private client group, joined Ropes & Gray in 1962 and became the firm’s first female partner in 1973.

• Women @ RopesTalk, a podcast series hosted by Ropes & Gray’s Women’s Forum, spotlights extraordinary women who have had successful careers and are making a positive impact in their workplaces and in their communities. The podcast features women attorneys at Ropes & Gray in conversation with prominent women clients, industry leaders and entrepreneurs. It is available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and at Ropes & Gray.

Ropes & Gray has a longstanding commitment to ensuring that its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer lawyers and business professionals feel welcome and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. Since 2009, the firm has earned the top rating of 100 percent in the Corporate Equality Index, an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The LGBTQ+ Forum welcomes LGBTQ+ attorneys to Ropes & Gray and provides ongoing support to their professional growth, integration and development.

To help promote an inclusive environment, the LGBTQ+ Forum regularly sponsors presentations and talks covering current legal topics important to the LGBTQ+ community. The forum also sponsors firm attendance at events such as the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association Annual Spring Dinner in Boston and the Lambda Legal Liberty Awards National Dinner in New York City. Members of the forum participate in the hiring process and act as resources for LGBTQ+ summer associates. Forum members also help to identify and coordinate firm-sponsored lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pro bono matters.

Ropes & Gray has a notable history of advocating for LGBTQ+ individuals in groundbreaking policy and civil rights cases. In 2015, Ropes & Gray played a pivotal role in the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Obergefell v. Hodges decision—a victory for marriage equality. Litigation & Enforcement partner Doug Hallward-Driemeier, who leads the firm’s Appellate & Supreme Court practice, argued this landmark case. The firm continues to represent LGBTQ+ individuals in key cases to advance and defend their rights, including the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Bostock v. Clayton, that prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Partnership with Out Leadership

Ropes & Gray has historically partnered with organizations and causes to promote LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace. The firm’s partnership with Out Leadership—a global LGBTQ+ business network—dates back to 2014, when the firm signed on as a founding sponsor of Out in Law, the first LGBTQ+ senior leadership initiative for the legal profession. Since then, the partnership has expanded significantly. In 2018 and 2019, Ropes & Gray served as the sponsor for Out Leadership’s U.S. Summits, which focused on legislative and policy challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, and the role of businesses in advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ equality. In 2021, the firm became a global sponsor, supporting Out Leadership’s summits and talent accelerators around the world.

• In 2019, Ropes & Gray and Out Leadership jointly produced a first-of-its-kind report on LGBTQ+ self-identification. The report, “Visibility Counts: Corporate Guidelines for LGBT+ Self-ID,” outlined best practices and key considerations for implementing LGBTQ+ self-ID programs.
• Ropes & Gray has served as the sole global pro bono legal partner on Out Leadership’s CEO Business Briefs, which provide organizations with comprehensive overviews of policies and regulations affecting LGBTQ+ people who live and work in locations where they do business. Ropes & Gray provided the legal and regulatory reviews for 28 country briefs, as well as all 50 U.S. state briefs.

In addition to attorney forums, the firm has a number of office-based resource networks for business professionals who identify as diverse, as well as their allies. The groups meet regularly and host a variety of events and programming, including social activities, community outreach, mentoring, networking, and educational opportunities.

The Partner Mentor Program pairs ethnically and racially diverse junior associates with partner mentors who support their mentees' early career development by offering career guidance, providing quality work assignments and timely feedback, and fostering relationships with partners and clients.

The Advocate Mentor Program pairs ethnically and racially diverse mid- to senior-level associates and counsel with partner advocates who actively champion their mentees' career development and advancement by fostering relationships with partners and clients to create business development opportunities on substantial matters.

The Women’s Forum mentoring circles provide women attorneys the opportunity to develop relationships with colleagues in other practice groups and from various levels. Each mentoring circle has assigned co-leaders who work with the group in organizing activities throughout the year.

Through the firm's Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) membership, diverse attorneys are selected to participate in the Pathfinder Program and Fellows Program each year.

In celebration of the memory and legacy of our first woman partner, Joan D. Fuller, the firm offers a professional development grant that enables women lawyers to take the lead in driving their careers forward. The Joan D. Fuller Development Grant can be used to fund creative activities that help them achieve their professional goals and develop successful relationships with colleagues, clients and prospective clients.

In addition, the Diane Patrick Attorney Advancement Fund, established in honor of our distinguished partner Diane Patrick and her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, is dedicated to supporting the professional development of attorneys who self-identify as racially/ethnically diverse.

The Diversity Sponsorship Program pairs ethnically and racially diverse business professionals with senior administrative leaders who provide support, advice, and career guidance and coaching.

The firm sponsors cohorts to participate in a mini-MBA program, through which racially and ethnically diverse business support team members learn about finance, leadership and management through case studies, group projects, and simulations.

Fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment is one of Ropes & Gray’s most important missions. Welcoming and valuing diversity in all aspects of the firm’s operations is fundamental to our core values of excellence, fairness and integrity. To further support our commitment to diversity within the firm and the legal profession, we have established the Trimmier Scholarship, named after our first African American partner, Roscoe Trimmier Jr. Ropes & Gray’s 1L and 2L Trimmier Scholarships are awarded each year to individuals who exemplify leadership, resilience and a commitment to diversity. All applicants who have demonstrably contributed to diversity, equity and inclusion in their schools, communities or any other institution or setting will be eligible. First-generation college graduates and members of groups underrepresented in the legal profession are especially encouraged to apply. Learn more about the scholarship program here.