Our Commitment to Diversity and Equality

Lieff Cabraser is committed to diversity and inclusion in our professional work through our firm values and across our people. This commitment is embedded in the firm’s culture and reflected in our long-standing support of charitable groups and bar association programs, advancing diversity and ensuring equal opportunities for all.

We participate extensively in the diversity initiatives and programs of the Bar Association of San Francisco, including its 2010 Goals and Timetables and Recommendations for Minority Hiring and Advancement and the No Glass Ceiling Initiative, each of which commit the firm to voluntary benchmarks for the hiring and promotion of diverse lawyers.

Pro Bono and Amicus Work Promoting Diversity

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Lieff Cabraser has undertaken numerous pro bono cases in support of diversity, equality, and employee and civil rights. For example, in 2008, we served as counsel for Amici Curiae the National Employment Lawyers Association and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Right Under Law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in support of former African-American employees of Johnson & Johnson who alleged they were discriminated on the basis of their race. Gutierrez v. Johnson & Johnson, 523 F.3d 187 (3rd Cir. 2008).

We have taken an active role in support of marriage equality in California and nationwide. Lieff Cabraser believes in the Constitution’s promise of liberty and equality for all.

On March 5, 2015, Lieff Cabraser joined 378 businesses to ask the United States Supreme Court to strike down state law bans on same-sex marriage in connection with the pending case, Obergefell v. Hodges.

Commenting on the firm’s participation in the case, Kelly M. Dermody, the managing partner of Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office, stated, “Our firm recognizes that it is illogical and unfair that we are compelled by Tennessee law to institutionalize discrimination for our own employees in Tennessee even as they fight to justice for our firm’s clients every day. We proudly join the other 378 employees – often adversaries in our cases, but united on this issue – to seek equality under the law for all marriages.”

Lieff Cabraser previously participated as an amicus party in the similar employer brief filed in the 2013 landmark United States Supreme Court case, United States v. Windsor (the challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act), and served as amici counsel in connection with the 2013 United States Supreme Court case challenging California’s Proposition 8, Perry v. Hollingsworth.

Earlier, before the California Supreme Court in Strauss v. Horton, 46 Cal. 4th 364 (2008), we served as Amici Curiae counsel for forty bar and legal advocacy non-profit organizations throughout California and nationwide. Amici Curiae argued that Proposition 8’s denial of equal protection to a class of individuals with respect to a fundamental right violated the California Constitution.

Support of Bar Organizations Promoting Diversity

Lieff Cabraser sponsors, participates in, and serves in leadership roles for bar organizations and non-profit groups that promote diversity and seek to eliminate barriers to the hiring, advancement, and retention of diverse persons (including racial and ethnic minorities; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender persons; and persons with disabilities) in the legal profession and the broader community. These bar organizations and non-profit groups include:

  • American Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section:
    • Standing Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, including its Diversity Task Force [Our lawyers have served on and co-chaired this Committee and Task Force];
    • Administrative Committee on Equal Opportunity in the Legal Profession [Our lawyers have served on and co-chaired this Committee];

Support for Diversity Employment Programs

Lieff Cabraser actively works with law schools and associations to promote full and equal participation in the legal profession by diverse attorneys, including through:

Recognition of Our Promotion of Diversity and Social Justice

Our firm and attorneys have been honored to receive numerous awards for our leadership on initiatives that promote diversity and civil rights, including: