Diversity
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP believes that a diverse and inclusive work environment is central to our mission to provide the quality of service our clients expect. The firm’s success, strength, and superior legal work is a direct result of our coordinated legal services that recognize the individual contributions each of our attorneys and business professionals bring from their own backgrounds and experiences. Our clients expect no less, and we are dedicated to continuing to encourage an environment in which a broadly diverse community will thrive.
Diversity & Inclusion Committee
The firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee strives to recruit and support a diverse team of attorneys, and to integrate our diversity initiatives into the professional development of all lawyers. The Committee also ensures the firm promotes a collaborative culture in which every person, regardless of age, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religious affiliation or other defining characteristic, can thrive and develop their skills to the highest level.
Professional Development
The firm supports attorney participation in affinity groups, not-for-profit organizations, and pro bono matters. These activities provide opportunities for practical expressions of our diverse culture, as well as for networking, mentoring, and career development. Additionally, an annual stipend is provided to a number of attorneys to participate in a diversity-oriented seminar or association of their choosing.
Recruiting and Pipeline Initiatives
The firm recruits students from Howard University School of Law and the Northeast Black Law Students Association Job Fair, and utilizes law school diversity directories and resume collects.
Kasowitz participates in the LCLD 1L Scholars Program, which is designed to strengthen the legal pipeline by expanding the number of opportunities for diverse first-year law students. The firm provides a student the opportunity to spend a summer working alongside our attorneys, while benefiting from the Program’s resources.
In partnership with the Justice Resource Center, Kasowitz serves as a mentor law firm to students attending The Law Institute at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, New York, one of the 100 most diverse schools in New York State. The firm provides students with resources to encourage and facilitate academic achievement, the pursuit of higher education, and an understanding of the legal field. Kasowitz attorneys coach students in moot court and mock trial competitions, host firm visits to educate the students about opportunities in the legal profession, and accompany the students on court visits.
Affiliations
Kasowitz is a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and sponsors participation in the LCLD Fellows Program, Pathfinder Program, and Sustainable Partnership Program. The LCLD Fellows Program offers diverse, high-potential attorneys a year-long, in-depth program devoted to relationship-building, in-person training and peer-group projects. The Pathfinder Program offers early-career attorneys in-person training, online experiential learning, and opportunities to network with peers in support of career growth. The Sustainable Partnership Program equips participants with the skills and networks necessary to succeed as a new law firm partner.
In addition to being a signatory of the Statement of Diversity Principles of the New York City Bar Association, Kasowitz sponsors participation in the NYC Bar Associate Leadership Institute, a high-level development program which includes keynote speakers, intensive training modules, and networking opportunities.
Kasowitz is a member of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA), whose purpose is to “amplify the voices of communities and individuals oppressed by racism, and to better use the law as a vehicle for change that benefits communities of color and to promote racial equity in the law.” Kasowitz also joined the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and six other national bar associations denouncing anti-Asian hate, violence and racism. The firm’s leaders, pro bono professionals and diversity and inclusion professionals attend trainings and participate in working groups to address antiracism issues and formulate initiatives to combat racism in the legal field and society generally.
Awards and Recognitions
Kasowitz is honored to have received the following accolades:
- Ranked by The American Lawyer as third in diversity among leading U.S. law firms in its annual Diversity Scorecard
- Tied for third place on The American Lawyer’s list of firms with the highest percentage of African-American lawyers
- Shortlisted for a Chambers USA Diversity and Inclusion Award in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year
- Ranked 8th out of 283 top U.S. law firms on the Lawyers of Color’s Large Law Firm Black Attorney Percentages list, part of its Black Student’s Guide to Law Schools and Law Firms
- California Minority Counsel Program’s Drucilla Stender Ramey Majority-Owned Law Firm Award
- Law360’s list of “The Best Law Firms for Minority Attorneys,” where the firm ranked 11th in the mid-size firm category (150-250 lawyers)
- Ranked 5th for firms with 251-600 lawyers on Law360’s list of the law firms with the most diverse equity partners
- Recognized on The Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s “Do Good, Do Well” List
- Ranked 30th out of 254 top U.S. law firms on The National Law Journal’s Women in Law Scorecard
- Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s 2022 Top Performer and 2022 Compass Award
Women’s Initiatives
Kasowitz is devoted to recruiting, mentoring and retaining women attorneys, and to fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment. The firm's Women’s Initiatives Committee includes women partners, counsel, associates and business professionals, and focuses on firm-wide efforts to establish a platform for our women lawyers to develop business and grow professionally. The Committee coordinates an informal mentoring program involving regular social events to provide the opportunity for our women attorneys to interact with a diverse group of women within the firm.
Kasowitz takes pride in the firm’s history of promoting women attorneys and is dedicated to women’s initiatives and gender equality in the legal profession. We believe that our success in recruiting and promoting women lawyers is indicative of our overall approach to achieving a diverse workplace.
Non-Discrimination Policy
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP is an equal opportunity employer. Every individual has the right to work in a professional environment that promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination and harassment. It is Kasowitz policy to ensure equal employment opportunity for all individuals, without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status or alienage, disability, pregnancy status or related medical issue, military or qualified veteran status, familial status, marital or partnership status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender, including gender identity, gender expression or transition status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, hair texture and protective hairstyles, COVID-19 status, status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and/or sex offenses, sexual and reproductive health decisions, unemployment status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all aspects of an individual’s relationship with Kasowitz, including, without limitation, recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, compensation, discipline, termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.