Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP is known for its global reach ( that includes 15 offices in the United States and Europe ) , but has been renowned for its emphasis on attaining diversity ( getting a perfect score of 100 for the second consecutive year in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2009 Corporate Equality Index ) . Windy City Times spoke with Robert Messerly—the managing partner in the law firm's Chicago office, and an openly gay man—in an honest conversation about Sonnenschein's commitment to diversity.
Windy City Times: Could you describe your duties for our readers?
Robert Messerly: Sure. Basically, I'm in charge of the entire office—that includes legal staff and [ non- ] legal staff like secretaries, food services, the mailroom. Within the firm, there is a chairman who is in charge of the entire firm, and we break them down by offices. I'm in charge of, I think, about 190 attorneys and another 400 non-legal staff.
Obviously, I don't go out every day and interface with them. I have managers who help me with the process.
WCT: How would you describe the make-up of the attorneys and staff, regarding diversity?
RM: I think that it comes and goes. We, like every other law firm, try really hard to have as diverse a group of attorneys as possible. There are days and months where I think we're doing a really good job, and there are [ times ] where our numbers are not so great. I would say that we're not nearly as diverse as we need to be. I think 15 percent of our attorneys are diverse—and, for us, diversity includes sexual orientation, racial diversity and disability.
WCT: Talk about Sonnenschein's journey to diversity commitment.
RM: I started at the firm in 1987; I was fortunate enough to start with another gay man, who's in our New York office. He had a partner, and was very out at a time when it wasn't necessarily perceived as a positive—but he was a trailblazer. He was never afraid of raising gay issues with management.
Slowly, over time ( about seven years ) , we got to the point where we offered benefits for partners; we were one of the first firms in the city to do that, I believe. Then, about 10 years ago, we had a diversity initiative and wanted to focus on attracting and retaining diverse attorneys. Included in that, much to my surprise, were gays and lesbians; I wasn't sure that [ we ] would be included.
WCT: Were you out when you joined Sonnenschein?
RM: No—and, to be honest with you, I'm not sure what you consider "out." Everyone I know, knows. I have a partner of 15 years, and everyone knows Chuck. It's not a surprise, but I don't make a big statement [ about my orientation ] . When I was made managing partner, I don't know if many people knew I was gay; it just was not an issue—which I think is a very positive statement about the firm. Frankly, that's where I'd like to be on every diversity issue.
One thing I tell recruits is that when I was at Northwestern [ University School of Law ] interviewing for law school, the form from the firm at the school stated that "we are flexible in all things except the quality of work." For me, that was a big statement; as long as you do good work, everything else is OK. And that has proven true.
WCT: What's the diversity training like?
RM: [ Laughs ruefully ] Diversity training is probably not the best that anyone would want. We have a video, and we have someone in our labor department who talks about diversity. To be honest, it's shown once when you start, and then once every five years; training is not a big thing.
That's the formal training, though. The bigger thing is making sure every day that people understand that diverse attorneys are important.
WCT: And what about benefits?
RM: For domestic partners, there are health benefits; many people [ use ] them. There was a question if health benefits include fertility treatments for lesbians who want to have a baby; it's something we've looked into, but I don't know if we have that, to be honest.
There are also pension plans and other [ benefits ] ; we have every benefit that married couples have. There's also bereavement leave as well as paternity leave—and, frankly, you're treated the same way if you're gay or straight. If you're the primary caregiver, you have the [ latter ] right.
WCT: There's also a newsletter, correct?
RM: Yes. Every quarter we put out a newsletter to everybody in the firm; we encourage them to send them off to their clients. We do it electronically to live within our green initiative.
I wrote a piece about what it was like to be gay in a law firm. I would've told you before I wrote it that I would be skeptical of anyone reading the newsletter because we're desensitized to e-mails. But, I got so many calls and e-mails from people who thought it was a great article; I [ heard ] from people in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. One woman said that she was in tears when she read it.
We have a diversity director; her full-time job is to focus on our diversity initiative and help our diverse attorneys. Her name is Helise Harrington, and she is in New York.
WCT: Is there an LGBT employee-resource group?
RM: There is a gay and lesbian affinity group, GALA [ Gay and Lesbian Attorneys at Sonnenschein ] , that is for attorneys all across the office. We have not yet included gay and lesbian secretarys and staff; the theory is that gay and lesbian attorneys have different issues to deal with than secretaries and staff. That may be true, maybe not.
WCT: You said that you all could improve regarding diversity training. Are there other areas where you feel you could improve?
RM: The big issue in diversity, from our perspective, is retention. We can recruit well, but retaining diverse lawyers is much trickier than I would've liked it to be—and we're working on that. We've tried to set up mentoring programs; studies show that mentors [ lead ] to more people staying. We want people to feel like they belong.
For more on Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, see www.sonnenschein.com .
