O’Melveny Ascends to Top 3 on The American Lawyer’s “A-List”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In its ninth consecutive year on the prestigious roster, the firm jumped four spots to #3 with improvements in scores for racial diversity and percentage of women equity partners

NEW YORK—August 6, 2020—For the ninth straight year, O’Melveny has been named to The American Lawyer’s “A-List,” a benchmark for excellence in the legal industry. The firm moved up four spots to #3—its eighth time in the top 10 during that period.

The A-List reflects a holistic survey of law firm performance, with firms ranked on a combined assessment of revenue per lawyer, pro bono work, racial and gender diversity, and associate satisfaction.

“The combination of the coronavirus crisis and the recent explosion of attention on the country’s legacy of racial inequality only serves to highlight the importance of balancing financial concerns with social considerations when running a law firm,” AmLaw observed.

“We are proud to be an A-List firm,” said Bradley J. Butwin, chair of O’Melveny. “The recognition is particularly meaningful because it values many of the same criteria that our firm prioritizes—associate satisfaction, pro bono, and diversity.”

AmLaw noted it was O’Melveny’s commitment to that last metric—both racial and gender diversity—that helped propel the firm to the top three this year. The publication cited O’Melveny’s improvements in its scores for racial diversity and female equity partnership.

Eighty percent of the firm’s most recent partner class consisted of women and people of color, marking the fifth consecutive year that more than 50 percent of the partner class was female, of color, or LGBT. It was also the sixth consecutive year that women made up more than 40 percent of the partner class.

Butwin told AmLaw that diversity—the only standing item on the firm’s Policy Committee agenda—is a “pillar of our strategic planning.” He continued: “We’re also more deliberate in how we staff matters and ensure that all attorneys and staff actually see diversity at all levels of the firm. And our almost all-equity partnership means there’s no second tier where women and other diverse attorneys languish.”

O’Melveny’s improvements in the area of diversity reflect its ongoing practice of self-evaluation, as Butwin explained to AmLaw. The firm regularly assesses the health of its culture and colleagues’ satisfaction in many ways—including engagement surveys, upward reviews, affinity groups, staff and attorney councils, and two-way communication.

Butwin stressed that O’Melveny is committed to challenging itself to become an even more inclusive firm.

“We plan to intensify our Diversity & Inclusion efforts, and hold one another accountable for advancing these priorities,” he said. “It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s a business imperative. Our ability to attract and retain diverse talent goes hand in hand with our firm’s broader goals for success. A diverse and inclusive O’Melveny means we give our best and clients get our best.”

The honor is the latest O’Melveny has received for its unique culture. Last year, O’Melveny became the first law firm ranked #1 across all three of the Vault law firm survey’s “Quality of Life” categories: “Best Law Firm to Work For,” “Best Overall Diversity,” and “Best Summer Associate Program.” And for the past two years, the firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus for successfully reaching at least 30 percent women-, of color-, and LGBT-lawyer representation in a number of current leadership roles and committees.

About O’Melveny

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