(September 29, 2016) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has been named the recipient of the 2016 California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) Drucilla Stender Ramey Majority-Owned Law Firm Award. The long-standing award honors CMCP member organizations whose actions reflect sustained dedication to CMCP’s mission: to promote diversity in the legal profession by providing attorneys of color with access and opportunity for business and professional development.

Littler was awarded for its innovative Career Advocacy Program (CAP), which selects higher-level, high-performing associates who are visible minorities or have identified themselves as LGBTQ or disabled (Protégés) and pairs them with some of the firm’s most influential leaders, including major rainmakers, practice group leaders, and board members (Advocates). 

Additionally, CMCP recognized Littler for the following:

• increasing the diversity of attorney ranks at all levels and consistently providing opportunities,
• elevating the firm’s diversity and inclusion culture and values, and
• giving back to the more than 70 communities in which the firm has offices.

“The nominations for our majority-owned law firm award this year were truly impressive, with different firms all clearly working very hard to diversify their ranks and provide opportunities for minority attorneys to grow their careers,” said Robert White, CMCP executive director. “However, Littler’s achievements in moving the needle, elevating minorities to shareholder ranks and creating the Career Advocacy Program, as well as the diversity of its leadership team, set it apart.”

“We strongly believe in the CMCP’s core values and mission to promote diversity and foster an inclusive environment, which is integral to the success of the firm,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler. “We are delighted to once again receive recognition of our highly successful Career Advocacy Program and our overarching diversity and inclusion initiatives.”

As a testament to its unwavering commitment of fostering a working environment in which anyone can thrive, Littler has been heralded for its diversity initiatives, most recently winning the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s inaugural national Sager Award for the CAP. This year, the firm has also earned accolades from other well-regarded associations and publications, including the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, Working Mother magazine and Vault.

“We are deeply honored to be recognized by CMCP, an organization we have had the great benefit of learning from and partnering with for so many years,” said Natalie Pierce, the brainchild behind the CAP and co-chair of Littler’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. “We have always shared the common goal of improving opportunities for diverse attorneys, and together we are making a difference.”

About The California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP)

The California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) is a California 501(c)(6) non-profit mutual benefit corporation, dedicated to promoting diversity in the legal profession by providing attorneys of color with access and opportunity for business and professional development. CMCP is the only state-wide organization that brings business lawyers of all races together as members and colleagues, regardless of the type of organization in which they practice, for the purpose of achieving diversity and inclusion within law firms and in-house law departments, and in the outside counsel spend of corporations and government agencies.

About Littler

Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice, with more than 1,000 attorneys in over 70 offices worldwide. Littler represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law and serves as a single-source solution provider to the global employer community. Consistently recognized in the industry as a leading and innovative law practice, Littler has been litigating, mediating and negotiating some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record for over 70 years. Littler Global is the collective trade name for an international legal practice, the practicing entities of which are separate and distinct professional firms.