Akin Careers, Benefits, Review

Akin was formed in 1945, after other law firms excluded our founders on the basis of religion. From that day forward, diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) has been a bedrock of the firm and our commitment has evolved and strengthened. Today, led by Kim Koopersmith, one of the few women to chair a major global law firm, we continue expanding our efforts to provide diverse perspectives for our clients and vibrant career opportunities for all our lawyers and professionals. We also have a chief diversity, equity & inclusion officer, who works closely with the management committee and other firm leaders to drive and report on DEI strategic initiatives firmwide. Our DEI strategic plan has the following goal areas: leadership commitment and engagement, recruiting and the diversity pipeline, professional development and inclusion, and strategic partnerships.

Our ambitions are lofty—to make our firm the number one destination for talented diverse lawyers and give them industry-leading support and opportunities. While we recognize there is still much to be done, we are proud of our achievements to date:

• Mansfield Rule Certified Plus firm (2020-22), which means that we achieved at least 30 percent representation of women, lawyers of color and LGBTQ+ lawyers in candidate pools and key firm leadership roles and committees.
• Our firmwide DEI Council received the 2021 Diversity Team Award from Diversity Journal, which recognizes the talented and dedicated team members who work together to support and advance diversity, inclusion and equity within their respective organizations.
• Recipient of the Gold Standard certification (2022, 2021, 2019 and 2018) from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, based on meaningful representation of women in key leadership positions.
• 15x rated 100% on the Corporate Equality Index, which benchmarks corporate policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ+ employees.
• Selected by Seramount in 2022 and 2021 as one of their "Best Law Firms for Women," which identifies leading firms with best practices to recruit, retain, promote and develop women lawyers.
• National finalist for the 2020 Minority Corporate Counsel Association's (MCCA) Thomas L. Sager Award, which recognizes law firms that champion a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
• Recipient of the 2019 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association's (NAPABA) Law Firm Diversity Award.

Akin recruits exceptional and diverse talent at all levels. Our summer and year-round programs provide law students and aspiring lawyers immersive work experiences, mentorship and networking to build a foundation for the future. We also engage with law school student affinity groups, participate in diversity career fairs and collaborate with strategic external partners for lateral opportunities. Supporting pipeline programs does more than enhance our talent pool—it helps enhance diversity across the legal profession.

Our key pipeline programs include:

• Akin/Robert S. Strauss Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship (SDIS)
  Signature two-year program brings top law students with a demonstrated commitment to advancing DEI in the legal profession to work at Akin and in-house with clients after their first year of law school and then join our standard 2L summer program the next year. The program is an exceptional pipeline to ultimately joining Akin as a first-year associate and includes a $50,000 scholarship. 
• SEO Law Fellows Program
  12 years providing summer internships to rising 1L students of color from top law schools to work in our Dallas, Houston, L.A., NYC and D.C. offices.
• Pro Bono Scholars Program
  Two-year summer program for top first-year law students similar to our SDIS program noted above in which scholars spend part of their 1L summer at a public interest or legal services organization working on pro bono matters.
• Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship Program
  Five years hosting high-achieving diverse NYC public high school summer interns. Our Diverse Careers Panel teaches all interns about legal employment opportunities.
• Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Fellowship
  Named in honor of the late longtime Akin partner, Howard University alumnus and civil rights icon, the Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Fellowship provides a paid internship for two third-year law students to work with Akin’s lobbying & public policy practice in D.C.

For more information on our commitment to DEI, please visit this page.