Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Miller & Chevalier is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse group of lawyers. To accomplish this, we know we must expand our reach and continue to invest time and resources to attract a broad group of applicants. Each year, representatives from Miller & Chevalier participate in a variety of activities to raise the firm's profile with the talented pool of candidates we aim to attract.

Outreach on Campus

Our lawyers seek to connect with students in substantive ways. We cultivate relationships with professors at numerous law schools and embrace opportunities to appear as guest lecturers in their classes, allowing us to form real connections with students.  We engage with diverse student organizations, attending group meetings to discuss important topics of interest, participating in panels, and supporting events with those groups.  In addition to events on campus, we organize events at the firm for students to get to know us better.

2L On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) and Diversity Job Fairs

Our summer program typically consists of 5-7 highly qualified law students who have a demonstrated interest in at least one of the areas in which we practice. While our size does not permit us to participate in OCI at many law schools, we recruit at a variety of schools to ensure diversity in our summer program. You will find us on campus at Howard University School of Law, as well as at diversity-focused job fairs. As we continue to expand our efforts, we may change our venues, but we are always looking for qualified candidates, wherever you may be. If we are not on campus at your school, please reach out to Julia Mattson, Director of Attorney Recruiting and Professional Development.

Leadership Council for Legal Diversity and 1L Hiring

The firm's Chair, Kathryn Cameron Atkinson, is a member of the LCLD, an organization of more than 320 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are dedicated to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. The firm participates in LCLD's 1L Scholars Program and, depending on our hiring needs, will select one or two 1L Scholars to participate in the firm's 10-week summer associate program.

Lateral Hiring

As with our entry-level hiring, we seek a diverse applicant pool for each lateral hire. To that end, we have communicated to our search firms that we are interested in seeing a variety of applicants. In addition, we post our lateral opportunities with a number of diverse bar associations to increase the likelihood that we will see a broad talent pool.  If you have experience in one of our core practice areas and are interested in speaking with us, please contact Julia Mattson, Director of Attorney Recruiting and Professional Development.

At Miller & Chevalier, we are committed to the professional development of our lawyers and have created robust programs to fulfill that commitment. The firm's Lawyer Development Committee (LDC) is made up of a diverse group of members from each of our practice areas. The role of the LDC is to implement and oversee initiatives related to the development and advancement of our associates and counsel. We understand that each individual will meet different challenges along the path to becoming a successful lawyer and, as such, we have invested significant time and resources in developing programming that meets those individual needs. 

Centralized Workload Reporting

To ensure that work opportunities are equitably distributed, we created a centralized workload reporting system so that our assignment coordinators can objectively assign work based on real metrics.  The assignment process also is informed by feedback from the LDC representatives and the associates on the types of experiences and subject area expertise each associate needs to advance.  

Real Time Feedback

We know that associates need regular feedback to advance. Studies show that implicit bias can creep into feedback if left to an annual evaluation, and we don't want associates to hear about an issue for the first time in that annual review. Our Real Time Feedback system is linked to our centralized workload reporting system, allowing an associate to request feedback on an assignment at any time. We encourage our associates to utilize this feature often, not only to obtain immediate feedback, but also to create a record in our system to be saved for the annual evaluation.

Mentoring Circles

We have developed mentoring circles to foster support networks among similarly situated colleagues. Mentoring circles typically include 3-4 associates and their mentors who meet quarterly to discuss topics related to the firm's criteria for advancement. It is our hope that by expanding mentoring relationships, our associates will find support beyond the usual one-on-one mentor pairing.

"Office Hours"

Sometimes associates need a fresh perspective, someone to talk to outside of the group of lawyers they work with on a daily basis. We developed this concept so that associates can benefit from the vast experience of our diverse membership. Any member can offer office hours and any associate can sign up to talk about development challenges, brainstorm ideas on how to build an external profile, or to discuss any other subject that may be important to the associate.

• May 16, 2023: A firm community discussion with Manjusha (Manju) Kulkarni, an attorney and national AAPI civil rights leader who currently leads AAPI Equity Alliance, an organization that serves and represents the 1.6 million AAPIs in Los Angeles County. In 2020, Manju co-founded Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks anti-Asian hate crimes and has successfully advocated for greater legislative protections for communities of color. For her leadership, she has been honored on the TIME 100, Bloomberg 50, and Forbes 50 over 50 lists, as well as a White House Champion for Change. Manju will discuss the history of AAPIs in the United States, the role of AAPIs in past and current racial justice movements, and Stop AAPI Hate's recent work combatting anti-Asian hate crimes.
• February 17, 2023: Firm viewing of the documentary, "Barry Farm: Community, Land and Justice," followed by a Q&A session with its directors, Sabiyha Prince and Samuel George. The documentary tells the story of the Barry Farm neighborhood in DC and cycles of place and displacement. Click here and here to read reviews of the film.
• September 16, 2022: A firm community discussion with Sheri Denkensohn. Sheri became a quadriplegic at age 16, attended college at the University at Albany, law school at the Georgetown University Law Center, worked in the federal government for 25 years, and received a Cornell certification in Disability & Inclusion. Sheri will discuss her own experience as a woman with a disability in the workplace, and cover a variety of topics such as terminology, hiring, reasonable accommodation, and facilitating inclusion for individuals with disabilities within the workplace and society in general.
• June 17, 2022: A firm community discussion with Professor Theodore Greene about gay neighborhoods in Washington, DC. Professor Greene is an assistant professor of sociology at Bowdoin College where his research, writing, and teaching focus on gender, sexuality, urbanism, and culture. His research broadly uses sexual communities to understand how urban redevelopment shapes and reconfigures how individuals conceptualize, identify with, and participate in local communities. He has conducted extensive ethnographic research on gay neighborhoods in Washington, DC. In his talk, which grows out of his research for his current book project titled "Not in MY Gayborhood: Gay Neighborhoods and the Rise of the Vicarious Citizen," Professor Greene will discuss changes to gay neighborhoods in Washington, DC and the different strategies LGBTQ communities undertake to protect the areas aligned with their vision of community. 
• March 31, 2022: A firm community discussion with the Honorable Robert L. Wilkins, circuit judge of United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Wilkins will present "My Family's Journey from Slave to Citizen." 
• February 25, 2022: Coffee hour to catch up with colleagues and celebrate Black History Month.
• February 11, 2022: A firm community discussion on Islamophobia in the U.S. with Edward Ahmed Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell is the Deputy Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. He will discuss the history of Islamophobia in the U.S., its root causes and similarities to other forms of bigotry, and its common manifestations.
• January 14, 2022: A firm community discussion with Professor Sharese King on race, language, linguistic discrimination, and language profiling. Dr. King is a linguistics professor at the University of Chicago, where her research focused on the relationship between race, place, and language variation. Dr. King will discuss how discriminatory language attitudes pave the way for discrimination in housing, education, employment, and in the courtroom, including, for example, in the Trayvon Martin case. She will also discuss potential solutions for alleviating such inequities.
• December 17, 2021: A firm community discussion with Prof. Woody Holton on his recently released book Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution. A professor of history at the University of South Carolina, Prof. Holton's book challenges many myths we learn in school about the American Revolution and, in doing so, highlights the role of Native Americans, African Americans, and women as key participants in the events surrounding our founding.
• November 19, 2021: A firm community discussion on lookism with Dr. Nancy Etcoff, a psychology professor at the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry, a faculty member of the Harvard University Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative, and the director of the Program in Aesthetics and Well Being at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Author of Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty, Dr. Etcoff's research focuses on the psychology and biology of beauty and aesthetics and in the neuroscience of emotion.
• October 15, 2021: A firm community discussion on antisemitism with Rabbi Daniel Zemel, senior rabbi at Temple Micah in Washington, DC, and a frequent speaker and author on antisemitism.
• October 8, 2021: Cafecito hour to catch up with colleagues and celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month.
• September 22, 2021: DEI group coaching session on microaggressions with Rudhir Krishtel.
• September 10, 2021: A firm community discussion on race and environmental justice in Washington, DC, with Professor Malini Ranganathan, associate professor in the School of International Service at American University and faculty affiliate for the Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies Department and Antiracist Research and Policy Center.  
• August 13, 2021: A firm community discussion on the NCAA, the Black Athlete, and the continued push for more Black coaches and administrators with Professor Jeremi Duru, professor of sports law at American University's Washington College of Law.
• July 15, 2021: Firm-wide DEI training on bias and microaggressions with Rudhir Krishtel.
• June 25, 2021: A firm community discussion of Race and Housing with Professor Brian J. McCabe, an associate professor of sociology at Georgetown University and author of No Place Like Home: Wealth, Community and the Politics of Homeownership. Professor McCabe will share his recent research on the racialized geography of evictions in Washington, DC.  
• May 26, 2021: Miller & Chevalier Reads:  A firm community discussion of NY Times bestseller Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong.

• We are an active member of the National Bar Association, the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly African American attorneys and judges. 
• The firm has been recognized by Firsthand/Vault Law's 150 Under 150 List of "outstanding small and midsize law firms that deliver big results."
• The firm's Chair, Kathryn Cameron Atkinson, is a member of the Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity, an organization of more than 320 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who have dedicated themselves to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. We participate in the LCLD's Pathfinders and Fellows programs.
• Miller & Chevalier was recognized with LCLD's 2022 Compass Award. Firm Chair Kathryn Cameron Atkinson's Leader Pledge can be found here.
• We support the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's commitment to diversity in the legal profession by taking action to increase the numbers of women and minority attorneys hired and retained. The firm also participates in the partnership between Vault and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association to advance diversity in the legal profession through its Law Firm Diversity Database
• We are a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, which represents the interests of Hispanic legal professionals in the United States.
• We are a member of the Women's White Collar Defense Association, which promotes diversity in the legal profession, facilitates networking and business development, and provides educational programming.
• In June 2020, Miller & Chevalier was one of first law firms in the nation to sign on to the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) and is proud to be an Ally firm. This organization was formed to amplify the voices of communities and individuals impacted by racism, to better use the law as a vehicle for change that benefits communities of color, and to promote racial equity in the law. We are honored that our Pro Bono Counsel, Kathleen Wach, serves on the executive committee of the LFAA.
• One of our Members is a founder of the Women's Antitrust Forum, whose mission is to bring together women practicing antitrust law, policy, and economics in Washington, DC for the purpose of promoting and retaining women working in the antitrust field.
• The firm was awarded the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance's "Tipping the Scales" award  (2020-2023) for its commitment to advancing women.
• Firm Chair Kathryn Cameron Atkinson received the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance's 2023 Flex Leader Award, which recognizes an executive who is moving their organization toward a more inclusive workplace through holistic flexibility.