Bowman and Brooke is honored to be the recipient of the Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL) Leadership Award for 2017. MWL presents this annual award to legal employers who dedicate efforts to enhance the status, influence and effectiveness of women lawyers. Bowman and Brooke will accept the award at the MWL's 45th Annual Meeting on April 21, 2017. View the official press release on all of the MWL 2017 Annual Awards.
Diversity and inclusion have been core values of Bowman and Brooke since the firm's inception more than 30 years ago. Of the seven founding partners, one was a woman, a groundbreaking step in the right direction in 1985.
As a national product liability trial firm, Bowman and Brooke has made diversity and inclusion not only a top priority, but the foundation of the firm's culture. Bowman and Brooke's diversity plan begins immediately after an attorney joins the firm. New attorneys are assigned a partner whose responsibility is to oversee and assist with their professional development as a practicing lawyer and employee of the firm. Women and minority attorneys are encouraged to be involved in an affinity group and/or to work closely with a mentor to foster their acclimation. The mentor takes an active role in the development of the new attorney and meets with them regularly to discuss their work, client feedback and growth opportunities within the firm, within the community, and within legal organizations, including diversity and inclusion organizations, affinity groups and bar associations.
Bowman and Brooke has long been a leader, committed to supporting the advancement and success of women lawyers and the numbers prove: Executive Committee: 33% women; Management Committee: 27% women; Partners 34% women; Attorneys: 42% women. Bowman and Brooke actively engages in recruiting and retaining women attorneys by being a fierce advocate for their career goals and professional development. For example, 100% of those in the most recent class of partner promotions were women. Additionally, in February 2017, the firm elected its first female Vice Chair and five new managing partners, three of whom are women. There are an additional 30 women in leadership roles throughout the firm's 12 offices. Specifically, in Minneapolis, women attorneys serve in the roles of Vice Chair, Managing Partner, Hiring Partner and Policy Committee Member.
The core values of diversity and inclusion, particularly the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in the legal profession, will continue to remain fundamental objectives of Bowman and Brooke's strategic plan. The firm will always embrace and recognize diversity as a core value, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because diversity is seen in the cities and venues in which cases are tried, in the judges and juries the firm tries cases before and in the clients who rely on the firm's legal services.
MWL is an association of nearly 1,300 attorneys, judges, law students and legal employers, dedicated to advancing the success of women attorneys and striving for a just society. Visit their website at www.mwlawyers.org.