External Partnerships
Maintaining a diverse legal environment is important outside the Firm, not just inside it. The profession as a whole benefits from a multiplicity of views and backgrounds. Inclusivity in the legal profession is essential for all our clients, community members and attorneys.
We are proud to have robust relationships with many professional organizations dedicated to diversity and inclusion, including:
Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession
The Firm is proud to be a member of the IILP, an organization that works to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the legal profession. The IILP undertakes research to assess progress made with respect to diversity and inclusion, as well as provides educational programming that brings together diversity and inclusion experts with practicing attorneys to discuss best practices.
Law Firm Antiracism Alliance
LFAA is a nonprofit working to help bring about systemic change and racial equity in the law. Cravath, and over 290 other law firms, have signed onto LFAA as Alliance Firms and have committed to leveraging their pro bono resources to support this work.
Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
Cravath is a member of the LCLD, which includes over 300 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners dedicated to creating a more diverse legal profession. LCLD programs provide both practicing attorneys and law students from diverse backgrounds with leadership training, career-development strategies, peer networking, mentorship and more.
The New York City Bar Association
Cravath is a signatory to the Statement of Diversity Principles adopted by the New York City Bar Association and a strong supporter of City Bar initiatives. We are a Leadership Sponsor of the New York City Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Dinner, which each year honors law professionals who have made significant contributions to diversity and inclusion efforts.
NYU Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Cravath sponsors NYU Law’s Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Speaker Series. The Center spotlights leaders who discuss topics relating to diversity and inclusion. Recent speakers have included Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; Brian Welle, Director of People Analytics at Google; Iris Bohnet, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School; and Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director‑Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Pro Bono and the Community
Our pro bono work demonstrates our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We helped create and continue to counsel both the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the first Community Development Organization in the country, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to address racial discrimination. We also provide pro bono services to Her Justice (formerly inMotion) and Sanctuary for Families, two organizations devoted to providing legal representation to women otherwise unable to afford it, the Immigration Equality and the Anti‑Violence Project, two of the nation’s leading LGBTQ+ immigrant rights organizations, and the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club, which enhances the lives of youth from underserved communities.
The Firm also sponsors many organizations whose work illustrates a steadfast commitment to diversity. These organizations include: the ACLU LGBT & AIDS Project, the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Lambda Legal, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Legal Momentum, the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the South Asian Bar Association of New York and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity.
In addition to our sponsorships, a number of our partners have taken leadership roles in organizations that have an impact on diversity in the legal professional and beyond. Litigation partner Peter Barbur is on the Board of Directors for Lambda Legal. Litigation partner Damaris Hernández serves on the board of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. Litigation partner Julie North serves on the steering committee for The Kate Stoneman Project. We also have a number of other current and former partners who currently serve or have served in leadership capacities for organizations, such as Her Justice and Legal Momentum.
Cravath Scholars Program
On February 20, 2019, Cravath and Fisk University, one of the nation’s historically black colleges and the oldest institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tennessee, announced the launch of the Cravath Scholars program. The program, which supports high‑achieving Fisk students studying across a range of disciplines, strengthens Cravath’s historical ties to the University as the Firm celebrates its bicentennial. Scholars are supported with tuition assistance and a summer internship in Cravath’s New York office, including training and mentorship opportunities.
Established shortly after the end of the Civil War, Fisk University’s founders included noted abolitionist Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, whose son, Paul Drennan Cravath, would go on to become a named partner in the Firm. Erastus Cravath served as the first President of the University, a role he held for more than two decades, raising his family on the grounds of the Fisk campus. Sharing his father’s passion for the mission of the school, Paul Cravath served in various leadership roles at Fisk for 45 years.
Please click here to read the Firm’s press release.
