Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Our Commitment

Mansfield Rule Certification

Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP is proud to announce that we have earned Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification, successfully completing a year-long collaboration with Diversity Lab to measure and be held accountable for achieving meaningful progress toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. Calfee is proud of this achievement, which demonstrates that the firm has taken deliberative steps to expand the list of those considered for leadership positions within our organization, among many other steps made to intentionally expand diversity, equity and inclusion at Calfee.

Mansfield aims to increase and sustain diversity in leadership within law firms by broadening the pool of women lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and underrepresented racial and/or ethnic lawyers who are considered for senior lateral attorney job openings, firm governance opportunities, equity partner promotions, and firm leadership positions. Firms must also create and publish job descriptions and appointment/election policies for leadership roles.

To achieve Mansfield 5.0 Certification, Calfee collaborated with Diversity Lab over a 12-month certification period with built-in measurement, transparency, and accountability mechanisms.

“Participating in the Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process has encouraged Calfee’s leaders to adopt an additional layer of intentionality about key hiring, promotion, and inclusion decisions. Implementing even subtle changes in our firm’s collective thought processes has resulted in initial positive outcomes, including a heightened sense of accountability and commitment across the firm,” said Kimberly Moses, Partner and Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP.

Calfee is actively participating in Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certification, which will require meeting rigorous diversity, equity, and inclusion goals specified by Diversity Lab from July 2022 through July 2023.

Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

Our commitment to valuing and supporting diversity as a critical cultural element in attracting and retaining talent and supporting business and industry growth expands beyond our firm. Calfee is a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), an organization of more than 300 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners working to build a more open and diverse legal profession.

In 2022, Calfee participated in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Leader's Pledge initiative. Joining fellow LCLD corporate and law firm members, Calfee's Managing Partner Brent D. Ballard developed and submitted an individual and firm pledge articulating his personal commitment to diversity and specifying specific, meaningful and measurable organizational changes that support Calfee's pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion at the firm and across the legal industry. 

Gender Equity in the Legal Industry

Additionally, Calfee is a founding member of Cleveland's Gender Equity in the Legal Industry (GELI) Forum, which is a collaboration of Cleveland law firms committed to identifying and addressing gender inequities at private law firms.

Ohio Business Competes

As of 2018, we are proud to have joined Ohio Business Competes, a non-partisan coalition of businesses committed to achieving non-discrimination policies at the state level.

Calfee's Sponsorship Program Launches in 2022

Sponsorship differs from Calfee’s mentoring program. Sponsorship is predicated on a more formal, structured relationship. While mentoring is intended to help provide our attorneys with the tools that they will need for their professional and career development, sponsorship is intended to actively help an attorney use those tools. Sponsorship should help create opportunities and eliminate obstacles in using these tools.

The sponsor and the candidate will meet initially to assess strengths and development opportunities, and they will work cooperatively to create an advancement plan with measurable goals. Regular progress checks and mutual accountability are built into the program. Throughout the process, both parties will be expected to contribute to the relationship and actively engage in the sponsorship process. The program is designed to work toward the development needed for long-term career advancement, and both parties will work to identify experiences and opportunities to aid in that process.

Sponsors, who are currently all members of Calfee’s Management Committee, will participate in a training session and commit to active participation in the program.

While participation in the Sponsorship program is not a guarantee of career advancement, promotions, or placement into specific roles for participants, our goal is that this program will provide for a more equitable career journey and support the advancement goals of those participating in the program.

Calfee's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategic Overview

Calfee's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee developed a strategic plan and overview to help guide its efforts and communicate its work with Calfee attorneys, staff members, clients, and friends of the firm.

In mid-2020, the Committee held small group listening sessions for all Calfee employees to discuss race, diversity, and equality in the workplace. During these sessions, employees were asked to provide candid feedback on the current status of diversity at Calfee, ideas and thoughts for improvement, and ways to increase transparency in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Following the small group sessions, the Committee reviewed all of the feedback received and then created the strategic overview, which provides information on the group's current focus and action items, action items completed within the last year, and a listing of Calfee's ongoing sponsorships and programs.

Read the full Strategic DEI Plan here.

In January 2021, Calfee's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee developed an internal DEI Update to the Firm, detailing actions taken in 2020 and the action steps planned for 2021. If you would like to review the 2021 DEI Update, please contact your Calfee attorney or the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Chair, Kim Moses.

Calfee's Statement and Action Plans to Support Racial Justice, Equity and Inclusion 

On June 1, 2020, Calfee's Managing Partner, Brent D. Ballard, shared the following "Reflections After a Weekend of Unrest" with all attorneys and staff:

I write this note to you today as I attempt to put into perspective the protests that transpired in Minneapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, New York, Indianapolis, Washington and other cities across this country, as well as a concern for the damage that’s been done to some of our cities as an unfortunate aftermath of those legitimate protests. I cannot express strongly enough my feelings of anger and frustration at the clear actions of racial injustice that led to the protests. While I can’t fully understand the impact from the perspective of those who have personally experienced racism, discrimination, and oppression, I know that injustices and such acts of violence have no place in our society.

And I know that at Calfee we have the opportunity and responsibility to invoke change. We have offices and colleagues in communities that have been hit hard by these events. We are of different races, genders, backgrounds and personal views, and we are better for it. At Calfee, we are dedicated to supporting an inclusive culture, including with respect to race and ethnicity. We value every member of our firm and can be a place that sets an example for the power of inclusion, equity and justice.

It is likely that we will be living in a period of unrest and uncertainty, both economic and with respect to societal tensions and rightful demands for change, for some time to come. At times like this we need to appreciate each other more than ever, check in on each other, listen to and respect each other, and be kind to each other. Please let me know of any further thoughts or suggestions you have after you digest this.

Know that I appreciate and value each of you, please be safe.

– Brent D. Ballard

In June, Calfee's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, in collaboration with our diversity and inclusion consultant, Dr. Ellen Burts-Cooper, launched a series of internal, small-group "Listening Sessions" facilitated by a member of the DEI Committee and open to all attorneys and staff. The purpose of these sessions was to provide a trusted circle for attorneys and staff to share feelings and suggestions, discuss the recent racial injustices and resulting protests, and to listen to and learn from each other. These discussions were intended, in part, to also help inform the DEI Committee's next steps to continue to support social and racial justice, equity and inclusion at our firm, in our communities and in the legal industry.

While the specific discussions were confidential to each small group, the facilitator captured common themes and questions that the groups approved for sharing with the DEI Committee members. The Committee met to discuss the common themes, questions and suggestions, and used that information to develop an action plan, the implementation of which has been the focus for Committee and sub-committee work in 2020.