Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
M&R has been built upon a foundation of exceptional people—women and men of differing backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities and orientations, all working together toward a common goal: the best interests and success of our clients.
The firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is profound. Having been listed in Law360’s “Top 100 Firms for Minority Attorneys” and ranked amongst the 50 law firms in the U.S. with the highest percentage of minority equity partners, our culture is, in large part, driven by our focus on and dedication to a diverse workplace. Toward that end, M&R has created a Diversity & Inclusion (DI) Committee that meets bi-monthly to discuss and promote these issues we view as being as important as ever before.
DEI Mission Statement
We recognize that each individual brings a unique perspective to M&R, where diversity is among our core values, as is creating a culture of inclusion. As a national law firm, we value our employees for their unique talents, backgrounds and perspectives. That being said, we believe diversity includes race/ethnicity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, political affiliation, marital and familial status, disability, and veteran status, among other things. Likewise, we think that our culture of inclusion makes us a stronger law firm and creates a positive ecosystem where everyone can thrive.
Women Attorneys of M&R
At M&R, empowered women empower women. WAMR ensures the opportunity for them to keep doing so.
M&R takes great pride in the talents and achievements of its women attorneys, and management does all it can to enable their continued success. Exhibit A: the Women Attorneys of M&R (WAMR), an internal subcommittee of the DI Committee that has as its primary objective the development of the firm’s female lawyers. WAMR not only sponsors gender-focused speakers and events, but also presents a platform for M&R’s woman attorneys to concentrate on professional, career and personal growth—inside the firm and otherwise. At M&R, empowered women empower women. WAMR ensures the opportunity for them to keep doing so.
Professional Development
Never content to rest on their laurels, our attorneys continually work to sharpen their edges and elevate their skills, business acumen and legal knowledge by way of an in-house education platform dubbed M&R University (MRU) and our one-of-a-kind, proprietary Trial Advocacy Program (TAP)—offerings not ordinarily found in the law firm environment.
At M&R, everyone on staff plays a pivotal role, and our vision of a fully engaged workforce is unwavering. So too is the firm’s emphasis on professional development, giving back to the community and social engagement.
Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
M&R is an MCLE approved provider and our lawyers receive credit toward their mandatory CLE requirements when attending MRU programs. These sessions are specifically tailored to ensure practical application to our attorneys’ practices as well as the industries they serve.
Development & Skills Training
MRU is focused on skills training for our attorneys and administrative staff. Seminars are offered that run the gamut from trial practice and elimination of bias for lawyers, to technology-focused "lunch n’ learns" for legal assistants and advanced Excel classes for our accounting professionals.
Practice & Industry Updates
We understand the importance of being on top of our clients’ industries as well as ever-changing market trends and conditions. To ensure we are, senior attorneys conduct MRU classes on current issues impacting designated business sectors, competitive landscape analysis, emerging technologies, and the intersection of industry and legal strategy.
Giving Back
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
At M&R, we embrace these words by Winston Churchill and seek not only to work for the benefit of our clients, but also to positively impact our communities and the world around us. We do so by adopting the passion projects of our people and committing time and resources to several charitable and community organizations. In our view, M&R is at its finest when providing pro bono legal services or otherwise financially supporting a range of nonprofits.
A charity that is leading a nationwide movement to beat rare cancers, owned and operated by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The mission of Angel City Sports is to spark the Paralympic and Adaptive Sports movement in Southern California. They do so in a myriad of ways, like hosting the annual Angel City Games at UCLA, where disabled athletes (kids and adults alike) compete in Track and Field, Archery, Swimming, Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Tennis. The M&R family proudly volunteers at the Games and firm leadership sits on the non-profit's board of directors.
The Ronald McDonald House of Charities helps alleviate some of the financial burdens placed upon families with sick children. Over the years, the charity has facilitated annual savings of $930 million in lodging and meal costs alone.
This organization is on a mission to free the world from cancer. The firm does its part by participating – year after year – in the Race for the Cure, raising money breast cancer research and awareness.
Each year, Project Angel Food prepares and delivers more than 1.5 million medically tailored meals free of charge to the homes of men, women, and children affected by life-threatening illnesses.
This advocacy and research organization at UC Law San Francisco seeks to advance racial, gender, and class equity. It is doing so by addressing inequality at a structural level by developing and implementing concrete, evidence-based interventions in schools and workplaces and changing public policy at the state and national levels.
For over 25 years, Project Hope Alliance has worked to end the cycle of homelessness in Orange County. M&R has lent its assistance in hopes of improving the lives of 30,000 homeless children in the area.
We are delighted to be involved in the WBC (including board membership), an organization dedicated to the welfare of underserved and at-risk children in Los Angeles. The charity directly impacts smaller nonprofits by providing grants, hosting events, and supporting youth programs.
The UCLA foundation actively promotes philanthropy and manages donated resources for the advancement of the university and its programs, including the UCLA School of Law Black Law Students Association, an organization enthusiastically supported by the firm.
The preeminent institution devoted to the art of the United States, the Whitney Museum of American Art presents the full range of twentieth-century and contemporary American art, with a special focus on works by living artists.
Event & Social Engagement
M&R has a vibrant culture fostered by our Event & Social Manager – the firm’s so-called “Ambassador of Fun” – who maintains a calendar chock-full of bonding events, all geared toward making M&R the BEST place to work. From themed lunches to destination retreats, our activities help to forge meaningful workplace relationships and create lasting memories. A sampling of firm events includes:
Weekly in-house breakfasts
Holiday-themed events
Attorney barbeques
Firmwide charitable fundraisers
Monthly office happy hours
Staff Events (think bowling, billiards and karaoke)
Diversity and inclusion events
An epic annual year-end holiday party
In addition to these (and other) events, screens at each M&R office display a “Living Storybook” – featuring photos of the firm’s lawyers, staff, and their families – meant to foster teamwork and harmony. These scrolling pictures tell the stories of us – the people that make M&R such a wonderful place to work. And by sharing glimpses into the lives of the firm’s workforce, we become more closely connected and fully engaged as a cohesive team.
Without question, events and social engagement lead to greater career fulfillment and job productivity, a hallmark of M&R’s culture. And who are the beneficiaries of the firm’s emphasis on the fun: our happy employees and, by extension, well-served and satisfied clients.