Our commitment to cultivate and maintain a diverse workforce remains at the core of our recruiting, retention and promotion efforts as we strive to maintain a firm culture that taps into the potential of every Kaye Scholer employee.
The Diversity and Recruiting Committees work together, recruiting at job fairs such as the BLSA Northeast Job Fair and the DuPont Minority Job Fair. We conduct on-campus interviews at law schools, and we actively seek out diverse candidates at every school. Kaye Scholer is an original signatory to the Statement of Goals of New York Law Firms and Corporate Legal Departments for Increasing Minority Hiring, Retention and Promotion, and we have surpassed the goals in each of the years of their existence. We are also an original signatory to the Statement of Goals of New York Law Firms and Corporate Legal Departments for the Retention and Promotion of Women, and we have participated in the City Bar Fellowship Program since its inception.
Kaye Scholer received the top rating of 100 percent from Human Rights Campaign Foundation's annual Corporate Equality Index, which provides an in-depth analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
Kaye Scholer was the recipient of the 2006 "Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association Law Firm Diversity Award" at the 26th Annual Conference of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA). The "Conference Chairs' Welcome," published in the "Conference Journal" distributed to all attendees, said about Kaye Scholer: "Our Law Firm Diversity Award recipient this year is the law firm of Kaye Scholer, LLP. With offices from New York to Shanghai, and points in between, this firm has made significant contributions to the entertainment legal community. We acknowledge Kaye Scholer for being a consistent supporter of BESLA and its programs, a corporate sponsor of BESLA's conferences, and for its continuous efforts in the areas of diversification by recruiting and hiring qualified minority professionals, including in particular, members of this organization."
Our partners' commitment to diversity extends beyond the firm. Sheila Boston, a partner in Kaye Scholer's Litigation Department, was named the Chair of the Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers, a committee devoted to enhance diversity in the profession at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. This special committee is charged with encouraging the hiring, retention and promotion of professionals from all walks of life in New York law firms and corporate legal departments. All of us at Kaye Scholer take great pride in her appointment, and we pledge our full support to the work of her committee in this important area.
In 2006, Kaye Scholer entered into a partnership with the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice. Kaye Scholer lawyers have coached the school's mock trial team in a state competition, conducted a mock labor negotiation with the students, and judged several moot court competitions at the school. In addition, the firm has initiated internship and mentoring programs.
Other organizations in which our partners are involved include the Asian American Bar Association of New York, Committee 504 (Minorities and Women in the Profession) of the ABA's Intellectual Property Law Section, Legal Momentum, The Women's Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inwood House, Just One Break, National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), American Bar Association's Section of Litigation's Women In Products Liability (WIPL), National Hispanic Bar Association, and Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA).
We are proud to have received several awards recognizing our commitment to offering equal employment opportunities to all.