Difference Makers, Then and Now

Choate has always been, and will continue to be, committed to promoting diversity in our Firm and in the legal profession as a whole.

Here are a few snapshots of Choate over the years and our efforts, internally and externally, to challenge ourselves and others to build a more diverse and inclusive community.

Then

  • 1951: Choate was one of the first major Boston law firms to hire a woman lawyer.
  • 1965, 1971: Choate was one of the first major Boston law firms to elect a LGBTQ+ lawyer and a woman lawyer as equity partners.
  • 1968: At the request of Robert F. Kennedy, a Choate partner founded, and served as the first Chairman of, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, which has played a pivotal role in combatting racial injustice throughout Massachusetts over the last 50 years.
  • 1986: Choate was a founding member law firm of the Boston Lawyers Group, which is devoted to the advancement of attorneys of color in the Boston legal community.
  • Choate lawyers have served as leaders in the professional community, including as presidents of the Black Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys, Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, the Boston Bar Association, the Boston Bar Foundation, and as the first female president of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Now

  • Over the past 10 years, 31% of our entering lawyers have identified as attorneys of color.
  • Currently, 41% of Choate lawyers are women, including 30% of our equity partners.
  • Over the past 20 years, 54% of our entering lawyers have been women.
  • 32% of our current practice leaders, 30% of our current Executive Committee members, and approximately 40% of our current equity partner Compensation Committee members are women.
  • For the 11th year in a row, Choate has earned a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index for LGBTQ+ workplace equality.