ADVANCING

Jenner & Block is dedicated to advancing historically underrepresented lawyers by celebrating their talents and inviting all to the conversation. We remain committed to fostering the next generation of lawyers by promoting inclusive leadership and welcoming underrepresented laterals. This year, Jenner & Block was recognized by The American Lawyer in the top 25 law firms for women in law—bringing the firm up to 24th place from 78th last year, and of the 21 partners and special counsel lawyers that entered the firm in 2023, 14 are from underrepresented groups.

Investing in Pipeline Programs: Advancing the Next Generation of Diverse Lawyers

At Jenner & Block, we do not believe that it is enough to simply attract great talent. Our firm is deeply committed to retaining our talent through intentional programming. Partners Shoba Pillay and Sati Harutyunyan and Associate Tomi Johnson discussed the importance of supporting the growth and advancement of diverse lawyers.

Reggie Hill: Finding Passion in New Interests

Reggie Hill didn’t start out wanting to be a lawyer. Before he started law school, Reggie was a successful engineer with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Tuskegee University and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech. He designed computers, was a co-inventor on two patents, and he and his wife had started a business and were eager to start a family.

Then, Reggie decided to try something new to honor his changing interests and started law school in 1990.

“I enjoyed making things, but I wanted to have more of an impact on people personally and their issues, so I embarked on this career in law,” Reggie said. “One of the goals was to be in a position to help people, and the other was to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and make my way in the world in terms of commerce and generating wealth.”

Reggie’s experience includes more than 25 years defending and asserting his clients’ rights to innovations across computers, digital communications, the internet, and emerging technologies. He helps global automotive, technology, and electronics companies assert their IP rights or defend against IP claims. Reggie was named one of the top intellectual property lawyers of color in the country by Diversity & the Bar. Reggie has applied his trial skills in criminal pro bono matters, including a first-degree murder trial and armed robbery trial.

“I came to Jenner & Block where I was able to have a unique knowledge base and perspective to the technology I had dealt with as an engineer,” Reggie said. “It’s particularly useful in the patent space, where I’ve done some work with clients trying to procure protection for their inventions.”

Reggie’s passion for helping people extends beyond his work at Jenner & Block. He works with Chicago Scholars and has been working with high school students in the Chicago area to provide basic college counseling, help them select colleges, and persist through college to graduation. “I’m passionate about people having an opportunity to succeed in this country, whether educationally or fighting justice,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be great every person in this country had the opportunity to reach their full potential —whatever that might be?”

“This was a second career for me,” Reggie said. “People can change what they want to do, and interests can change, and law allows for that and gives the opportunity to do many things.”

Huiyi Chen:
The Importance of Community

Associate Huiyi Chen was born in Shenzhen, China and grew up speaking Mandarin and Cantonese. She later moved to Beijing to get her Bachelor of Laws and started her career with Jenner & Block, where she found the Asian Lawyers Forum.

Huiyi first got involved with the forum when she joined Jenner as a summer associate. Once she returned to the firm as a first year, she began to regularly attend meetings, which she found helpful in her experience. Now, she’s one of two co-chairs of the forum.

“It’s a mentoring circle,” Huiyi, who has been a co-chair since 2023, said. “It’s important for younger associates to get access to more senior leadership.” Partner Ray Sinnappan is the other co-chair of the forum.

When she first joined Jenner, Huiyi noticed people had a genuine interest in each other and care about doing things the correct way. “I found the legal system in the United States fascinating,” she said. “Jenner’s emphasis on pro bono was very attractive to me, and I think people here have the right mindset on how law should be practiced.”

She said the collaborative environment at Jenner makes her job easier because her colleagues are always kind, supportive, and encouraging. She gave a particular shout-out to the DEI Team: “Director Courtney Carter and her entire team have been working so hard, often behind the scenes, and we work closely on all initiatives.”

Huiyi said members of the Asian Lawyers Forum are very close—they go to conferences and have dinners together and do things like forum Q&A’s where the senior members are open about career advancement and provide insight.

“It’s important for people to understand that they are supported and have a safe space to talk about the issues they care about,” she said. “Ray and I are trying to form a community to make sure people are comfortable at the firm. I think it’s crucial to be able to connect with other Asian lawyers at the firm across all the offices.”

Intentional Programming

Jenner & Block has long been on the leading edge of diversity, equity, and inclusion—actively seeking and promoting it within our firm and setting the gold standard for shaping DEI within our profession. To support our goal of creating a more equitable and inclusive legal process, we offer a variety of intentional training and development programs, including:

Our sponsorship program supports underrepresented associates and other interested lawyers by pairing them with a sponsor who will take them on as a protégé. The sponsors work with their protégé and develop a written plan and outline goals for the sponsorship relationship. Sponsors report periodically to the Management or Policy Committee on their progress under the plan. The program aims not only to foster the retention of underrepresented lawyers, but to support and bring those lawyers meaningfully and directly into high-value client relationships—and offer consistent support in their client development efforts. For this initiative, we are emphasizing sponsorship, not mentorship. This means that the sponsors are asked to be active contributors to the professional development of their protégés, not just to give advice and guidance. Our sponsorship program has been in place since September 2020 and we have already seen tangible, positive results. Each pair receives sponsor/protégé training and overall, the program has been very well received.
The firm began piloting a Work Assignment Program in 2020 to address access to work opportunities and allocation concerns for associates. The Work Assignment Program provides more structure and addresses disparity in utilization among diverse lawyers—with 38 associates participating in 2022 and 27 associates participating in 2023. This system was designed with an intersectional lens and the DEI Team is working with the Professional Development Department on monitoring the program and seeking feedback for improvement.
In 2023, the DEI team began compiling and regularly distributing data regarding utilization, pitch count, and career development of diverse lawyers to practice group leaders. In addition, practice group leaders meet with the firm’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, the director of professional development, and a member of the DEI Committee at least twice a year to review the data in full. Access to this information assists our leaders in working to support the recruitment, retention, and development of diverse lawyers across the firm.

Annual Elevations Highlight Commitment to Advancing Historically Underrepresented Lawyers

Jenner & Block’s commitment to advancing opportunities for underrepresented lawyers is highlighted every December when we announce elevations to partner, as well as promotions to roles such as special counsel. And the legal industry has taken notice.

This year, Jenner & Block was recognized by The American Lawyer in the top 25 law firms for women in law—bringing the firm up to 24th place from 78th last year. The ranking is based on the percentages of women lawyers overall, and in partnership and leadership ranks. Jenner & Block also earned the #1 spot for advancement in Yale Law Women+ 2024 report. The advancement category highlights the capacity of underrepresented lawyers to move up the ranks in firms, make meaningful contributions, and develop as lawyers.

“I’m incredibly grateful to work at a firm that supports new parents and to have been promoted while on parental leave,” said Katie Wynbrandt. “I’m thrilled to embark on this new chapter of my career at Jenner & Block.”

Additionally, Jenner & Block topped The National Law Journal’s “2023 LGBTQ Scorecard” for the second year in a row, with just over 12 percent of our legal employees self-reporting on the LGBTQ spectrum.

Over the course of the last year, 21 lawyers have joined the ranks of partner and special counsel, either as laterals or through promotions. Of those, 14 are from underrepresented groups.