Wilson Sonsini is committed to the principle that diversity, equity, and inclusion are vital components of a thriving organization.
Diversity of thought, experience, identity, and background, as well as an inclusive culture, enable our firm to deliver greater value to our clients, provide a richer work experience to our employees, and make meaningful, lasting contributions to our communities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are particularly important to our firm because our exceptionally innovative technology, life science, and other emerging growth clients are also exceptionally diverse themselves.
When I was being recruited, several of the people I met were not only women, but women partners. And that’s a thing that I had never, never seen in BigLaw—multiple female partners at a single law firm.
So I jumped at the chance to work with these folks. They were great humans, but also I knew right away that I could show up and I could have a wife and I could have kids. And that was not going to be an issue at all. That it was going to be celebrated and totally a normalized thing.
1L Student Diversity Summit
At our annual 1L Student Diversity Summit, we host law students from underrepresented populations for two days of networking, learning, and insights. We highlight different careers in law (from law firms to in-house to the judiciary) and strive to make the law firm recruiting process more accessible and transparent. During the summit, you will have the opportunity to:
- meet our attorneys
- hear from our clients and lawyers about their career paths
- learn what success in Big Law looks like
- network in a setting where you can be your authentic self
On February 23-24, 2023, Wilson Sonsini hosted the third annual 1L Student Diversity Summit. Fifty-two impressive first year students from 20 law schools around the country joined us in Palo Alto for panels, talks, and fireside chats featuring our partners and associates, as well as alumni and judges. Our scholars also enjoyed social opportunities with our attorneys, clients, judges, and recruiting, DEI, and professional development teams and insightful small-group conversations about practice areas and firm culture. Throughout, our scholars experienced first-hand our firm’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and heard great advice on navigating law school and the legal profession from a variety of perspectives.
If you’re at a place where you feel like you can’t be your authentic self, you’re in the wrong place. That’s not to say that we don’t all have things about ourselves that we can work on or polish up a bit, but bringing your authentic self to work should be something employers value.
I’ve never felt for one day that I couldn’t be exactly who I am here at Wilson Sonsini.
Affinity Groups at Wilson Sonsini
As part of the firm’s commitment to an inclusive work environment, we have established several Affinity Groups that provide opportunities for attorneys and staff to connect across offices, build relationships, access mentors and become more involved and visible at the firm. Allies are also welcome, and we encourage allies to participate in Affinity Groups by listening to the experiences of others.
Our groups include:
- Asian American Affinity Group
- Black @ Wilson
- Latin @ Wilson
- Parents and Caregivers
- Pride @ Wilson
- Veterans and Military Families
- Wellness @ Wilson
- Women of Wilson
For too many years diversity was a statistic at law firms, and that’s not what really matters.
We’ve made a shift to the substance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It requires a huge investment of time and resources. It requires constant mindfulness, thoughtfulness, attention, creativity and care. We want people to have the opportunity to come here and thrive.
