DEI

Our Commitment

We are working to:

• advance diversity within our ranks, which we know creates power through addition: more ideas, improved solutions, and a better workplace.
• create a culture of equity and inclusion – where employees feel respected, valued, and have a sense of belonging, and where processes are in place for soliciting employee feedback and participation in decisions impacting their work life.

Building an Inclusive Culture

Acting with intention to nurture a culture of equity and inclusion, Summit has created DEI-focused:

• Training. We provide training to all lawyers and staff on DEI topics.
• Communications process. We have established a process through which personnel can safely raise concerns, issues, or ideas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Recruitment process. We recruit from pools of diverse candidates for positions and provide training for staff and attorney interviewers to mitigate bias.

Creating a Pipeline

Summit works in multiple ways to increase the numbers of diverse attorneys:

• As a member of Legal Employers Advancing Diversity in Washington (LEAD-WA), each year our firm hires a participating first-year law student as a summer fellow.
• Summit attorneys sponsor and mentor the Jefferson Community Center Mock Trial Team, the only community-sponsored team in the state.
• Our lawyers in mentorship opportunities and sponsor events for City Year, working toward a more equitable future by developing the skills and mindsets of young adults to build a stronger community.
• We engage and support Alexander Hamilton Scholars through board membership, sponsorship and mentoring opportunities.

Holding Ourselves Accountable

Summit has sought and received Mansfield Rule Certification Plus since 2022 in Diversity Lab’s Midsize Certification cohort.

The overall goal of the Mansfield Rule is to ensure all talent at participating law firms and legal departments have a fair and equal opportunity to advance into leadership, by focusing on broadening the talent pool for consideration, including those historically underrepresented in the legal profession, to facilitate transparent leadership pathways.

To achieve Mansfield Certification Plus, our firm collaborated with Diversity Lab on an 18-month pilot certification process in which we needed to achieve at least 30 percent women lawyers, underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for attorney positions, leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and formal client pitch opportunities. Summit went above and beyond these milestones with underrepresented attorneys reflecting 68.6% of our equity partnership and 70.0% of our firm leadership roles during our most recent 2023 certification.