Wiggin and Dana Adopts Billable Hour Credit for Diversity Work

Wiggin and Dana, joining about a dozen firms, is adopting a billable hour credit for lawyer work on diversity, equity and inclusion, the firm said Thursday.

The new policy, retroactive to Jan. 1, includes activities such as representing the firm at law school diversity events and mentoring or establishing recruiting relationships with law students from diverse backgrounds.

“By incentivizing and rewarding attorneys for spending time on activities that build an inclusive culture and equitable workplace, we aim to ensure attorneys are appropriately credited for DEI activities, the majority of which often falls disproportionately to attorneys from underrepresented groups,” Jana Simon, Wiggin and Dana’s chief DEI officer, said in a statement.

The firm is following in the footsteps of about a dozen rivals in offering the credit after a 2021 National Association for Law Placement study highlighted the continued scarcity of minorities and women in firms. The study found that people of color comprise 11%, and women 26%, of firm partners.

Firms that already adopted billable credit for diversity and allied work include Eversheds Sutherland, a London-founded firm, which provided up to 50 hours of billable credit annually for qualifying diversity and inclusion work for its U.S. attorneys as of Jan. 1, 2022.

Cooley, Hogan Lovells, Reed Smith and Ropes & Gray are also among the firms that have adopted DEI billable credit policies to bolster diversity efforts in the law firm industry.

Wiggin and Dana has about 150 attorneys and offices in Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Palm Beach, Fla.

Other activities now covered by the firm’s annual allocation of 150 hours credit per lawyer for work with pro bono clients include partnering with clients on DEI initiatives and participating in diversity specific bar and other legal associations.

“Providing billable credit for DEI work is a key component of our firm’s efforts to foster a diverse and welcoming professional environment,” managing partner Tim Diemand said in the statement.

In January, Wiggin and Dana announced the addition of a dozen new partners for 2022, including five laterals from other firms, in the areas of corporate and litigation as well as emerging companies and venture capital, health care and international trade compliance.