Diversity Initiatives

Merchant & Gould's commitment to diversity is implemented primarily through its Diversity Committee and the Recruiting Committee. The members of these committees are charged with ensuring that Merchant & Gould recognizes diversity as an important component of the evaluation for purposes of hiring and retention. The Diversity Committee additionally has been charged with, and has completed, the implementation of a number of policies to aid in the retention of diverse candidates, including a flex plan. The Diversity Committee in conjunction with the Recruiting Committee, has made concerted efforts to recruit, interview, and attract candidates with diverse backgrounds by expanding the scope of the hiring search to include a more diverse applicant pool. As part of this effort, Merchant & Gould, through its committees, actively participates in the following: sponsorship and participation in Twin Cities Minority Job Fair and job fairs throughout the country.

Initiatives

Our diversity initiatives involve education both internally and externally, sponsorship of local and national organizations that support attorneys of diverse backgrounds, recruitment at minority job fairs, community service and pro bono work, law school scholarship support, internal programs such as training and mentoring, and a recognition that all attorneys at the firm are responsible for creating an inclusive climate.

Education

Our external education efforts involve, but is not limited to participating in Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, National Society for Black Engineers annual meeting, sponsoring speakers at community events, and speaking at various colleges about the benefits of a career in intellectual property.

Our internal education efforts involve hosting at least one event per year concerning issues of diversity for members of the firm and/or the community at large.  Recently, Merchant & Gould sponsored a CLE titled Elimination of Bias:  Maxwell v. J. Baker Case, Study of Gender Issues in Intellectual Property Disputes.  This seminar educated lawyers about the bias or prejudice experienced by Susan Maxwell as a female inventor seeking to obtain patent rights and enforcement of those patent rights over the course of 20 years. Ms. Maxwell described the events in the history of the patent procurement and enforcement efforts that created difficulties for her due to gender bias. The program also provided presentations from the perspective of a trial consultant who has dealt with trial presentations in cases involving female inventors and counsel involved in trying such cases, discussing the trial issues unique to female patent owners. These three perspectives educated attorneys about the issues unique to female inventors.

Our external education efforts involve working in the communities in which we have offices to support local organizations concerned with diversity. For example, we have been a member of Twin Cities Diversity in practice for at least four years. This organization is dedicated to attracting and retaining attorneys of color to the Twin cities area. The organization educates attorneys of diverse backgrounds about the strengths of the Twin cites area as a place to work and succeed. This organization sponsors the Minority Recruitment conference bringing graduating law students in for interviews with law firms in the Twin Cities. Merchant and Gould has consistently participated in the recruitment conference. This group also provides several speakers and networking opportunities for attorneys of color throughout the year.

Another organization that allows us to provide education about careers in intellectual property law is the National Society for Black Engineers. Merchant and Gould attends and supports the National Society for Black Engineers annual meeting. We educate undergraduate and graduate black engineers about careers in intellectual property.

Sponsorships

Merchant and Gould encourages all attorneys to participate in appropriate bar activities including those such as the Asian Pacific Bar, Hispanic Bar, and Black Lawyer's organizations.

Annually, we attend the dinner for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association in the Midwest. We are also sponsoring a table at the Hispanic National Bar Association being held in Minneapolis this year, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association Annual Banquet and the Rocky Mountain Legal Diversity Summit.  We are also sponsoring the University of Tennessee College of Law's 2010 Julian Blackshear Scholarship Dinner which raises funds for the Blackshear Scholarship Fund, which supports law students historically from underrepresented populations.   The Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers Annual Gala is also an event we look forward to all year.

Community Service and Pro bono Activities

Many of attorneys participate either in community service organizations and/or do pro bono work.

Our attorneys are involved in pro bono work throughout all of our offices. Some representative organizations for pro bono work include Volunteer Lawyer's Network, Chrysalis, and the Children's Law Center. Our attorneys have provided 1057 pro bono hours for calendar 2009.

Merchant & Gould has offered legal assistance in housing law through Volunteer Lawyers Network. The mission of Volunteer Lawyers Network(VLN) is to advise and represent economically disadvantaged people with legal problems, through volunteer attorneys and without charge to the clients. Today, VLN is the primary pro bono legal service provider in Hennepin County, serving the largest poverty population in Minnesota.

The Children's Law Center ("CLC") allows attorneys to represent children that are in foster care. This opportunity allows the attorney to work directly with the child and to represent the child's interests in court. Being a volunteer lawyer for the CLC is all about representing children in the foster care system so that their voices can be heard.

A noted leader in the Minnesota community since 1974, Chrysalis provides effective health and human service programs to women, children and families. Chrysalis helps clients receive the support and resources they need to build strong, healthy lives. Chrysalis fills a unique role in the community as the only woman-centered multi-service agency in the Twin Cities metro area.

Other attorneys focus on community service. For example, John Reich is on the Board of Directors for NALP. Kathy Kowalchyk is working with a hospital in Northwestern Bangladesh to raise funds for health care for women and children.

The Merchant and Gould Omaha Office participates in the Enclaves program of Mosaic, a non-profit organization that provides services to people with disabilities. The Enclaves program allows disabled individuals to obtain gainful, solid, and realistic employment. The Omaha office employs an individual from the Mosaic program to perform routine office tasks. As the Omaha Office grows, it hopes to increase its participation in this beneficial program.

Merchant and Gould is also involved with the "Go Red for Women" campaign and recently sponsored a Lunch & Learn event. The "Go Red for Women" campaign is dedicated to educating women about the risks and warning signs of heart disease.

Mentoring and Training

At Merchant & Gould we recognize that effective and meaningful mentoring and training relationships are critical to attorney development and success. As such, Merchant & Gould provides a mentoring program that includes both formal and informal mentoring opportunities.

Every associate at Merchant & Gould is assigned a formal partner mentor. But the mentoring does not stop at the assignment. Regular follow up with associates and their assigned mentors ensures that each associate is receiving the resources and guidance they need to reach their full potential.

In addition to assigned mentors, Merchant & Gould places a strong emphasis on informal mentoring relationships. We facilitate these informal mentoring relationships in a variety of ways. One way in which the firm facilitates informal mentoring relationships and personal connections among its attorneys is through a random lunch program. The random lunch program matches attorneys from diverse practice areas to have lunch once a quarter. The goal of the random lunch program is to bring together attorneys who may not otherwise have occasion to regularly interact, thus ensuring an interconnected workplace and encouraging the formation of informal mentoring relationships.

We are dedicated to training our attorneys in all aspects of intellectual property law and providing each of them with the knowledge to deliver a high quality work product to our clients. Our firm has consistently been ranked one of the top Trademark law firms in the US, providing our attorneys with the ability to learn from some of the top trademark people in the country. Like wise, a recent report in Intellectual Property Today ranked Merchant and Gould as one of the top ten patent prosecution law firms in the country. Finally, we are ranked as one of the top firms for ip litigation in the Midwest and a third of attorneys practicing in litigation are women. These rankings show that we are committed to providing a high quality work experience for all of our attorneys and for delivering value to our clients. A diverse work force only enhances our capabilities.

Accountability

Recognizing that all attorneys are responsible for creating an inclusive work environment, Merchant and Gould has implemented initiatives focused on each attorney and each office. The firm strongly encourages each attorney to participate in at least one event per year that includes a discussion of issues concerning diversity and includes this on each attorney's practice plan. We ask each of our offices to prepare a Diversity plan for the office indicating how they will connect with each local community on the issue of diversity. We publish internally a calendar of events to let attorneys know of events sponsored by us or by the community. Our hiring policy has been revised to add diversity as one of the hiring criteria. We report concerning the progress of diversity initiatives to the firm as a whole at the annual retreat.

We have a goal to increase our attorneys of diverse backgrounds of at least 0.5% per year. We are happy to report we have exceeded that goal this year increasing out attorneys with diverse backgrounds from 30.3% to 30.9%. About 26% of our attorneys are women and 6% are attorneys of color. Although numbers are not the only focus of our diversity efforts, they also provide accountability for the firm.

Scholarship 

Merchant and Gould supports scholarships for students of color at the University of Minnesota Law School and through other organizations.

Our current scholarship is directed to University of Minnesota minority law students with an interest in intellectual property law and with demonstrated financial need. We are happy to report that Ms. Sharde' Thomas was the recipient of the Merchant & Gould P.C. Scholarship for '09-'10 and '10-'11.  Ms. Thomas will receive a $2500 scholarship each year.