Joe Ortego, Partner
Long Island, New York

In the early 1990s, the scarcity of Hispanic attorneys practicing corporate law began to trouble Joe Ortego, a longtime supporter of the Hispanic bar and business communities in New York.

“If you looked around, you could find Hispanic lawyers working in criminal or immigration areas, but you didn’t find these people doing corporate work,” Joe recalls. “It was as if they were not even on the radar screen at the larger law firms.”

Today, with diversity being recognized as an important business tool, Joe sees change. “As people of color move into more positions of power,” he says, “they are more conscious of retaining a firm that is itself diverse.”

Joe regularly reaches out to mentor Hispanic attorneys now taking up corporate work. He also supports affinity groups within the firm, which enable younger attorneys to exchange ideas and find support.

“It’s significant that Nixon Peabody’s managing partner has taken the diversity initiative under his wing—that has set the tone for the entire law firm,” says Joe. “The partners understand that this is a significant objective.”

Robert N. H. Christmas, Partner
New York, New York

Robert Christmas, one of the firm’s openly gay partners, says that Nixon Peabody gave him full support when he adopted a daughter and again when his twins (conceived through surrogacy) were born prematurely. “The people of this firm treated me and my family as they would any other family,” he recalls.

Robert says he has also benefited from the firm’s health insurance policies, which provide coverage for domestic partners. Robert has worked to promote diversity issues for more than a decade through a number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) political and civil rights organizations. He also served as chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Special Committee on AIDS and the Law.

He believes that valuing people as individuals enhances legal representation and makes good economic sense for the firm.

“A large number of the Fortune 500 have strong diversity policies, and want to know that their lawyers have the same commitment. I’ve also had clients in the gay community who selected Nixon Peabody because they felt we had a good understanding of diversity issues and would defend them vigorously.”

Elizabeth D. Moore, Partner
New York, New York

Throughout her professional life, Liz Moore has mentored women and minority attorneys. She says, “I understand the concern of trying to balance work and family, of trying to fit in when your colleagues don’t have the same background or interests.” Liz believes that diversity programs should not only encourage respect for different cultures and backgrounds, but also be concerned with “understanding the life circumstances that help or hinder achievement.”

As a member of the New York Urban League’s Board of Directors, Liz played a role in creating its Champions of Diversity Award. She also chairs a Cornell University Board of Trustees committee that established an alumni-student mentoring program for minority students. Both roles express her interest in helping young people achieve their dreams.

Liz, who specializes in employment law, encourages her clients—“enlightened employers”—to recognize that cultural competence enhances their ability to recruit and retain the best and the brightest and to provide services in an increasingly diverse marketplace.

She’s pleased that Nixon Peabody is an enlightened employer too. “Our focus on ensuring that we do all we can to welcome diversity of thought, ideas, and beliefs,” she says, “makes Nixon Peabody a better place to work for everyone.”

Ann G. Miller, Partner
San Francisco, California

Ann Miller was the only woman in her firm when she began practicing law thirty-three years ago. She is now an accomplished partner at Nixon Peabody, where her talent, skills, and experience have been tapped for several leadership roles, including member of the Executive Committee, marketing partner, associate matters partner, and hiring partner.

Ann currently leads our International Team, which builds relationships with law firms and clients across the globe. She is also an active member of the International Bar Association and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association.

Ann believes that promotion is a critical aspect of any diversity initiative. “It’s not enough to attract people with differences, you have to be able to retain them,” Ann says. “That’s the challenge—you have to seek them out, provide them the training and opportunity they need to excel, and when they do, promote them.”

“The world is much smaller today,” Ann says. “If your clients are themselves diverse, it’s important to supply them with lawyers who have diverse backgrounds.”

William Simpson, Director of Human Resources
Rochester, New York

Bill Simpson has seen discrimination in many different forms, and as a human resources executive for a number of corporations, he’s worked countless hours to put an end to it by promoting workforce diversity.

His motivation stems, in part, from a scene he witnessed in the early 60s when he was traveling with a group of other men to Parris Island for Marine boot camp training. “The train stopped in Richmond, Virginia, where I saw discrimination at its worst. Restrooms and drinking fountains were marked ‘Whites’ and ‘Negroes.’ Many were ultimately going to Vietnam, and I thought it was horrendous that the African-American Marines would be defending a country where they could not use the same restrooms or drink from the same fountains as whites. This experience has stayed with me throughout my life.”

Bill helped found the Greater Rochester Diversity Council, which serves as a catalyst for understanding, promoting, and managing diversity within the Rochester business community. “Diversity works best when an employer approaches the initiative from an inclusionary perspective,” he says. “Each of us must be valued as individuals, because in the aggregate, we are all in this together.”