A CONTINUED 27
YEAR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INLCUSION:
Among the small to
mid-sized defense firms in Connecticut, Letizia Ambrose & Falls, PC has been
at the forefront of many efforts to be more diverse and inclusive, including
being the first workers’ compensation defense practice to sign the Connecticut
Bar Association Diversity & Inclusion Pledge and the first to have a name
female partner. We were also among the
first healthcare and employment defense firms to allow staff and attorneys
flexible schedules (especially for single parent households), inclusive of telecommuting,
since our inception in 1994.
We have been
members of the CBA Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the past five years
and are proud of our Managing Partner, John M. Letizia, who has been on the CBA
Diversity & Inclusion Committee’s Subcommittee on Education since 2015 and
was the Co-Organizer of its first education program on Discrimination in the
Workplace and is the Co-Organizer for the CBA 2021 Annual Connecticut Bar
Association education program being conducted by the CBA Diversity &
Inclusion Committee.
Attorney Letizia was
requested to and provided at no charge diversity and inclusion training to one
of Connecticut’s largest healthcare associations and to the insureds of
Connecticut’s fourth largest workers’ compensation carrier.
The attorneys and
staff at Letizia, Ambrose & Falls have been and continue to be committed to
creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace. We regularly look for ways to recognize the
contributions and importance of people of color. As to this effort, for the past
10 years on Martin Luther King Day, we make individual donations to the MLK
Foundation in the name of each employee.
On the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s death, we purchased
from the Dr. Ernest Withers Museum an original photo of Dr. King taken just
hours before his passing. That photo hangs in our main reception area.
After the tragic events
that took place in the Spring of 2020, our Firm implemented a diversity and
inclusion training program focusing on race.
This training was conducted by Former Judge Angela Robinson, a
recognized expert in the area of diversity and inclusion for law firms. This program was attended by every lawyer and
employee of the firm. We also
established a matching fund for donations by employees to the New Haven Branch
of the NAACP and other charities and causes that support minorities suffering
unfair and discriminatory treatment.
As to our recruiting
efforts, with the assistance of the University of Connecticut Law School, our
Firm, for the past four years, has openly recruited minority law school students
at the annual UConn School of Law Job Fair.
We have recently sought out and hired attorneys of diverse races,
backgrounds and experiences, including hiring Asian-American and Ghanaian attorneys
for open positions in 2019 and 2020. We
are very proud that as of January 2021, over 80% of our paralegals and staff
are women, members of the LBGQT community, and other minorities.
Letizia, Ambrose
& Falls believes it is the responsibility of all employers to create and
maintain a workplace that values and respects diversity and inclusiveness.
