Allverse Conference

The Allverse conference brings together U.S. minority and LGBT+ lawyers, senior leadership, and clients to galvanize the firm's investment in minority and LGBT+ lawyers, making the Americas DEI strategy visible and tangible.

"For me, this is actually truly one of a kind. I've not had any of our law firms have an event like this where really, globally they are bringing together diverse attorneys. For me, it shows a commitment from the law firm. It shows that the law firm is not just responding to what clients are asking, but is really concerned about what their attorneys, especially their associates, are concerned about. And that is kind of networking with people in the firm and trying to build those relationships with people who look like them and come from the same backgrounds as them. That makes this kind of investment in D&I speak volumes." – Sneha Dasai, Deputy General Counsel, Litigation at BASF

On 30-31 January 2020, the firm will host its second Allverse conference in Washington, D.C., for U.S. minority and LGBT+ lawyers, firm leadership, and clients. The theme of the conference is "Launching a Legacy" – learning from our firm's past, understanding our present, and utilizing those learnings and undertakings to establish a future that will be better for our people, our firm, and our clients. Since Steve Immelt became CEO in 2014, the firm has transformed itself into a powerhouse for women lawyers and has embarked on a journey to uplift minority and LGBT+ lawyers.

Allverse 2020 will be an opportunity for Hogan Lovells to embed our success and accelerate the speed and impact of our diversity and inclusion innovations. All of our participants will hear from senior leadership and diversity leadership on the state of diversity and inclusion at Hogan Lovells, from our clients on effectively building relationships on diversity and inclusion, from our equity partners on mastering the psychological long-game of the Big Law journey, and from our diverse associates and counsel across backgrounds and experience.

In November 2018, Hogan Lovells US LLP hosted its inaugural Allverse conference for U.S. minority and LGBT+ lawyers. With the theme "Investments and Intrapreneurship," the conference explored the firm's investment in women, minority, and LGBT+ lawyers and how they can invest in themselves and each other. Attendees were challenged to think about how they can be entrepreneurs within the firm and how the continued investments of our senior leadership in the diversity infrastructure can make an impact for our diverse lawyers. Bringing together more than 225 lawyers and business team professionals from over 18 of the firm's offices, the two-day event provided an opportunity for diverse lawyers in the United States, and a delegation of diverse lawyers from the firm’s non-U.S. offices, to interact with each other, senior leadership, and clients.

With a focus on authenticity, career ownership, and wellness strategies, the conference featured several speakers who are recognized as leading voices in diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. They pushed our lawyers to think about how they could not only invest in themselves, but in others. Combined with engaging panels led by the firm’s senior leadership, partners, and clients, attendees were treated to dynamic dialogues about the importance and impact of diversity and inclusion in the legal industry. These panels highlighted the need for there to be a continuing conversation among law firms and clients on diversity and inclusion goals and their importance in both organizations. This impactful first day ended with our U.S. National Diversity Committee members hosting small group dinners that resulted in in meaningful conversations about diversity and inclusion, not only in the legal profession, but also at our own firm.

During these two days, our diverse lawyers were able to see the full magnitude of the investment in diversity and inclusion by the firm. Lawyers were able to connect and have an opportunity to have national Affinity Group meetings. Since the close of the conference, the excitement and engagement created there has resulted in renewed commitments by our National Affinity Groups to implement and share the themes of Allverse to a broader audience. The connections made and relationships built at Allverse has resulted in lawyers promoting one another and helping to build an even more impactful network of diverse lawyers here at the firm. Allverse has underscored the value in continued training of all firm personnel on bias and the importance of diversity initiatives on our business and climate.