KANSAS CITY (June 17, 2024) — Lathrop GPM LLP is pleased to share that the firm has been named as among the 2024 Best Law Firms for Women & Diversity by Seramount. The firm has been included in the annual list for four consecutive years.

“We are thrilled to be named to Seramount’s list for the fourth year in a row. Our firm is committed to recruiting, retaining, and advancing women lawyers and lawyers from underrepresented communities,” said Vanessa Vaughn West, Chief Culture, Diversity and Engagement Officer at Lathrop GPM. “Women across the firm, lawyers and professional staff, are sitting on and contributing to committees, and in many cases leading them. We’re proud of all we’ve achieved in our diversity efforts – and we will continue to keep DE&I among our top priorities.”

In 2023, greater than 50% of the Partner Compensation Committee and the firm’s practice group leaders were women. This honor comes on the heels of other recognitions the firm has received in the past 24 months, including:

  • Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus, signifying the firm has at least 30% women lawyers, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ lawyers in top leadership roles, senior-level lateral hiring, promotions into the equity partnership, and participation in client pitch meetings.
  • Top Performer and Compass Award winner by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). These awards recognize law firms and corporations showing a strong commitment to building more diverse organizations and a more inclusive legal profession.
  • 2022 Tipping the Scales firm by the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance for having 50% or more women in its 2022 U.S.-based new partner class. Notably, the firm was one of only 56 firms named to this annual list honoring a commitment to gender parity and the value women bring to law firms and their clients, and one of the few firms to receive this recognition four years in a row.

Seramount is a leading force in promoting DEI in the corporate market and ranks companies based on a strategy of how the work gets done, measurement of the effectiveness of those strategies, and leadership that understands the systemic challenges of their community and how to operate on the principle of equity. Its’s application includes questions about participation in sponsorships, attorney demographics at different levels, flexibility, paid time off and parental leaves, and development and retention of women and people of color as well as those from other underrepresented groups.