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Diversity

Diversity Matters at CPDB

Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP actively embraces diversity in its many forms, and always has. Our first minority attorney was Cecil Poole, the first African American U.S. Attorney in the continental United States. Judge Poole left CPDB when he became the first African American judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (he was subsequently elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit). Our first minority partner was the Honorable Allen E. Broussard, who joined us after a long and distinguished judicial career, including ten years during which he served as the second African American justice on the California Supreme Court. Pamela S. Duffy was the first woman to achieve the status of name partner at a major San Francisco law firm. Today, 42% of the firm’s partners and 62% of the firm’s associates are women and minorities.

Minority Attorney Statistics (As of October 2009)

 7%  of the firm's Partners are Minorities

23%  of the firm's Associates are Minorities

40% of the firm's Partners are Women

50% of the firm's Associates are Women 

Diversity in Firm Leadership and Management

Women and minorities are active leaders and participants at all levels of firm operations and management. Pamela S. Duffy is the firm's senior real estate partner and a name partner of the firm. Partner Barbara Milanovich is chair of the firm's real estate practice group. Danna Kozerski is a Managing Partner of the firm.  Over 40 percent of both the firm's management committee and partnership review committee are women. 

Women or minorities chair the firm's Compensation, Diversity, Marketing, and Community Relations standing committees, and co-chair the Pro Bono committee. These committees meet regularly and give direction, guidance and support to both partner-level and firm-wide administrative functions.

Our women partners have been recognized for their outstanding professional achievements. For five consecutive years, the San Francisco Business Times has honored Pamela S. Duffy as one of the "100 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business." Tay Via was named one of California's Top 20 attorneys under the age of 40 by the San Francisco Daily Journal.   Our women lawyers have  actively served on boards such as Habitat for Humanity, San Francisco Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, public television station KQED, St. Mary's Medical Center Foundation, National Pacific Asian American Bar Association (NAPABA) and SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research).

Staff Diversity

The firm’s non-attorney professional administrative managers and supervisors are also a diverse group. Women and minorities head all of the administrative functions at the firm. At the staff level, more than 70% are female. Almost 40% of the staff are minorities.

Diversity in the Legal Profession
CPDB promotes diversity within the legal profession.  The firm has established the William K. Coblentz Endowment Fund at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law to support research on racial and ethnic justice in California and the nation.  Coblentz fellows will reflect William K. Coblentz's commitment to diversity and involvement in the community.  (Click here to view a report on U.S. Immigration Border Programs authored by Coblentz fellow Joanna Lydgate.)  In addition, we participate in the Bay Area Minority Clerkship program, hiring minority summer law clerks.  As part of the Bay Area Minority Law School Scholarship program, the firm has provided a $10,000 annual scholarship.  Our attorneys have spoken on panels at various diversity-related conferences and functions, ranging from the Greater Bay Area Asian Pacific American Law Student Conference at U.C. Davis King Hall School of Law to career panels organized for minority students at U.C. Hastings School of Law.  For several years, CPDB has sponsored the Asian American Bar Association's Summer Associate Reception, which was established to encourage Asian-American summer associates to network with lawyers in the Bay Area. Our attorneys also serve as mentors for minority law students through a number of minority bar associations. One of our attorneys founded a mentorship program for minority attorneys and law students through the Korean-American Bar Association.

We also work to increase the number of young people, especially minorities, who are interested in the legal profession. For the past 13 years, partner Clifford Yin has coached high school students from McAteer High and the San Francisco's School of the Arts in a mock trial program sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

Community Outreach and Involvement 
Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass was an original and continues as a signatory to the Bar Association of San Francisco's Pro Bono Services Pledge and contributes 60 hours per attorney to pro bono service.  Recently, Partner Fred Fields was honored by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights with The Keta Taylor Colby Award for providing outstanding representation  to the poor and under-represented.  We encourage and support attorney participation in community groups and associations that promote women and diversity.   CPDB lawyer, Katherine Zarate served as President of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California and was an appointed member of the California State Bar Ethnic and Minority Relations Committee for the 2003-2005 term.  Our community outreach extends to service on boards for Habitat for Humanity, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Legal Aid Society, National Housing Law Project, and JUMA, an outreach program to disadvantaged youths.

Mentoring, Professional Development and Work/Life Balance 
We are committed to recruiting, mentoring, and developing our diverse attorneys. Partners, including senior partners, regularly take younger attorneys under their wings, providing one-on-one mentoring with respect to both legal and business development skills. Both partners and associates serve on the Attorney Recruiting and Development Committee, which meets regularly to discuss recruiting and development issues. 

We sponsor the Bill Coblentz Professional Development Series, a year-long series of monthly programs and activities to assist senior associates and new partners in expanding their knowledge of marketing, business development and firm policies and operations.

Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP has been counseling and representing its clients for over a century. Through steady growth and dedicated client service, we have built a reputation as one of California's most trusted, experienced and respected firms.

Our lawyers are recognized as the top tier in peer-reviewed sources including Chambers, Best Lawyers in America, Legal 500 and Martindale Hubbell.  Among the firm's awards and recognitions are the Dealmaker of the Year award, the California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) award, the highest Martindale Hubbell ranking for legal expertise and professionalism (AV), and Super Lawyers selection by Law & Politics. Maintaining its long tradition of involvement with the legal community, the firm is proud that two of its former partners now serve on the federal bench and two other partners have moved to Washington D.C. to serve the Obama administration in the Department of Justice.