David Sanders Discusses the Importance of DEI

Foley & Lardner LLP Partner David Sanders is featured in the Washington Business Journal article, “How Foley & Lardner’s David Sanders is building a more diverse law office,” where he discusses his background and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts as the managing partner of Foley’s Washington, D.C., office.

When Sanders was appointed to lead the office in 2021, he said it was a top priority to build “an office that reflects the diversity of the community in which we practice” and he “continues to pursue that promise.” The article notes that, “In the last two years, the number of women attorneys in the Washington office increased 30 percent, while the number of associates of color climbed 34 percent. At the partner level, those figures are up 22 percent and 35 percent, respectively.”

Sanders explained that, “While I have always been very active in this community, I [now] have an official mandate to be active in this community. That means thinking critically about the constituents who work here, our clients, the companies that are not yet our clients, and [it] means doing the right thing for [diversity, equity and inclusion], being involved in the law schools from whom we hire talent and being good community citizens.” He is “very involved with the Black Law Students Association at Georgetown” and said that “DEI involves building relationships and we need to continue to focus on building one-on-one relationships… we [also] need to make sure that we are intentional about giving opportunities to folks from across the firm.”

Sanders noted that, “Very early in my career, I realized that to do the most sophisticated work and to have the most fulfilling practice, we needed to represent the community in which we serve.” When asked if the legal profession in general has made sufficient progress around diversity, Sanders said, “Most of us would tell you we’re working very hard at it and there are still things we can do better.”

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