Wiggin and Dana Elevates DEI Role to Senior Management Level
January 13, 2022 – Today Wiggin and Dana announced the creation of a C-level leadership role fully dedicated to addressing diversity, equity and inclusion, and the promotion of Jana Simon to that role. Adding a Chief DEI Officer position to the senior management team elevates the firm’s commitment to embedding DEI principles and making greater tangible progress across the firm and in the legal profession. Based in the New York office, Simon has served as the Director of DEI since March 2021.
With Simon’s leadership, Wiggin took important steps in 2021 towards its DEI goals. Among other initiatives:
• Wiggin launched its DEI action plan, DEI DRIVE, which aims to drive Wiggin into the top 33 percent of its law firm peer group for diversity in five years, and the top 25 percent in ten years.
• Wiggin joined the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, creating mentorship opportunities for diverse 1L students and professional and business development opportunities for early and mid-career attorneys.
• Wiggin initiated a pilot business development coaching program for high-potential women at the firm to build their capacity to generate revenue and increase women in leadership positions.
• Wiggin’s Talent department, in partnership with DEI, launched WigginUp, a formalized level-based mentorship program which provides intentional opportunities for valuable mentoring and mentoring training, ensuring every associate and counsel has equal opportunity to contribute to the firm’s success.
In addition, the firm hosted a compelling series of events designed to raise consciousness and drive inclusive behaviors, and it continued to build its diverse talent pipeline with concrete support of law school affinity groups and key diversity and mentorship programs in the profession.
“Jana possesses tremendous energy and vision,” said Tim Diemand, Wiggin and Dana’s Managing Partner. “Diversity, equity and inclusion critically enhance our ability to serve our clients, the legal profession, and the communities in which we live and work. Jana’s elevation recognizes her rapid progress in driving Wiggin forward with many important initiatives.”
“Wiggin’s willingness to prioritize and invest in this challenging work at the senior leadership level creates an ideal environment for meaningful and long-lasting change,” said Simon. “I look forward to building on our incredible DEI initiatives, and to a more equitable and inclusive workplace and industry.”
Simon joined Wiggin and Dana in March 2021 from Jackson Lewis, where she served as the firm’s first Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Her experience includes leading metrics-driven recruitment, retention and talent development success, with an emphasis on traditionally underrepresented populations. Simon earned her B.A. in African American Studies at Emory University and studied strategic diversity and inclusion management at Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies.
About Wiggin and Dana
Wiggin and Dana is a national law firm with more than 150 attorneys. We are a true partnership of highly talented, creative and experienced lawyers dedicated to exceeding our clients’ expectations every day. With offices in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Connecticut and Palm Beach, we represent clients throughout the United States and globally on a wide range of sophisticated and complex matters. From defending the Fortune 500 in “bet-the-company” litigation to helping the next generation of inventors bring new technologies to market, to preserving the wealth that family businesses worked so hard to create, we pride ourselves in offering value-driven solutions and results.
