Recruitment
We solicit qualified candidates for on-campus and lateral attorney interviews, and we also participate in diverse recruitment and community outreach programs. Learn more about Careers at Calfee.
Calfee Diversity Mentorship
Through our Calfee Diversity Mentorship program, we identify a first-year law student and provide them mentoring advice throughout their law school career. The program also gives them an opportunity to participate in our Summer Associates program the summer following their first year of law school.
To find out more about Calfee’s involvement in this program, contact Hiring Committee Chair, John J. McGuire.
Judicial Clerkship Program
We help sponsor minority law students in a judicial clerkship program, which is run by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. This program provides paid summer judicial externships to minority law students who have completed their second year.
To find out more about Calfee’s involvement in this program, contact Hiring Committee Chair, John J. McGuire.
Navigating Calfee
Calfee hires talented people who are at a variety of stages in their careers. For lateral hires, the transition into a new firm, or from a corporate or government environment into a firm, can be a challenge. We want to make this transition as smooth as possible and get new hires integrated into the Calfee culture, so we designed Navigating Calfee for those attorneys who may already have experience and know-how under their belts but need assistance finding their way through the inner workings of the firm. This program ensures attorneys meet people in a variety of practice groups through formal meetings and informal social gatherings to give each new attorney insight into our history, experience and culture.
To find out more about Calfee’s involvement in this program, contact Associates Committee Chair Ann Seger or Professional Recruiting Coordinator Kate Davis.
Mentors Within the Walls of Calfee
When attorneys start at Calfee, each is assigned a mentor, someone who shepherds his or her career growth. These mentors are not necessarily in the same practice area but have an interest in integrating new attorneys into the fold.
We also have a small-group mentoring program in which our attorneys are banded together with colleagues at the same stage of their career and mentored together by a group of partners on issues specific to where they are at in their career progression.
To find out more about Calfee’s involvement in this program, contact Associates Committee Chair Ann Seger or Professional Recruiting Coordinator Kate Davis.
Calfee's Sponsorship Program
Launched in 2022, our sponsorship program differs from Calfee’s mentoring program by moving beyond advising and guiding to proactively promoting and advocating for attorneys with diverse backgrounds. The goal of the sponsorship program is three-fold: 1) to increase retention and promotion of our attorneys; 2) to enhance the inclusivity of our firm; and 3) to nurture and strengthen an environment that values differences and the unique strengths of all attorneys, and that further supports each attorney’s success.
As part of the program, qualified associates with diverse backgrounds and experiences are matched with an influential partner at the firm who takes a proactive role in helping the associate to make meaningful connections both within the firm and in the community to actively support their success. Our current sponsors are all members of Calfee’s Management Committee. The program is designed to work toward the development needed for long-term career advancement, and both parties will work to identify experiences and opportunities to aid in that process.
While participation in the sponsorship program is not a guarantee of career advancement, promotions, or placement into specific roles for participants, our objective is that this program will provide for a more equitable career journey and support the advancement goals of those participating in the program.
Leadership Council on Legal Diversity "Success in Law School" Mentoring Program
As a proud member of the national Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), Calfee has actively supported the LCLD “Success in Law School" mentoring program.
The LCLD mentoring program consists of both individual and group mentoring sessions. Attorney mentors commit to meeting with their mentees one-on-one at least three times during the school year, and mentors also commit to attending three group sessions with all mentors and mentees during the year. The LCLD mentoring program offers an important opportunity for Calfee attorneys to develop significant relationships with local law students from diverse backgrounds during their first and subsequent years of law school and help support those law students' success.
LCLD has sponsored this mentoring program in 31 U.S. cities and has enjoyed great achievements with more than 2,400 attorneys participating across the nation. Calfee is proud to have had the opportunity to bring this program to the Cleveland legal community and lend our support to the programs in Columbus and Cincinnati.
Helping to Establish the LCLD Mentoring Program in Cleveland
Prior to the program coordination responsibilities transitioning in-house to LCLD, Calfee partnered with LCLD and served as the City Lead for the 2019-2020 school year (coordinating the inaugural Cleveland program) through the 2023-2024 school year. With essential partnerships including Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland State University College of Law, and the University of Akron School of Law, the program has identified talented law students from diverse backgrounds in both law school programs and has invited them to participate as mentees.
There are 16 law firms in Cleveland that are members of the national LCLD organization and 11 corporations with locations in Cleveland that are members of LCLD, and from that large and committed group, we collectively have partnered to build a strong mentoring program for law students in the city.
Columbus and Cincinnati LCLD "Success in Law School" Mentoring Programs
Calfee lawyers in Cincinnati and Columbus have volunteered to serve as mentors to 1L law students in those markets through their well-established LCLD mentoring programs.
Calfee is proud to be a participating law firm in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, aligning the national resources of LCLD with our local legal colleagues to support the success of our communities' diverse law students. Through our active support of and participation in the LCLD mentoring program, we hope to achieve our shared end goal of successfully diversifying our local legal communities.
For additional information on Calfee's diversity, equity, and inclusion activities and commitments, please contact our DEI Committee Chairs, Jen Torres Spieth and Josh Sanders.
