Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that Shauna Bryce, has been elevated to the firm’s chief diversity officer and chief legal talent officer.
As the chief legal talent officer, Bryce leads the team charged with supporting firm wide efforts in acquisition and integration of partners, lateral associates, and other attorneys and non-attorney legal talent, including the Summer Associate Program and other lawyer pipeline programs. She also oversees the professional development, training, experiential learning, and mentoring needs of the firm’s practice groups and individual lawyers.
As the chief diversity officer, Bryce is a co-chair of the firm wide Diversity Committee and an administrator of the Steptoe Racial Justice Fund. She works on DEI, CSR, and community-building initiatives throughout the firm, including policy development, business development and marketing, training and events, data analysis and reporting, attorney utilization, and support for the firm’s affinity groups.
Since joining Steptoe in October 2020, Bryce has played an instrumental role in launching a number of diversity-related initiatives. In December, the firm endowed the Racial Justice Fund to provide financial support to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that empower and uplift communities of color within the United States. In celebration of June’s Pride Month and in support of the LGBTQ+ community, the firm began providing all Steptoe lawyers and professionals with the option to display gender pronouns on their website bio. The firm has also created the Steptoe Pre-Law Fellowship, a two-year program designed for new college graduates interested in a career in law.
Also during Bryce’s tenure, the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee has hosted a number of virtual trainings to educate on diversity and social justice issues. Those trainings have included a presentation from LCLD founder Rick Palmore about the critical, continuing need for diversity in the legal profession; a compelling discussion on anti-AAPI hate and hate crimes moderated by New York partner Ryan Poscablo; and presentations from renowned diversity expert Michelle Silverthorn on best practices on building spaces of inclusion and equity in the workplace.
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Steptoe Chair Phil West commented: “Shauna has strengthened the firm by building out the legal talent department, enhancing our training programs and creating a career services office to help our lawyers and alumni. Additionally, our firm wide community has embraced the many diversity initiatives and programs our Diversity Committee has provided. We are confident that Shauna will continue to inspire us all.”
Bryce is a noted career counselor, speaker and author of “LinkedIn for Lawyers: Profiles, Job Search, Networking, Ethics, and Etiquette.” Earlier in her career, she practiced law in a Global 100 law firm, an Am Law 200 law firm, and in-house at a regulated company. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University.
Bryce has served in leadership positions in a variety of associations, including numerous Harvard and Johns Hopkins alumni and affinity groups. She is the global chair of Hopkins Alumni in Law, the official Johns Hopkins University law affinity group.
