Rosing Pott & Strohbehn is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, while promoting diversity and equity in the legal profession. As we started 2025, roughly 78% of RPS employees are women, a rare achievement for modern law firms. However, gender equity is only the beginning. The firm’s DEI Committee, chaired by Partner Sidra Zaheer, strives to advance diversity across many benchmarks, including gender, race, ethnicity, national original, and sexual orientation.

RPS lawyers have been recognized for their work in advancing diversity. In October of 2024, Partner Lynda Shely received the Arizona Women Lawyers Association’s Sarah Herring Sorin award for her support and encouragement for the advancement of women in the legal profession. In November of 2024, Founding Partner Heather Rosing received the Judith Soley Lawyer as Citizen Award from California Women Lawyers. Ms. Rosing and her previous firm had received the 2016 Corporate Commitment to Diversity Award from the Earl B. Gilliam Foundation.

Our attorneys have spoken on a variety of diversity-related topics, including:

• Juneteenth & Beyond: DEIB in Corporate Culture
• Challenges that Women Face in the Law
• The Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Experience
• Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace

RPS believes that lawyers can play a vital role in advancing diversity. “We have seen firsthand that advancing DEI does not need to come at the expense of meritocracy,” added Ms. Zaheer, who is serves on the Board of the Tom Homann Law Association Foundation. “The two can – and should – co-exist to help grow a modern law practice and achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients. We look forward to continuing to build a culture that celebrates diversity and fosters inclusivity at every turn.”

Empowering a diverse workforce is not only good for the community, but business as a whole. In 2020, Goldman Sachs unveiled its Board Diversity Initiative, announcing that the global financial powerhouse would only take a company public in the US or Western Europe if it had at least one diverse board member. In 2021, GS increased this requirement to two diverse board members, one of which must be a woman. Their experience demonstrated that, “companies with diverse boards of directors are better positioned for stronger financial performance and improved governance.”

In a 2015 study titled “Diversity Matters,” the global consulting group McKinsey & Co. noted that “companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.” MicKinsey added that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have higher financial returns.

Eight years later, that trend has only been picking up speed. In a follow-up 2023 study titled, “Diversity Matters Even More,” McKinsey added, “companies with diverse leadership teams continue to be associated with higher financial returns.” In fact, the consulting firm found that the likelihood of higher financial returns for gender, racial, and ethnic diversity had jumped to 39%.

Diversity is good for the bottom line. Even in times where DEI programs are under increased scrutiny, RPS believes in the power of diversity, equity, and inclusive workforces. Having a legal team that represents the diversity of the population, as well as the diversity of our own clients, makes RPS a better legal choice for clients across the board.