Day Pitney LLP announced today that Tommy M. Shi has joined the firm as the new Director of Diversity & Inclusion. As a member of the senior management team, Shi will lead the development and implementation of the firm's strategic diversity and inclusion plan by serving as a thought leader, ambassador and advocate.

Shi was most recently the Head of Procurement for Mercedes-Benz Manhattan and previously served for over ten years as the Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), where he was responsible for leading the strategic direction, development and implementation of the MBUSA's diversity and inclusion strategy. A graduate of Boston College Law School, Shi first served as a counsel in the legal department at MBUSA on a wide range of matters. Prior, he spent several years as an attorney at one of the largest law firms in New Jersey.

"Tommy has a unique and impressive background with deep experience in driving diversity and inclusion initiatives, and we are delighted that he has joined Day Pitney," said Tom Goldberg, the firm's Managing Partner. "We have made great strides toward creating a diverse and inclusive legal environment at the firm to benefit our attorneys, staff members, and our clients, and Tommy will help bring us to the next level."

Since 2011, Shi has served as the President of the Board of Directors of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. He also currently serves as a member of the Leadership Advisory Council of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Shi recently received the Corporate Leadership Award from the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey. He has also received an Award of Excellence from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund as well as a Vanguard Award from the Automotive Hall of Fame, among other recognitions.

"Day Pitney has an established reputation as a national leader in diversity and inclusion," said Shi. "I look forward to working with the team to keep diversity and inclusion at the forefront of all initiatives and continuing to build on the firm's success."

In addition to developing new programs, Shi will enhance the firm's participation in external legal groups as well as support and reinforce the diversity and inclusion initiatives already in place at the firm, including the Day Pitney Attorneys of Color Network, Women Working Together (WWT^®), the Day Pitney Alliance and the Barbara Rosenthal Summer Internship Program.

Diversity and Inclusion is a core value at Day Pitney. The firm recently achieved Mansfield Certification Plus recognition from Diversity Labs for having at least 30 percent women and attorneys of color in various leadership positions. Day Pitney will also be participating in the 2.0 iteration of the Mansfield Rule, which will include LGBTQ+ lawyers and measure consideration for roles in client pitch meetings as well as transparency on appointment and election processes.

Also this year, Day Pitney was ranked among the top 20 Am Law 200 firms for gender diversity, specifically, the percentage of female equity partners, in The American Lawyer's annual "A-List" ranking. The firm was also ranked among the top 50 law firms in the National Law Journal (NLJ) 500: Women's Scorecard.

In addition, for the second consecutive year, Day Pitney received a perfect score of 100 percent on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and was named as a "Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality" by the Foundation.

To learn more about Diversity and Inclusion at Day Pitney, click here.