In 1922, Jewish attorneys were often refused the opportunity to work in major law firms. In New York, Boston, Chicago and, yes, Minneapolis, anti-Semitism proved an obstacle to otherwise well-qualified attorneys seeking a start to their professional careers.

It was in that environment that George Leonard, Ben Deinard, Amos Deinard and Arthur Street (who was not Jewish) founded our firm in 1922. Although there is no evidence that Ben and Amos Deinard ever applied, or even had the slightest inclination, to join any firm other than the well-established practice of George Leonard, they were aware of the bias that existed in the work world. But their focus (at the outset and every day they practiced law) was on professional excellence, client dedication and community service, applied with devotion and without an ounce of discrimination.

Some 30 years later, when Leonard, Street and Deinard was the first major law firm in Minnesota to make one of its women attorneys a partner, Amos Deinard noted that she had become a partner “because she is a good lawyer, which is our only standard for promotion and hiring.” Irene Scott, who, like Arthur Street, was not Jewish, made partner for the right reasons, and went on to decades of successful practice and service to the bar and the broader community.

This pioneering perspective set the foundation for Leonard, Street and Deinard to become one of the region’s premier law firms. In this new century, we honor our founders’ values in multiple ways:

• Our firm is one of the seven founding members of the Twin Cities/Diversity in Practice—a unique consortium of otherwise competing law firms and corporations—aiming to attract, recruit, retain and advance law students and lawyers of color in Minnesota.
• We were the first Minnesota law firm to join the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, a national consortium of large law firms and corporate counsel committed to diversity. 
• We created, almost a decade ago, a unique scholarship program in partnership with the four Twin Cities law schools to provide tuition assistance, mentoring and additional support to a diversity student in each class at each school. Scholarship recipients have worked with the firm as summer associates and joined us as attorneys, and continue to contribute to our firm, our profession and our community.
• In 1993 we created the Leonard, Street and Deinard Legal Clinic. Fully staffed and administered by our firm, the Legal Clinic provides pro bono legal services to economically distressed and underserved neighborhoods in Minneapolis.
• Our “Diversity Initiative,” chaired by two of our partners, seeks to recruit, hire and advance diverse law students and attorneys. This initiative is true to our firm’s traditions and is good business: diversity in thought, experience and background is essential if we are to continue to provide our clients the rich, experienced and wise counsel they need.
• Our attorneys serve (and are urged to serve) on a wide variety of community boards and institutions, including the Givens Foundation for African American Literature, the Minnesota-based Advocates for Human Rights, The Women’s Foundation of Minneapolis, Minnesota Commercial Real Estate Women, Minnesota Association for Justice, Legal Aid Society, Citizens League, Minnesota Justice Foundation, the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, many legal aid organizations and numerous others.
• We strive to support our attorneys and the causes and policies that they (and we) believe to be important. We are regular and significant sponsors of the Human Rights Campaign, the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast, the Chief Justice Rosalie Wahl Leadership Lecture Series, the Minnesota Women Lawyers annual benefit, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers annual gala, the National Asian/Pacific Bar Association Minnesota annual dinner, and the Advocates for Human Rights annual dinner, among others.

Our founders made, and those who have followed in their footsteps continue to make, noteworthy contributions to community, state and nation:

• After freezing in fright during his first appearance before the Minnesota Supreme Court, Ben Deinard went on to become one of the greatest trial lawyers of his time and one of four civilian attorneys asked to participate in the Nuremberg war crimes trials. 
• Recognizing Amos Deinard’s longstanding commitment to end employment discrimination, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey appointed Amos, who was blind, to the Minneapolis Fair Employment Practices Commission, which he chaired for 15 years.
• Allen Saeks, a senior shareholder of the firm, led the charge to create the nation’s first court-approved mandatory state Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts program. The Minnesota program has brought in more than $47 million to the Minnesota Legal Aid Society and other legal service programs since its creation in 1983. The adoption of the Minnesota IOLTA model by other states has made possible the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars nationally to legal aid programs for the indigent and disadvantaged.

Along the way, as we have broken down barriers and set new standards of community service, our firm and our individual attorneys have been recognized for excellence and leadership:

• In 2009, the firm received the John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award by the American Bar Association in honor of our longstanding efforts to ensure that the legal system better meets the needs of the indigent and others.
• In the last few years, we have received the leadership award from Minnesota Women Lawyers, been designated by the Minnesota Business Journal as one of Minnesota’s “Great Places to Work” and honored by the Work/Life Champions Partnership for our flexible and supportive workplace.
• Two of our women attorneys were recently recognized by Minnesota Law and Politics as among the state’s 100 Outstanding Women Lawyers; three were named 2009 Super Lawyers^®; five were named as 2009 Best Lawyers in America; ten have been recognized as Rising Stars; and two have served as president of Minnesota Women Lawyers.

We can and will do more. We know discrimination and discouragement—things never to be forgotten and never to be accepted—as part of our heritage and our past. We also know excellence, ambition and opportunity—things always to be pursued and enjoyed—as a part of our heritage and as essential to our future. That is our commitment to all.