Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

IPB maintains a longstanding commitment to attracting, retaining, and promoting talented attorneys from a diverse range of backgrounds, including groups that have been historically underrepresented in the workplace and in the practice of law.

Our DEI Mission Statement: At IPB, we believe that furthering diversity in our workplace through  individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talent is essential to providing the comprehensive representation and valuable insights that our clients demand.  We foster an inclusive workplace that embraces our employees' differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make them unique, and we strive to ensure equitable treatment for all. 

As a small specialized firm, we pursue this goal first by recruiting our associates from a diverse pool of applicants and promoting education among new lawyers in our areas of practice. For instance, the firm has co-sponsored the ABA Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section’s Washington D.C. community outreach training program for women and minority recent law school graduates. The firm has also sponsored the Mid-Atlantic Black Law Students Association's annual convention and participated in mentoring programs with the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of DC. We have achieved Mansfield Certification Plus in partnership with Diversity Lab, as part of its inaugural class of midsized law firms and again in the second midsized cohort. We are a member of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). Within the firm, we foster a professional environment that emphasizes long-term development and leadership opportunities for all new attorneys.

Our IPB Diversity Scholars program invests in the pipeline of talent from all walks of life into the tax, employee benefits, and estate planning bars. We invite qualified students with a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion to apply to the program, which offers a paid summer associate position at the firm's Washington, D.C. office between their first and second years of law school.

Another element of our commitment to diversity is our long-standing, demonstrated commitment to the role of women in our firm. We elected our first female equity partner in 1973, and today more than 40% of our partners are women. More than 35% of our overall attorneys, and more than half of our staff are women. Women serve on our executive committee and spearhead our recruiting efforts. 

In 2023, we signed on for the launch of Diversity Lab's Disability Inclusion Commitments challenge. Along with more than 90 other law firms in the US and UK, we are partnering with Diversity Lab to continue building a culture of inclusion for people with disabilities by implementing one or more of the 10 actions on its Disability Inclusion Commitments list.

We are also committed to offering flexible work schedules and other resources to support working parents and employees with varying needs. We recognize and encourage the need for a healthy work/life balance for all of our attorneys and staff.