Adorno & Yoss, LLP (Miami, FL)

Henry N. Adorno
Chairman and CEO

As the first minority-owned law firm to receive the "Thomas L. Sager" Award, Adorno & Yoss, LLP has become a model for all firms. The largest certified minority-owned firm in the United States, Adorno & Yoss handles domestic and international cases across a broad variety of industries and practice areas, including insurance, finance, government, media, transportation, real estate development, trade, intellectual property, health care, construction, entertainment, telecommunications, hotels, and resorts. The firm delivers superior customer service through its commitment to clients and the use of sophisticated case management technology.

(L to R): Wilson Chu, Haynes and Boone; Henry N. Adorno, Adorno & Yoss, LLP; and Veta Richardson, MCCA

Led by Henry N. Adorno, the firm's chairman and CEO, Adorno & Yoss has 15 practice areas that employ over 250 attorneys in offices throughout the country. In the South/Southwest region, 26 percent of all attorneys are minorities and 27 percent are women. Forty-four percent of associates in the region are minorities and 40 percent are women. In the partner ranks, 17 percent are minorities and 20 percent are women.

Adorno & Yoss began with three lawyers in 1986. In the beginning, the firm was not concerned with diversity, but with survival. "We went out and looked for lawyers to do work—we didn't care what color they were," says Adorno. "As we realized diversity was an asset, we tried to protect it."

This protection includes a number of practices and programs. Adorno & Yoss' hiring process includes a formal diversity component, and the firm welcomes and supports employee-generated affinity groups. It has sought out minority firms around the country for acquisition, and has established its own supplier diversity program. The firm actively participates in professional networks, having led in the establishment of the National Minority Law Group, a consortium of certified and AV-rated (the highest professional ranking established by the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating), full-service, minority-owned law firms; and the Law Firm of the Americas, an association of independent law firms providing high quality legal services to clients in the western hemisphere, Spain, and Portugal. Adorno & Yoss is also a commercial city member of the State Capital Global Law Firm Group.

The Sager Award is the most recent—but certainly not the only—recognition the firm has received for its diversity. It is the only law firm member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council's Corporate Plus Group, an honor reserved for the best minority businesses that successfully manage national contracts for major corporations.

Whether because of or in addition to its relentless commitment to diversity, Adorno & Yoss has enjoyed enviable business success, boasting a client list as diverse as its profile. According to American Lawyer, Adorno & Yoss is among the top 300 law firms in the country; Hispanic Magazine ranked the firm 99th on its 2005 list of largest Hispanic-owned businesses in the nation, a list that includes manufacturers.

From the November/December 2005 issue of Diversity & The Bar^®