Ballard Spahr's Salt Lake City Office Certified by Utah Center for Legal Inclusion

The Salt Lake City office of Ballard Spahr has achieved certification from the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion (UCLI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion in Utah’s legal profession.

To become UCLI certified, organizations must provide their members with training, adopt and implement a diversity and inclusion policy, and demonstrate involvement with UCLI educational events and programs.

“Ballard Spahr has a longstanding and firmly held commitment to diversity and inclusion, and our office is a strong contributor to that overall and ongoing effort,” said Office Managing Partner Mark Gaylord. “I’m proud of the work attorneys in our office have invested—and will continue to invest—in helping our industry broaden its perspectives and become a more welcoming and vibrant professional community.”

The Salt Lake City office of Ballard Spahr has served Utah’s business community for more than three decades. It was previously recognized by Utah Diversity Connections, and several of its attorneys have been recognized for their efforts to further diversity and inclusion. Melanie J. Vartabedian has served in leadership roles at Women Lawyers of Utah and was selected as a 2019 Pathfinder by the Salt Lake Chamber at its Women & Business Conference. She also is a member of Ballard Women, the firm’s business resource group for women attorneys, and a member of its Diversity Council. Jacey Skinner has been honored with the Utah State Bar Commission’s Dorathy Merrill Brothers Award, which recognizes efforts to advance women in the legal profession. She also has received the Jimi Mitsunaga Excellence in the Law Award for advancing the goals of the Utah Minority bar association, and serves on the board of UCLI as its Advancement Co-Chair and on the board of directors for And Justice For All.

Ballard Spahr creates diversity through recruiting, maintains it through inclusion, supports it with our many business resource groups, and advances it through partnerships with clients and community. For 10 years running, it has earned the Women in Law Empowerment Forum’s Gold Certification, making it one of only 12 law firms nationwide to be so recognized every year since the program’s launch in 2011. It also has been named to Working Mother magazine’s “Best Law Firms for Women” list and to the Human Rights Campaign’s “Best Places to Work” list.