Promoting Diversity in Corporate Law Departments and Law Firms

Transcription

1 Promoting Diversity in Corporate Law Departments and Law Firms Effective Inclusion Strategies June 20, 2018

2 Overview Setting the stage on diversity and inclusion what do the numbers look like? Making the case why is it important that outside counsel be diverse? Developing diversity programs that work Challenges Success stories Tips for expanding diversity inside your organization and for your outside counsel 2

3 2016 DIVERSITY BENCHMARKING REPORT Women and minority lawyers made gains in leadership 3 Management Committee: Women: increased to 23.6% from 20.3% Minorities: increased to 9.4% from 7.1% Law firms with three or more on MC: Women: increased to 41% in 2016 from 24% in 2014 Minorities: more than doubled to 18% in 2016 from 7% in 2014 Overall representation of minority lawyers increased to 20.6% from 18.8% in 2015, and mid level associates increased LGBT lawyers: more than doubled since 2004, from 1.6%to 4.1%, and self identified LGBT partners doubled from 1.4% in 2004 to 2.8% in 2016

4 2016 DIVERSITY BENCHMARKING REPORT Among all partners: 18.6% women 16.0% Caucasian women 1.4% Asian/Pacific Islander women 0.6% and 0.4% Black and Hispanic women White men: 77% of all equity partners at signatory firms Black/African American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander women make up only 2.3% of all equity partners Turnover rate for income partners was 6.6%, almost double the 3.4% rate of equity partners ALL PARTNERS BY GENDER, RACE/ ETHNICITY 4

5 2016 DIVERSITY BENCHMARKING REPORT Of all leadership positions Management Committee members, practice group heads and firm chair 3% Asian/Pacific Islander lawyers 2% Hispanic lawyers 2% Black/African American lawyers 1% Multi racial lawyers 5

6 2016 DIVERSITY BENCHMARKING REPORT JUNIOR ASSOCIATES MID LEVEL ASSOCIATES SENIOR ASSOCIATES 6

7 Making The Case For Diversity 2015 McKinsey Report: 366 public companies found that those in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean, and those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to have returns above the industry mean. Non-homogenous teams are simply smarter. Working with people who are different from you may challenge your brain to overcome its stale ways of thinking and sharpen its performance. Harvard Business Review, Morgan Stanley created a proprietary gender-diversity framework for ranking more than 1,600 stocks globally which showed that high diverse companies delivered slightly better returns than low gender diverse peers with lower volatility and moderately outperformed on average in the past five years. Why It Pays to Invest in Gender Diversity, Morgan Stanley, May 11,

8 Making The Case For Diversity ABA Resolution 113. The Resolution asks all legal services providers, including corporations and law firms to expand and create opportunities at all levels of responsibility for diverse lawyers. ABA Resolution 113 also asks clients to direct a greater percentage of the legal services they purchase to diverse lawyers. Varied strategies: carrot v. stick Carrot:» Morgan Stanley instituted the Leadership and Excellence in Inclusion and Diversity (LEID) Award.» Pepsi created a diversity index score, the firms that outperform the median become preferred providers the next year.» Verizon created three month secondments for diverse lawyers in private practice to help build client relationships. 8 Stick:» HP asked outside counsel to put diverse lawyers on their teams or sacrifice 10% of their legal bills.» Met Life challenged outside firms to come up with acceptable diversity plans or risk losing the company as a client.

9 Strategies for Promoting Diversity and Inclusion Culture: foster an everyday environment of inclusion: o If you see something, say something o Embrace non-traditional work arrangements Implicit Bias Training: awareness and bias interrupters: o Recurring reinforcements Change From The Top: leadership engagement and direction matters: o Make a call Soft Skills Training: leadership development, communication across differences, confidence, coaching 9

10 Strategies for Promoting Diversity in Your Law Department (cont d) Transparency: about what is required to succeed o Address interrupters such as harassment and fear of misunderstandings Sponsorship and Advocacy: o Example, fair allocation of work Pipeline: reach beyond your organization o Consider internal mobility initiatives as part of your pipeline development Client Access/Relationships: create opportunities at all levels, including with internal clients Reporting: if you don t measure it, you won t treasure it 10

11 Jenner & Block Initiatives for Promoting Diversity Mansfield Rule: Participants agree to affirmatively consider women/lawyers of color for a variety of leadership roles at the firm. OnTrack Sponsorship: The OnTrack Sponsorship pairs five diverse in house lawyers with a core team made up of senior partners, an external coach and a client contact. This core team helps each partner reach their leadership goals within the firm. The OnRamp Fellowship: The Fellowship was created to provide women lawyers re-entering the legal profession with an opportunity to update their skills and legal contacts through one-year, paid positions with top law firms. Diversity Action Plan: This plan has each partner commit to a number of actions ranging from attending diversity-sponsored events to staffing diverse lawyers on matters multiple times. The plan is submitted with partners compensation memos and is a reflection of the serious commitment the firm has to diversity and inclusion. 11

12 Additional Strategies for Clients to Engage With Outside Counsel Name the top three accountability metrics / strategies that will drive results in your outside counsel: Accountability methods based on firm diversity metrics on invoices, RFPs and pitches (headcount, hiring, promotion and attrition data) Track/score demographics of team staffing your matters, including hours, fees billed, partner credit allocation process Set goals for management team profiles 12

13 Additional Strategies for Engaging With Outside Counsel Conversations to communicate goals, address blind spots, share better practices Qualitative questions that solicit information about firm initiatives Initiatives to strengthen personal relationships and develop talent at law firms Provide financial incentives for meeting diversity goals (carrot) Impose financial consequences for failing to meet diversity goals (stick) Provide non financial recognition for meeting diversity goals 13

14 14 RESOURCES: NYC BAR Annual Benchmarking Research ( Better practices and bias interrupters Managing partner, lawyer, and client toolkits Individualized firm reports and follow up meetings with law firms to discuss results and create action plans Monthly programming through the City Bar and partner affinity bars Annual diversity and inclusion CLE Committee service (150 committees, seven diversity committees) Associate Leadership Institute (

15 RESOURCES: PARTNERS NAMWOLF: Corporate Counsel Guide LCLD: What s Working Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (IILP) Diversity Lab: Mansfield Rule 15

16 QUESTIONS?

17 THANK YOU! Gabrielle Lyse Brown Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion New York City Bar Susan Kohlmann Managing Partner and Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Committee Jenner & Block Jennifer Zimmerman Executive Director Morgan Stanley, Legal and Compliance 2018 Jenner & Block LLP. Attorney Advertising. Jenner & Block is an Illinois Limited Liability Partnership including professional corporations. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice but to provide information on legal matters and firm news of interest to our clients and colleagues. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to matters mentioned in this publication. The attorney responsible for this publication is Brent E. Kidwell, Jenner & Block LLP, 353 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.