Are Women In Biglaw Marginalized? Why The Hiring Of Women at Big Firms Is Down

Copyright Inside Counsel

In October this year, the National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms announced that for the first time in five years, the hiring of women at big law firms was down.

The amount of women equity partners—15 percent—has effectively remained stagnant over two decades. And, those female equity partners earn only 86 percent of the compensation of their male peers, according to the same survey.

Not only are these statistics bad news for women in biglaw, but the survey also implied that women and law firm managers are not at all on the same page in terms of career path.

For example, women lawyers are less likely to hold positions on the partner track. For example women represent 55 percent of staff attorneys—not a partner track position—which is the highest percentage of women lawyers in any law firm position.

Furthermore, women lawyers comprise 34 percent of counsel track positions in firms. And, although in many firms lawyers in the counsel position reported that the position is the stepping stone between associate and promotion to partner, very few firms indicated that their counsel are eligible to become partners.

Finally, to add insult to injury, the survey demonstrates that women partners are less likely than men to receive credit for even a relatively modest $500,000 book of business (via Philadelphia Business Journal).

Affirmative action and women’s suffrage are revolutions of the past. So, what is keeping female attorneys from succeeding in biglaw?

Biglaw as an institution—as opposed to various industry players—may be the one to blame.

Ms. JD theorizes that biglaw has been operating under the same, outdated structure for years. She hints that three reasons prevent women from advancing within biglaw:

“(1) The big firm structure was created and developed during a time where men worked in the office and women worked at home.

(2) The billable hour structure was created and developed during a time when men worked and had a woman at home taking care of the house, children, dinner, and the community.

(3) This was not a structure that predicted both men and women being in the work force and raising a family.”

Ms. JD’s thesis?

“The big firm structure will greatly benefit, as will the rest of the legal field and society, if both spouses can succeed at the office as well as at home.  Women—as well as men—want to see their families, have time to help their community, and do great work at the office,” concludes Sarah Villanueva on renovating the big firm model for Mr. and Ms. JD.

Now, what can your firm do to advance this thesis?

The next time your firm approaches the idea of a home-work balance, consider both spouses. Don’t assume the women has more responsibility. Instill a culture that rewards a healthy home life for male and female attorneys.

Track the success of your equity partners—both male and female—to determine whether or not women are being overlooked for their business-world victories. Ensure that rewards for cases won or clients attracted are equal across genders.

Finally, ask all your associates where they envision their career going in ten years. If your counsel track attorneys want partnership, make sure this is a viable option.

Cultivate a firm culture of honesty and open communication. Challenge outdated incentive structures, career paths, and compensation. It can all start with a simple conversation with each of your associates about what they want most from a position at your firm.

Find out how your company can develop, and implement a flexibility program that not only helps your employees manage their work and personal responsibilities effectively, but boosts productivity and your company’s performance with C4CM’s Worklife Flexibility CD Box Set.

-WB

Suffering From Associate Burnout? Occupy Yourself!

Occupy protesters in New York have finally been removed from Zuccotti Park—but they’ll be back. Protestors for the movement are nothing if not persistent. In fact, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the protestors would be legally welcomed to re-occupy the park again, provided they leave tents, installations, and generators at home.

It’s surprising that almost exactly two months later, Occupy protesters in New York have yet to show signs of fatigue, considering the professional apathy that has been statistically pervasive among young adults today.

A recent Forbes article discusses the high number of millennial women flameouts descending the corporate latter. Women, apparently, lead the pack when it comes to dropping out of the competition for corporate jobs.

Citing McKinsey research, Forbes reports that women hold 53 percent of corporate entry-level jobs, but this percentage drops to 37 percent for mid-management roles and 26 percent for vice presidents and senior managers as women progress through the natural professional hierarchy.

Why are women so disenchanted and disenfranchised?

“College is nothing more than a baby-sitting service. These students are totally unprepared for the real world. The reality for women… is that they are going to be working with 24 catty [women] who will backstab and compete with them. No one will say thank you. You will eat lunch at 5 p.m. It sucks and it’s hard work,” says Kelly Cutrone to Forbes.

You’d think Ms. Cutrone worked as a lawyer, but, instead, she’ president of People’s Revolution PR and author of If You Have To Cry, Go Outside.

After graduating thousands of dollars in debt from law school, young associates will hardly thank Ms. Cutrone for calling university education a babysitting service. Yet, more than just reality-star PR presidents claim law school preparation isn’t what it used to be [insert the many law suits about law school education.]

Nevertheless, men and women would be affected equally by this factor, so why are women suffering alone?

“One rationale is that men are more likely than women to do things that help their personal wellbeing at work, thus negating burnout, according to the Captivate Network. Men are 25% more likely to take breaks throughout the day for personal activities, 7% more likely to take a walk, 5% more likely to go out to lunch, and 35% more likely to take breaks ‘just to relax,’” analyzes Forbes.

Leisure sports and pursing a passion are cathartic releases for people in stressful occupations. Going on walks, lifting weights, taking a break… occupying Wall Street? Seems like a few productive ideas for the modern woman.

Whatever your pleasure or vice, sometimes a few statistics serve as sufficient reminders to professionals that unhappy employees are unproductive ones. So, find a cause, a sport, or a late-night sitcom to improve your attitude in the office.

Associates, suffering from wintertime blues (and it’s only Fall)? Research local social or sports clubs, make those hard-to-get dinner reservations one month in advance, or just plan more free time for family.

Firms, avoid drop-outs or lulls in work efficiency by offering discounted rates to employees for local special events, organizing first-year happy hours, and setting up sponsorship and mentorship programs between junior and senior attorneys. Pay special attention to those female associates at higher risk of falling through the corporate crack [See, “Three cost-free ways to support working mothers at your firm”].

An active human resources department at your law practice will ensure employees don’t join other disgruntled millennials in picketing at Zuccotti Park (unless, of course, it’s become their new pastime).

-WB

From Working Girl To Law Firm Leader: How To Dispel Stereotypes About Female Managers

In 1987, Alice Sargent, in an interview about her book The Androgynous Manager, said to the Washington Post, “Women in corporate America are bumping their heads on the glass ceiling.”

Just one year later, the phrase “glass ceiling”—popularized in the 1980s–was already starting to get broken.

In 1988, one year after Sargent’s famous statement, the movie Working Girl made it clear women were headed for the manager’s seat to stay. And gradually, in law, women have gained ground—starting in 1994, making up 12.9 percent of law firm partners in America, and making up 19.2 percent of law firm partners by 2009, reports Catalyst compiled data.

But instead of rendering the movie reference moot, these days, statistics only serve to remind women that they continue to rest on unequal standing in the working world.

Today, Melanie Griffith’s relationship with Sigourney Weaver is still quite common—the tumultuous professional bond between female managers and their female secretaries.

In 2009, law professor Felice Batlan asked 142 legal secretaries at larger law firms whether they preferred to work for male or female partners or associates. The secretaries surveyed were highly experienced, middle-aged women working at firms with more than 100 lawyers, reports Above The Law.

Although none of the secretaries impersonated their boss to sell and idea and impress Harrison Ford (we are assuming), legal secretaries preferred, at an alarming number, working for men over women.

In fact, 50 percent of survey respondents preferred working for men, specifically male law firm partners, and 47 percent reported no preference, reports ATL. So why did only 3 percent prefer working for female managers?

“I just feel that men are a little more flexible and less emotional than women. This could be because the female partners feel more pressure to perform,” said one respondent.

“Female attorneys are either mean because they’re trying to be like their male counterparts or too nice/too emotional because they can’t handle the stress. Either way, their attitude/lack of maturity somehow involves you being a punching bag,” responded another female legal secretary.

Unfortunately, these stereotypes are exactly what women managers everywhere fear and hope, in the future, to drive out.

Forbes recently interviewed a variety of powerful working women to dispel stereotypes about female managers.

“The notion that powerful women must be, lead and look like a man really aggravates Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. In a video interview with Forbes she said–pumping her fist–she hates the idea that ‘you have to look like a businessman’” reports Jenna Goudreau in her Forbes article, “The 10 Worst Stereotypes About Powerful Women.”

The notion that women need not emulate men in the office to be successful there is not new. “You’re the first woman I’ve seen in one of these things that dresses like a woman, not like a woman thinks a man would dress if he was a woman,” Harrison Ford said poignantly in Working Girl.

Similarly, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was criticized by the media when she teared up on the campaign trail, reports Forbes. Because Ms. Clinton is typically cool-headed and composed, this example seems to point to the fact that powerful women are held to higher standards when it comes to emotional expressiveness.

So why do these stereotypes exist?

That question may never be fully answered. But, what women managers can address is the methods to defeat these inaccurate descriptions of female leadership. Starting with their attitude toward their female secretaries.

Here’s a start.

Studies show that women perform better in teams than men because they possess the social sensitivity skills necessary to communicate and relate to others more effectively. Reading between the lines, emotional openness (and that does not mean crying at work) allows women to endear themselves to others in the workplace environment more readily.

So, when faced with condescending subordinates or an unfavorable secretary, harness that innate ability. Do what women do best, and tap into those social skills than make women exceptional managers.

Next, form sponsorship groups. As a female law firm partner, build relationships with your younger female associates. Among your legal staff, encourage networking and mentorship woman-to-woman.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founder and President of the Center, explains, “a sponsor is someone who advocates for my next promotion and speaks of your strengths and makes the case for your advancement in your absence,” in a study conducted by the Center for Work-Life Policy in collaboration with American Express and published by the Harvard Business Review.

For women to advance in the workplace, women must advocate for it first. That means, dispelling stereotypes that exist among one another about each other. You can start with improving that manager-legal secretary relationship.

Take a cliché, formulaic, legging-wearing cue from the last lines of an 80’s movie, which, incidentally, shows off a female manager’s perceptive and exceptional interpersonal skills.

Secretary: “Maybe now would be a good time for you to tell me what you expect of me.”

Manager: “I expect you to call me Tess. I don’t expect you to fetch me coffee unless you’re getting some for yourself….and the rest we’ll just make up as we go along, ok?”

-WB

Goodyear’s Self-Inflating Tires Give Lessons On Courtroom Confidence

Just over a century ago, on August 29, 1898, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded. Today, the company has quite a few reasons to celebrate.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy granted Goodyear a $1.5 million award to develop and distribute a self-inflating tire. According to Goodyear, self-inflating tires mean no more troublesome air gauges and better gas mileage at the pump.

Whatever the vehicle, underinflated tires result in roughly a 2.5 percent to 3.3 percent decrease in fuel mileage, according to U.S. government and industry research. Goodyear’s invention could lead to as much savings as 12 cents per gallon, not to mention lower emissions, longer tire life, enhanced safety, and improved vehicle performance.[1]

Goodyear won’t be celebrating alone. More gas for your cash is good news for struggling families in this downturn economy as well.

Goodyear’s story of insular ingenuity drives at another good point. Success often starts from within.

And for lawyers, success in the courtroom means exuding confidence and self-assurance—the kind of self-propelling trait that attorneys are not bequeathed nor born with, but a quality that is practiced and perfected with time.

“U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn of Texas said the secret to showing confidence is developing your own courtroom style—and style doesn’t mean wearing a short skirt or a low-cut blouse,” reports the ABA Journal.

“The goal is to be noticed for your argument rather than your outfit.”

Unlike their male peers, however, female attorneys lack in courtroom confidence. At least, that is what U.S. District Judge Norma Shapiro was reported to have said at an ABA Women in Law Leadership Academy in Philadelphia last year.

“Women in general lack the confidence that men seem to have in the courtroom,” Shapiro said.

If this is true, what will it take to reinflate women’s self-image?

First, it involves understanding that confidence cannot be donned by a third-party. Although mentorship within a firm is important, ultimately, each individual is responsible for his or her reputation and behavior.

Second, this kind of self-assurance comes from knowing your facts. This means conducting your own due diligence, and understanding the resources and technology at your disposal to perform such a task.

“[The use of technology like] WestlawNext brings us back to what we are supposed to be doing. Lawyers are supposed to be lawyering,” says Ben Skjold from Skjold Parrington in a video on the WestlawInsider Blog.

“At the end of the day technology doesn’t mean anything unless it leads to the profitability of the firm.”

Forget asking your paralegal to prepare an e-filing or set up your e-discovery software. And it’s not the IT Department’s responsibility to teach you Westlaw or LexisNexis.

Instead, train yourself in the technology, and the information will empower you.

More than that, the combination of confidence and technology will win cases.

In another interesting dichotomy, under Goodyear’s new electronic system, every time a car wheel turns, the tire inflates itself—essentially using the forces that often cause tires to go flat to keep them full.

The same forces that bring strength to an orator have equal strength to bring him down.

Ancient Romans did not drive cars, but they did understand the premise behind charisma. Marcus Aurelius, emperor and orator once said, “Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.”

Thanks to Goodyear, consumer confidence is up. How is yours?

-WB

[1] Goodyear Press Release, 8/11/11, “New Goodyear Innovation Could Make Tire Pumps Obsolete; Government Grants to Help Quicken Development” http://www.goodyear.com/cfmx/web/corporate/media/news/story.cfm?a_id=559

Governor General Chides Legal Profession: Tells Lawyers, Choose Side Of Justice

It is often said that we are our own worst critics.

And so Governor General David Johnston, former dean of law at the University of Western Ontario, said of lawyers—like himself—that they have failed in their duty to improve justice and serve the public good.

In a dynamic speech at the opening of the Canadian Bar Association’s annual meeting in Halifax on August 14, Johnston criticized the direction that the legal profession has taken and beseeched attorneys to make a change.

“We need a new model for professionalism in law,” Johnston supplicated the audience. “To borrow a saying from a sister profession: physician, heal thyself.”

Practitioners of law must abide by certain ethical and other standards of quality, but have, in recent times, neglected to do so, according to Johnston.

In particular, Johnston spoke out about the intense lag time of court cases. Court processing times are lengthy and case backlogs plentiful. Of efforts to reverse the trend in Ontario, Johnston said “the pace (of change) is woefully slow.”

In his speech, the sense of urgency is clear.

It’s easy to think, discuss, and even identify innovative ideas for the workplace. However, it’s hard to find the courage to implement them. Sometimes maintaining the status quo—especially for more conservative law firms—is an acceptable norm.

This lack of action, criminologists call a “court culture” of complacency—a culture that Johnston blames for aspects of the 2008 financial collapse.

Failure on Wall Street is just one example that Johnston singles out as a contributing factor to the collapse of trust between citizens and public institutions in Canada and democratic nations as a whole.

“How many lawyers ‘papered’ the deals that involved fraudulent statements of assets, liabilities, income and valuations?” he laments.

“How many lawyers ‘sounded the alarm’ about conflict of interest in the web of financial transactions and creative financial instruments?

“How many lawyers were silent in the face of a pattern of deregulation which has left the economy naked to excessive leverage, and which any thoughtful observer knew was bound to have its inevitable pendulum swing?”

These questions are an apt reminder to lawyers everywhere of their ethical and professional oath.

Johnston also chastised law firms for not accommodating young mothers, claiming firms had a propensity to “penalize those with a family,” a topical issue that drew applause from the audience.

Learning to manage work and home life is no longer an issue to be addressed by the professional, but by the profession. The legal industry must learn how to accommodate the modern family. And, to retain the best lawyers, that means firms must adjust in terms of competitive benefits for their employees.

“If we wish to avoid having change forced upon us, we must embrace new ideas.”

Embrace new ideas while reinforcing the old, such as, let justice be done.

-WB

 

Read more reactions on the Ottawa Citizen, “Forceful governor general tells lawyers, ‘Heal thyself’: In stinging rebuke, Johnston says it’s time legal profession regains sight of justice, public good.” By Richard Foot.

Three Cost-Free Ways To Support Working Mothers At Your Firm

Women make up 47 percent of law school graduates, but still only compose 31 percent of the industry’s lawyers, according to The American Bar Association (via WSJ Law Blog). One of the major factors in leaving the practice of law? The stresses of motherhood.

“I’m like so many other lawyers who are mothers, trying to fit into a culture . . . that collides directly with our needs and schedules,” said Laura Mattiacci to the WSJ. Mattiacci founded the Philadelphia chapter of Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association, or “MAMA,” which is a nationwide organization that aims to:

• enhance the recognition of mother attorneys in the community;
• promote the advancement of mother attorneys within the profession;
• facilitate the achievement of work-life balance;
• provide a forum for informing members and the legal profession about issues of particular concern to mother attorneys; and
• support mother attorneys contemplating alternative work schedules or extended leaves of absence; and, increase the interaction between mother attorneys of diverse backgrounds and practices.

When looking at the above list, it’s not difficult to see that these goals could easily overlap with those at your firm.

Promoting more women in law makes sense ethically, in terms of gender equality, but it also makes sense professionally. Both female equity and non-equity partners are compensated less on average than male partners, despite operating at equal productivity levels, according to a Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper. This means for less money, your firm has the same work output.

Also, statistically, women perform higher than men in team exercises, including tasks, such as brainstorming, moral reasoning, puzzle-solving, typing and negotiating.

But, like all lawyers, female attorneys are not exempt from work while at home. So, those with children need extra support to manage this heavy caseload.

“There are unexpected urgencies – client emergencies, new cases that come in the door, the need to seek a restraining order from the court,” Mattiacci explains about managing her time as a lawyer and mother.

If motherhood and the time and emotional constraints it places on women is the sole greatest inhibitor to more women in law, there are ways your firm can help. Even if you are unable to provide tangible benefits, such as free childcare, try implementing these three cost-free ways to help retain working mothers at your firm:

1. Listen. As administrator or managing partner, you may or may not be aware that school started this week. But if you stop to listen to some of the personal stories and anecdotes of young mothers around the office, you’d be more than informed. Then, when a female attorney arrives late this Monday morning, you don’t overreact. This will limit her emotional stress, which is likely already high.
2. Be Flexible. Many firms are already instituting FLEX scheduling for their employees. Show your support for working mothers by allowing them to work from home one or two days per month. More than likely, she’ll already be forced to take a day off when it’s time to bring her child to the doctor’s office or run other (necessary) motherly errands. Plus, lawyers who work from home are shown to still add value to the firm.
3. Do Your Research. There are ample other services, like MAMA, that offer support to working mothers. Do your research, and find pertinent events in your area. Advertise them through company resources, and allow your female attorneys the time to attend. In addition, before choosing your employee’s benefits packages and healthcare options, investigate which healthcare companies are best suited for working mothers (and for that matter, working fathers) and their children. Choose accordingly.

Across the board, juggling work and family is difficult. Showing support for your struggling associates is not.

-WB

Interested in ideas to increase the firm’s profit as well as employee satisfaction? Try CCM’s Worklife Flexibility CD Box Set, which combines two of its most popular programs into one complete and invaluable collection, featuring: Flextime Strategies that Boost Productivity and Your Bottom Line and Telecommuting: Protect Company Interests and Increase Employee Satisfaction.

Group Intelligence Not The Sum Of Its Parts: Team-building 1, 2, 3

The facility with which women can cry is rarely considered an advantage for female attorneys. But, it turns out, social sensitivity in women drives them to excel in group dynamics at the workplace more so than their male counterparts.

“According to [a study conducted by] Professor [Anita] Woolley of Carnegie Mellon, teams that include women would score higher on tasks than a team of all men because they possess the sensitivity chip necessary to communicate and relate to others more effectively,” reports the Levo League.

When choosing teams for baseball or Red Rover, the strongest kids are chosen first, the smaller ones next, and then, finally, any girls who remain. Life often mimics these childhood antics.

So, in a similar way, professional teams are frequently assembled first and foremost by a person’s perceived intellectual and mental strength. Attorneys, in particular, seek a level of bravado in a candidate as the next measure of success.

For obvious reasons, women are not often described as cocksure. Ergo, they’re usually not the first ones invited to the legal roundtable.

According to a recent study, however, “group intelligence depends less on how smart individuals are and more on their social sensitivity, ability to take turns speaking, and the number of women in the group.”

 Woolley’s study measured the intelligence of groups, including influences individuals have on them, by assembling 699 people in teams of two to five. She asked these teams to carry out a variety of tasks, such as brainstorming, moral reasoning, puzzle-solving, typing and negotiating.

 Instead of the collective raw intelligence of individuals, group intelligence was driven by the following characteristics (as summarized by the Levo League):

1. The team’s ability to listen – group members are active listeners and don’t dismiss each other’s ideas.
2. The prevalence of constructive criticisms – group members can disagree, but do so in a positive way that helps push the conversation forward, not backward.
3. A lack of hierarchy – one person is not given authority to make all decisions and everyone feels like they have an equal voice.
4. A balance of idea generation – each person on the team feels like his or her voice is heard and has an impact on the issues they were solving.

It seems that strong personalities can actually derail a potentially strong legal team.

“[The] selection processes used to form groups in the workplace may need to be re-evaluated, shifting the focus from individual intelligence to collaboration skills,” the New Scientist reports about the study’s findings.

So, in conclusion, your best individual lawyers, put together, may not actually form the best team for your client’s case.

Next time you draw straws, make sure the female attorneys—especially those socially sensitive ones—aren’t stuck with the short end of the stick.

-WB

Women Pioneers Teach Us a Thing or Two

If you’re a woman lawyer or administrator—or even if you’re a male attuned to diversity—try for a moment to imagine what life in the law industry was like for a woman two or even three decades ago.  

Several Georgia pioneers, now in their late forties to late-sixties, don’t have to use their imagination, as they were there.  

At that time, the term “diversity” hadn’t even been coined yet.  Support for women now is light years away from what it was then, and back then, there was no one around to tell women how to juggle a family and a career in law.  Yes somehow, these women overcame all the obstacles to make it in what was then a man’s world.

They are all accomplished lawyers now and are understandably serving as role models to younger women.  Several are also real-life mentors to other up-and-coming female attorneys.

The youngest, Jill A. Pryor, has been voted one of Georgia’s top lawyers for 2011.  

And as great as it is that things are different for women lawyers today, a few of these pioneers see some of the same troublesome sets of issues…although the telltale signs are harder to discern.   

The Fulton County Daily Report gave voice to these women who ventured into unknown territory many years ago.  Pryor, 47, a partner at Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, said that one of the things that made it hard for the few women that were around then was that it went against the grain to develop a win/win mentality.  

“We lawyers are so competitive, particularly in a law firm environment, and it goes against human nature to help those whom you perceive to be in competition with you. You see women who are superstars, and then one day they just opt out,” she said. “It’s easy to say that they didn’t really want to practice law, but there are much more subtle and complex factors at work. You have to look beyond the easy answer.”  

Chilton Davis Varner, 68 and a partner at King & Spalding, learned how to be a trial lawyer from male mentors, but would like to see women stepping up to the plate to help fellow women.  She also advises against being too hard on yourself.  “You never stop making mistakes. You just become better at finding and correcting them before others do.”

Leah Ward Sears, a partner at Schiff Hardin and a former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, tells women to, as she did, learn to find their own way. When push comes to shove, she says, turn to your own gender.  “It was always women,” she says, “who…had my back.”

Carol W. Hunstein, the highest-ranking judge in the state, says another judge, Judge Sara Doyle, heard her speak once, and that was enough to inspire her to run for the Georgia Board of Appeals. “”It really does encourage women and minorities when a woman or minority succeeds,” she says.

“Stick together. Take care of each other.  Become the good old girls network,” said Sara  S.Turnipseed, 63, a mother of three daughters and a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.  She believes that it’s still all too easy to “ruin a woman’s reputation” in law. To remedy that, when she’s pointing something out to a younger woman who “needs to sharpen her skills”, she won’t announce it in front of others.  Instead, she’ll go into her office with the younger woman, close the door, and talk to her in private.  

One thing all these women agreed on is that women helping women on the way up has enormous trickle-down effects. As Pryor says : “…the more of us there are who are successful, the more everyone – [and] the profession — benefits.”  To read more, go to: http://bit.ly/hmBL60

-EM

Forewarned – On How Firms Sell Their Diversity

Thankfully, the majority of folks you’ll deal with as a Law Firm Administrator have already made peace with the fact that diversity is here to stay. If they haven’t yet embraced the concept, there’re all kinds of reasons for them to do so.

Let’s review:  

1.  Through the advent of technology and high-speed travel, this is rapidly becoming a global world.  The more groups of people you know, the better you’ll be able to expand your social AND business horizons. (What is there to know?  Cultural differences should be examined and respected, no matter how subtle.) 

2.  “It matters for social justice,” says Above The Law’s “Insight Straight” blog, whose author also reminds us that…

3.  “Folks are tracking it,” and that…  

4.  It matters for your defense team, as you will want to have the members look “at least slightly like [your] jurors”.  

There have also been certain cases where employers (a.k.a. clients) have been known to want a member of a certain demographic group representing their case, as the employer perhaps seeks to add balance to the nuanced and not-so-nuanced issues.  For example, says the author “in my old product liability life, we may have wanted women to defend breast implant or hormone replacement therapy cases.  Or we may have looked for female expert witnesses…”

Now, what if you needed to pitch your firm’s diversity to a would-be client?  How would you sell it?  First of all, it’d be best to examine your culture, to see if your firm truly is a good representation of diversity and, if not, do all that you can to remedy that. For example, do you have women on your management committee, or executive committee or board?  Is it otherwise inclusive?    Do you and those who go out and represent your firm really believe that women and other “groups” are on a par with men? Because, try as you might, your real view of these demographic groups can not be disguised.  

The author, chief counsel of litigation at Aon, makes a spectacular case-in-point when he tells the story of how a female colleague and he were taken out to lunch by two white male representatives of a firm soliciting their business.  Afterwards, the woman mentioned being offended by the way the men expounded on how diverse the firm was, when it was obviously a case of “say one thing, and do another”. 

“Don’t just tell me about your women,” says this irate female colleague. “Bring one along!”  And, “It’s much easier for [them] to give up money than it is for them to give up power…Don’t tell me that you pay a few women a lot of money.”  Finally, says, the colleague,

“[t]hey asked me about my kids, but they never asked about yours!” 

As the author says, “Forewarned is forearmed.”

To read more, go here: http://abovethelaw.com/2011/03/inside-straight-pitching-diversity/

-EM

Taking Lawyering Up a Notch by Diversifying

The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity is looking for a few good men and women.  This high-profile mentorship program, founded in 2009, was formed with the idea of fostering diversity by involving top leaders in both firms and in legal departments within companies. 

Since its inception, there are already 100 firms and 65 corporations involved in spreading the word, and in taking promising lawyers under their wings.  The council’s newest concept, the Fellows Program, is aimed at pairing up-and-coming lawyers with established “coaches” for a period of one year, during which time the mentorees take courses in subjects they didn’t learn in law school.  (The mentors they’re matched up with also give career advice throughout this year.)

Two examples of these skill sets include setting up an alternative fee arrangement and project management.

And the Fellows are not limited to women or minorities.  According to a recent NLJ post, the aim of the program is to place promising lawyers under the guidance of managing partners or of general counsel “of some of the countries’ largest companies.”  Fellows are selected by member organizations.

Roderick Palmore, General Counsel of General Mills Inc. and chairman of the council (first picture) said “We’ve got the leadership of impactful organizations as well as law firm leaders. These are the people making up the faculty of the program.”

“We’re looking for high-potential…people…” said Greg Jordan (second picture), managing partner of Reed Smith and co-chairman of the group’s talent development committee.  “People who can take all their learning and all their networking back to their organization.” 

Other forms of diversification in the industry are coming about with advancements in technology, with broadened perspectives, and with a lot of stick-to-it-iveness, as people with certain physical disabilities overcome the giant hurdles inherent in such a choice to make law their profession. In other words, lawyers with disabilities are making headway.

Last year the NLJ ran profiles of certain individuals who have overcome distinct physical obstacles to pursue a career in law.  One inspiring example is 2L Elizabeth Kolbe (third picture) at Stanford Law School who, at age 14, sustained a spinal cord injury that placed her in a manual wheelchair.  

She traces her interest in law to the weeks of rehabilitation, when her passion for health care policy and extending health insurance coverage took root. Despite limited hand function, this future attorney has excelled in her studies and in her pursuits. 

Elizabeth designed her own major in health care policy as an undergraduate at Harvard.  Currently, she’s the vice president of the National Association of Law Students With Disabilities. She spent last summer in Washington doing disability legislative work and, in 2008, she competed in the Paralympics games in Beijing. She is hoping to land a law firm job this year. 

There are many others like this energetic advocate, and “changing attitudes towards the rights and abilities” of these pioneers are bringing about increased opportunities. “Doors are opening more and more for disabled attorneys,” says the NLJ.  Read more at: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202484088283 and at  http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202473139435