(Clockwise from Top) DuPont Lawyers: Hinton J. Lucas, associate general counsel and chief administrative counsel; Thomas L. Sager, vice president and assistant general counsel; Julie S. Mazza, corporate counsel and manager, law firm partnering; and Stacey J. Mobley, senior vice president, general counsel and chief administrative officer Photos: Ed Ekstein NEW Decade
While many large U.S. corporations stress a commitment to diversity, these goals sometimes take a back seat to financial considerations during economic challenges. But for DuPont Company, which began implementing diversity initiatives in the 1970s, the need to cut costs and achieve diversity was not mutually exclusive.
In the 10 years since DuPont was challenged to shed more than $1 billion in operating costs, DuPont Legal has achieved high-quality, reduced-cost legal services from firms that represent the company's global reach. This new, streamlined way of doing business became known as the DuPont Legal Model, and it has had a positive impact on the recruitment, hiring, and retention of minorities and women by DuPont's legal department and its primary law firms (PLFs). Today, it is a model for every corporate law department committed to a diverse workforce.
Building a Diverse Workforce
Effecting change in terms of diversity first takes a commitment by legal department management. So how could DuPont Legal, with few women and attorneys of color in senior-level positions, conceivably make significant changes? This dilemma was the challenge that faced Thomas L. Sager, vice president and assistant general counsel. While not a minority, Sager has a vision for achieving diversity in the workplace. "Diversity shouldn't be just a minority-owned issue. To be effective, it has to be important to everyone. And that's a philosophy that has been stressed for years within DuPont," says Sager.
Partners for Change
DuPont Legal's objective, however, was aimed well beyond boosting diversity within its own ranks. It was a broader mission to build a team of PLFs with people from many cultures and backgrounds. Championed by Sager, this new legal model consisted of a significantly smaller team of some 40 outside law firms and service providers that promote diversity in their own organizations. Historically, "DuPont Legal viewed this commitment to diversity as not just a fair hiring practice, but as a means to become increasingly effective and successful in the legal arena," says Stacey J. Mobely, senior vice president, general counsel and chief administrative officer. To bring this team together, DuPont focused on educating its PLFs of the reality that juries, customers, and policy-makers impacting DuPont were of increasingly diverse backgrounds. In doing so, DuPont Legal made its position clear: Diversity is more than the right thing to do. It is a business imperative.
"If the judges, juries, and politicians we face, the clients we serve, and business contacts we interface with are becoming increasingly diverse, then clearly our legal team should be as well," says Sager. "And besides that, diversity generates better and more creative thinking. With varying perspectives brought to the table, better bottom-line results are achieved."
But how do you convince 40 law firms and service providers? Many of these firms were already committed to diversity at various levels. That's why they were chosen to be part of the network. The firms that did not have diversity initiatives in place were eager to comply because of the importance of the DuPont account.
Instead of simply pushing PLFs to meet mandates and quotas, DuPont wanted these firms to take ownership of creative solutions to improve diversity in the workplace. The person currently responsible for helping PLFs meet their diversity goals is Julie S. Mazza, corporate counsel and the first woman to be manager of law firm partnering.
"Just as knowledge-sharing has worked to reduce redundancy and inefficiencies in the legal model, sharing ideas with regard to diversity helps primary law firms create a more balanced workforce," says Mazza. "And as a personal goal of mine, I am continuously looking for opportunities to involve women and minority attorneys in DuPont matters."
All PLFs were asked to prepare a diversity plan, outlining action plans and goals. Recognizing that opportunities for diversity can vary according to geographic areas, the PLF action plans were geared toward establishing and maintaining efforts to achieve a diverse staff.
"The law firms that work with DuPont must be true believers and take action," says Charisse R. Lillie, partner, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. "Our firm has had a long-standing commitment to diversity, but the directive from DuPont has given us an extra push."
Creating an Environment for Diversity
Through the years, DuPont's legal department has sponsored many job fairs, as well as networking and professional development events to begin to change the face of its own workplace and that of its providers. DuPont Legal also established two networks to further its mission of diversity: the DuPont Women Lawyers Network and the DuPont Minority Counsel Network. Both organizations allow women and minority lawyers at DuPont Legal and its PLFs to come together to network, market, mentor, and advance their careers.
Dara D. Mann, an associate with Faegre & Benson, LLP, is on the core team of the Women Lawyers Network, and is one of five women attorneys from her firm who attends the Women Lawyers Network conferences. "As a young attorney," she explains, "these annual conferences offer great opportunities for women lawyers to network with others who are facing similar issues and challenges. They teach you about mentoring, excelling in your current position, and achieving career goals."
The Minority Counsel Network offers similar opportunities for the exchange of ideas among minorities in the PLF network. "Through its annual Minority Counsel Conference, DuPont Legal brings together all the minority lawyers in the firms and at DuPont—to share knowledge, network, and build commitment to work effectively and efficiently for their clients," says Dennis Archer, chairman, Dickinson Wright PPLC, who is also the former mayor of Detroit.
Both networks and their conferences are important to Sandra L. Phillips, partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. "They have empowered me. We use what we learn at both conferences about networking and rainmaking. And we go back to our firms better than how we came," she said.
DuPont's PLFs are also actively pursuing networking opportunities that support a diverse workforce, specifically in the area of minority recruitment. All PLFs were encouraged to attend DuPont's first Minority Job Fair in 1994, where minority students were given the opportunity to be interviewed on-site for summer internships and full-time positions. Over the years, this annual fair has grown to a multi-city event, with more than 500 resumes received for fairs in Wilmington; Chicago; Los Angeles; and Houston.
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP is one of the firms recognized for its leadership in these job fairs. Members of this firm help organize and coordinate these fairs across the country, and, for their efforts, were given a DuPont Challenge Award, a monetary award for fulfilling principles of the DuPont Legal Model. According to firm partner Mark Stewart, the fairs his firm produces all have a seminar component to them with presentations or panel discussions. "This way, students have people who they can talk to, and they walk away feeling that they can actually get a job." And many do. Stewart says that his firm alone hires one or two students every year as a result of these job fairs.
Measuring the Results
Tracking the improvements made by a diversity program is a complex process. What began as an informal questioning of PLFs on diversity practices has evolved into a detailed self-critical analysis of progress made on this front. In 1996, the "benchmark survey" was introduced as an element of a complete metrics program to evaluate the success of the legal model as a whole.
The benchmark survey evaluates performance in six key areas, including diversity. This annual survey requires PLFs to report on the number of women and minorities working on DuPont cases. It also addresses how many women and minorities are in decision-making positions with regard to DuPont casework, as well as how many hold senior-level positions in the firm.
As the surveys show, the efforts by DuPont Legal and its PLFs have made a significant impact on diversity in the network. The PLFs, many of which would be viewed as competitors in the real world, have banded together to help each other and their common client achieve goals for diversity. As an example, 10 years ago, only 15 percent of the law firm leadership representatives in the network were women or minorities. Today, women and minorities make up 39 percent of the leadership representatives.
"While these numbers are pleasing to see, they don't reflect how PLFs are reaching out to women and minorities in new and different ways," says Sager. "When you look at the creativity that these firms are using to improve diversity in the network, it is quite impressive," Sager continues. Sager also cites the job fairs, internships, sponsorships of various law school receptions, pipeline initiatives, and scholarship programs as examples of how the PLFs are trying to increase diversity.
"So far, we have given scholarships to 400 minority students. And, we are actively involved in mentoring programs for children from elementary school through high school, and we sponsor co-op programs with our clients to help minority students get funding as well as work experience while they go to school. This type of outreach has really made a difference in our firm and in the community," says Gardner Courson, a partner at McGuireWoods.
Over the past 10 years, the number of minority attorneys working at DuPont Legal has grown from 10 to 21. In the past three years, of the 22 lawyers hired at DuPont, 8 were women, and 5 were minorities, a total of 58 percent. Perhaps the most visible change at DuPont Legal occurred at the top. In 1999, Stacey J. Mobley was appointed to senior vice president, general counsel and chief administrative officer. This appointment was a strong affirmation of the opportunities available to minorities at every level of the organization.
"I'm living proof that talent worth nurturing exists not just in the Ivy League schools, but also in historically black colleges and universities, such as Howard University," Mobley says. And when asked about his legal department's efforts to boost diversity, he adds, "I am proud of what our company has accomplished, and I am proud of the people in our company. I am particularly proud of my colleague Tom Sager, who has played a key role in our diversity effort." Sager's commitment to diversity, as Mobley points out, has been recognized by many organizations—including MCCA, which named its annual award for law firm diversity achievement after Sager.
Spanning over 30 years, Mobley's career at DuPont includes management responsibility for staff services such as legal, governmental affairs and public affairs, and company operations in Mexico. He also has responsibility for the strategic direction and operations of all the company's businesses.
Mapping the Future of Diversity
DuPont Legal and its PLFs face two challenges in the future: retaining minority lawyers and attracting young minorities to the profession. It appeared that progress was made in attracting minorities to entry-level positions; however, success in keeping talented minorities and in providing meaningful career paths seemed elusive. Further, given the lack of a sustained effort by some firms who were new to this effort, there was simply a lack of role models for these young lawyers to emulate. As a result, many minority attorneys left the PLFs in search of other opportunities.
This trend began to surface a few years ago in the benchmark surveys. To address these concerns, DuPont Legal is now working with its PLFs to develop more programs that encourage personal growth and career advancement. "It's important to have mentors within the firms to help women and minorities develop their careers," says Sager. "It's also critical that they are able to identify with their firm and its leaders—that there is a diverse group of professionals at all levels of the organization. When critical mass is achieved, retention results."
Another issue threatening the future of diversity in the profession is the lack of students in high school and below with an interest in the law. Simply stated, law firms cannot hire minority attorneys if minority students are not going to law school. To help remedy this problem, DuPont Legal created a "pipeline committee" and educational kit. The committee has developed programs to reach children as early as elementary school to assist with placing them on the right track to get into college. The goal is to interest minority children by exposing them to positive role models in the legal profession, and to provide them with the tools they need to help them succeed in college.
Currently, DuPont Legal attorneys are coaching a team of children from a predominantly minority high school in the Delaware State Mock Trial competition. DuPont is also working with Kingswood Community Services to teach computer skills to an after-school class of minority middle-school children.
"The pipeline program is going wonderfully," says Hinton Lucas, associate general counsel and chief administrative counsel, who is spearheading the program. "We are exposing these kids to various activities within the legal field, such as mock trials and debates. We let them see what paralegals do versus what attorneys do."
In addition to the efforts at DuPont Legal, the PLFs are also participating in pipeline programs. Collectively, the best practices of DuPont Legal, the PLFs, and other organizations have been published in a DuPont-sponsored "Pipeline Kit" that is being distributed by the American Corporate Counsel Association to help other corporate law departments and firms initiate their own pipeline programs.
By setting an example for other corporations and law firms, DuPont Legal hopes to make a favorable impact not only upon the lives of many young, talented minorities, but also on the legal profession itself, which will only benefit from a far more diverse bench and bar.
See also:
DuPont Primary Law Firms
DuPont Women Lawyers
The Dupont Legal Minority Counsel Network
Ralph Crosby heads up an award-winning integrated marketing communications firm in Annapolis, Maryland that provides advertising, public relations, interactive development and graphic design services, and is a primary service provider to DuPont Legal.
From the September 2002 issue of Diversity & The Bar®