In today’s global economy, diversity is an invaluable component for comprehensive corporate legal departments. Not only is inclusiveness fundamental to the overall quality and depth of an organization, it is simply good business to offer an increasingly diverse business population the tools it needs to gain a competitive advantage. As these values become a fundamental part of a successful law department, forward-thinking leaders strive to capitalize on previous achievements to create a working environment where all attorneys can fully contribute.
Diversity & the Bar® took an in-depth look at several corporate law departments—American Airlines, Alcatel-Lucent (formerly Lucent Technologies), and Washington Gas—to discover what steps they have been taking to improve their diversity goals. These steps include: shifts in hiring and promotion objectives; enhanced participation in an increasing number of formal training programs; creation of internal and external mentoring programs; formation of partnerships with outside law firms that demonstrate a strong commitment to inclusiveness; and augmented communication with colleagues and business partners on the importance of these principles.
These three companies appreciate the importance of employing a wide range of people and developing advancement and awareness programs to ensure they reach their full potential. They have also demonstrated an increasing dedication to improving the level of inclusiveness within their departments and corporate partners.
American Airlines: Spreading a Positive Message through All Available Outlets
American Airlines’ legal department, headed by Senior Vice President and General Counsel Gary F. Kennedy, had traditionally followed a two-tiered approach to inclusiveness. The first, which previously represented the majority of the department’s program, entails the development of relationships with a broad range of suppliers, including women- and minority-owned businesses. The second is customer-focused and directed toward providing its legal clients with comprehensive, high-quality support. This tactic means working with majority-owned firms to ensure that they are offering a diverse team of attorneys who are equipped to view issues from different angles, thereby supporting client needs with a broad, global approach. An additional prong, which has recently come to the forefront of the department’s initiatives, involves broadening the department’s outreach efforts. The goal is to cultivate a community of employees from a variety of backgrounds who also understand and support the company’s diversity efforts, yet feel free to demand accountability.
Kennedy’s enhanced approach offers plenty of internal opportunities, ensures that all of his attorneys have a seat at the table, and builds teams that are inclusive. For 2007, he is exploring a formal mentoring program for newly hired employees to help them get accustomed to working at American Airlines and in the legal department. The legal department currently employs 38 attorneys—36 percent women and 21 percent minority.
“Now we are interested in getting more employees active in leading some of our Minority Counsel Program initiatives,” explains Andrea R. Clark, senior attorney for the employment group and manager of the department’s minority counsel program. “Each practice area within our department operates a little differently, so it helps to have a champion within each practice area to make sure that there is effective communication and to encourage members of all of the practice areas to get more involved in our department’s diversity efforts.”
Last year, American Airlines’ corporate diversity group met with the entire legal staff—not just attorneys—to help everyone understand that inclusiveness is a business issue and why it is important to support the company’s diversity initiatives. “It’s helping people understand what it means to say that diversity is not just a people issue, it’s a business issue that affects our bottom line,” explains Clark.
American Airlines is one of the signatory companies to the “Call to Action” letter advocating diversity in the legal profession. Consistent with the demands that the Call to Action makes on law firms across the country, the department as a whole has increased its involvement with organizations that promote inclusiveness. All of the attorneys participate in some aspect of the department’s diversity initiatives. They also attend conferences and are active in the outside counsel interviewing process. Those who show a particular passion for diversity play an even larger role. According to Clark, American Airlines’ legal department is also considering expanding its community outreach program in the near future to include mentoring local high school and college students.
In addition to these internally driven advancements, Kennedy and his staff continue to promote progressive external relationships. They have bumped up their ability to develop ties with minority-owned firms by creating an enhanced database that is accessible to all legal employees. For the majority-owned law firms with whom they work, the department has enacted a set of standards to ensure that it is on target with initiatives. To reach its supplier-related diversity goals, American Airlines has also developed a tracking program that assists in holding its business partners accountable. Approximately every 18 months, the department distributes a status letter to each of its outside law firms. Firms that show strong diversity initiatives receive a thumbs up; those that need to step it up are offered support to increase their efforts; and unsatisfactory firms are required to submit an action plan to improve their efforts.
Despite the augmented initiatives, there are still hurdles to overcome. Time is a challenge. Though developing a top-notch Minority Counsel Program can easily become a full-time job, the department is too small to assign an attorney to work on diversity initiatives full time. As a result, Clark and those who work on the diversity committee must work on Minority Counsel Program projects while also performing their regular job duties. Another obstacle involves finances. “Our resources are limited, so we must be creative and use them strategically,” says Clark.
Despite the inherent obstacles, Clark is very optimistic. “We’re taking a deeper dive and looking at the substance of our relationship with various law firms to gain a better understanding of who is doing the work and whether there is inclusiveness at all levels on all matters,” she says. “Internally, one of the most exciting developments is our decision to open up the program objectives-setting process to any attorney in our department who is interested in taking a leadership role in our minority counsel programs.” By asking for input internally, Clark and her colleagues are able to sift through the variety of ideas and decide what to implement, formalize, and track. Not only that, but with more opportunities to be an active part of the program, the likely outcome among its attorneys should be a heightened sense of connection to its overall mission.
Lucent Technologies/Alcatel-Lucent: Moving Ahead with Diversity at the Forefront of its Corporate Culture
In today’s cost-cutting environment, legal departments such as at Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent) are limited in their ability to incorporate inclusiveness through new hires and internal promotions. In the three years prior to merging with Alcatel (another telecommunications company), Lucent was in a downsizing mode that did not allow many opportunities for hiring or internal promotions. But that did not stop its attorneys from increasing their diversity efforts. According to former Alcatel-Lucent General Counsel William R. Carapezzi, who also served as general counsel of Lucent Technologies prior to the merger, it was just as important to raise consciousness and improve awareness among those presently on staff.
To accomplish these goals, Carapezzi created the Law Diversity Council, an inclusive team of about 10 members of the legal department, including lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries, and assistants. Carapezzi’s goal was to foster an open, supportive, and multifaceted environment within the company’s law department.
Corporate Counsel Liliana Armas, who heads up the Council, says that Carapezzi made it his mission to have a sustained, ongoing dialogue on the topic of diversity. Thus, the subject of inclusiveness worked its way into the forefront of the company’s culture and everyday interactions.
—Liliana Armas
For Carapezzi, first and foremost on the agenda was formulating a well-developed document to lay out this philosophy and establish several priorities and objectives, such as diversity training and participation in various events and activities. Additionally, Carapezzi decided to provide incentives to those who met their goals. “Some of the initiatives are conceptually tied to compensation,” Armas adds, “which puts some teeth in it.”
“In March (2006), we hosted a program, titled ‘Gender Forum,’ which everyone in the law division participated in at all levels,” Armas explains. “We engaged a facilitator from the Catalyst Group and executives role-played around a gender discrimination case. This led to a discussion about what we’re like and what some open and unspoken prejudices are.”
Employees also participated in a race-related seminar in mid-2006. There are plans to offer additional diversity-related training, including courses and seminars that may be taken on the internet, and interactive workshops that will be held in the office in the upcoming year.
Another objective entails boosting efforts to link up with employer business partner groups. In late 2006, the Council invited Hispanic, African American, and Native American groups to speak with division members to raise awareness and demonstrate how the department can form new business alliances with these groups.
To further augment awareness and understanding among its staff, the division launched a mentoring program, titled the Buddy Project, which was intended to connect people with colleagues with whom they might not otherwise have a chance to interact. A more formal mentoring program is also on the horizon; according to Armas, the company’s organizational structure was previously a challenge in launching such a program. “One thing that impresses me about our general counsel is his commitment to diversity even during very difficult times,” says Armas. “Maybe someone else would have put it aside, yet he’s made it a top priority in his administration, even under adversity.”
In the near future, the legal department plans to define and implement documents pertaining to the best practices for promotion, retention, and recruiting. The department also expects increased involvement and support from the company at large, due to the recent naming of a global diversity officer. “[Appointing someone in this role] was an important step because it shows an ongoing commitment by the company for ongoing diversity,” Armas explains.
—Beverly Burke
The Law Diversity Council plans to reach several objectives by continuing to seek minorities and women to fill future vacancies. Armas is hopeful that, as the company moves forward, it will have more opportunities to bring in a diverse pool of candidates. Prior to the company’s recent merger, Lucent Technologies employed 65 attorneys, 13 of whom were minorities and 14 of whom were women. (Current diversity statistics of the combined law department were unavailable at the time of printing.) Armas believes that the new company will also flourish in the diversity arena. “We intend to introduce and drive diversity in our recruiting and hiring processes,” she says.
Washington Gas: Thinking Outside the Box
Washington Gas General Counsel Beverly Burke remains in the forefront as a proponent of diversity. Burke’s legal department currently employs 18 attorneys, including eight women and five minorities. Minorities also comprise 72 percent of the 17-person support staff.
“I always look for opportunities to diversify the office of the general counsel,” says Burke, who applies this philosophy to staffing (at both the managerial and support levels), the use of outside vendors, and outside counsel. Burke has taken it upon herself to look at all angles and bring diversity in through whichever avenues are available.
As a Washington Gas officer, Burke has goals passed down to her that are directly tied to her compensation. Like her fellow executives, she must provide concrete examples every year of actions taken to promote inclusiveness within her department and within the company as a whole. Burke’s examples include internal promotions, enhanced employment-skill training, internal sponsorship, and hiring employees of varying ethnicities.
Burke also has a strong personal sense of what is best for the company and for her employees. “I have six direct supervisory reports (four attorneys and two people in charge of support staff), and I regularly communicate the importance of diversity to each of them,” she says. Burke frequently encourages her managers to pass along opportunities to staff members, like offering first chair in a proceeding, writing a high-profile document, or providing sought-after exposure to employees. This approach results in numerous opportunities for interaction and, according to the feedback, it has been well received.
“It’s kind of trite, but it really is good for business. We operate in three different
jurisdictions—Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland—and we serve a diverse consumer population. Our clients are very diverse and our regulators are diverse. I think that it’s important—apart from being good and the ‘right thing to do’—that we demonstrate diversity in the way that we think and manage the company. Places that are not diverse don’t get the benefit of different thinking. I don’t want to minimize the social appropriateness and fairness of it all, but we’re a business. We get the benefit of the thinking of a broad range of people and we also look and feel like our customers,” says Burke.
Hiring staff representing both genders and a broad range of ethnicities has been a long-time challenge. “I don’t have a lot of turnover,” Burke explains, noting that because the legal department is relatively small, vacancies are few and far between. But in the event that a slot opens up to outside candidates, she makes a point of ensuring a diverse applicant pool. Internally, there is a company-wide succession plan, and when there is an identified need for successors within the office of the general counsel, she seeks a wide array of candidates.
Burke passes this philosophy down to her direct reports and encourages them to identify diverse people who could work for the organization or provide services. This, she believes, is at the heart of fostering progressive and inclusive thinking, because when talented people come in and show the value they bring to the organization, the benefits of diversity speak for themselves. “We’ve made great strides in using outside counsel,” she adds, noting that the department often uses minorities at majority firms.
“We don’t have a lot of turnover, but going forward, we’ll do at least eight things throughout the year to promote ethnic and gender diversity,” Burke explains. “We’ll fill positions, reorganize our staff, and look for more vendors who are minorities.”
Burke’s commitment to these goals is at the foundation of her business dealings. “I know that in my heart I will always be concerned with making sure that people with whom I interact on a daily basis are a diverse group. It’s something that’s so much at the very core of me.” DB
Kara Mayer Robinson is a freelance writer based in northern New Jersey.
From the March/April 2007 issue of Diversity & The Bar®