Client Service: The Primary Goal
Clients ultimately judge whether an attorney has served their needs, and if not, they vote with their feet. So whether your practice of law finds you inside or outside of the corporations you serve, client service remains your primary goal.
In today’s global corporations, one of the primary goals remains the same as it did centuries ago: serving customers well. But in the 21st century, the customer base has grown to be increasingly diverse, and study after study indicates that those corporations who recognize this—and form their management teams accordingly—will remain better positioned to grow with their markets and subsequently outperform the competition.
For the lawyer challenged with continuing to serve the corporate client’s needs, it is imperative to identify resources that will enable you to staff your service teams to reflect the diversity goals that are increasingly important to your client’s continued success. In the last issue, we focused on outstanding diversity efforts in corporate law departments. In this issue, MCCA turns its attention to the other side of the client-service equation: the law firms that serve our leading corporations.
You’ll read about several law firms who stay ahead of the pack through their approaches to diversity and who, in doing so, will continue to serve their clients well. I also encourage you to read about MCCA’s new, innovative diversity research projects, which will continue to keep MCCA at the head of the pack by offering the information and resources corporations and law firms need to meet their diversity goals. As a teaser, this year we plan to:
- publish a report on law firm diversity best practices that will assist firms in implementing effective diversity plans;
- take a look at how to set appropriate diversity metrics recognizing that in this critical area one size does not fit all; and
- test whether, as corporations address the needs of an expanding non- U.S.-based workforce, there are lessons learned from implementing U.S. diversity programs that will help organizations to more effectively address diversity issues on the international front.
And since accomplishing diversity goals inevitably involves the supply side of the equation, MCCA has updated and improved its online Job Bank, enabling potential employers to post their open positions without charge on a site that enjoys traffic and visibility with attorneys of color. This project has been completed through the very generous support of the DuPont Primary Law Firm network, a group of firms and legal service providers who in addition to serving DuPont well, have made an investment in the future of the profession. Please join with me in thanking them!
Veta T. Richardson
From the June 2001 issue of Diversity & The Bar®