A large law firm in Connecticut has trouble retaining minority associates. A small firm in Texas is tired of losing female partners to their larger competitors. Two different firms with their own unique diversity challenges. Why would they use the same diversity plan to solve them?
While there are many approaches to achieving inclusiveness and growth in the hiring, retention, and promotion of women and minorities, every law firm needs to choose its own unique strategy to accomplish those goals. Recently, Diversity & the Bar® spoke to several law firm diversity leaders about the challenges and rewards of advancing diversity, and how they got to where they are now. While each road map is as distinctive as each firm culture, every plan offers insights and solutions that may work in a variety of workplaces.
Executing a Plan
Saul Ewing, which has eight offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, is creating opportunities for women and minority attorneys by utilizing a diversity program manager, Karen Jackson Vaughn, and implementing a 35-point strategic plan. William W. Uchimoto, a partner and the co-chair of the firm's diversity committee, relates, "The plan identifies various intersections of management, environment, and client servicing as ways to touch the issue of diversity." But, he points out, "It is a process. It's not like we flip a switch and everyone is on board."
In a firm like Saul Ewing, with approximately 260 attorneys, three partners of color, 21 minority associates, and one minority special counsel, an essential component of the diversity efforts is the education of the firm's non-minority partners, according to Uchimoto. "Plans are underway to ensure that our colleagues understand the true value of diversity through periodic dissemination of diversity messages from client web sites to the firm's practice group leaders," says Uchimoto.
"When the partners understand that diversity is a client-driven issue, it gets their attention. It's not only the socially appropriate thing to do, it's a business imperative," says Uchimoto.
Another important factor at Saul Ewing is that the diversity plan is proactive. For example, the firm facilitates the professional growth of minority associates by providing them with mentors who will assist them before they have to meet with the firm's evaluation committee. Uchimoto explains that Jackson Vaughn plays an important role by interfacing with the evaluation committee and providing a comfortable environment where potential problems to advancement can be assessed.
"That requires putting the burden on the mentors to raise any unfavorable issues with the associates. But also we make it very clear to the partners that this is part of their management responsibility. You are not being an effective manager if your people are unaware of how they are doing," says Uchimoto.
Lord Bissell & Brook LLP, a firm of 284 attorneys in six offices, has made diversity part of its overall strategic business plan. But, Atlanta Partner Michael V. Coleman says, "From the onset we don't want to be portrayed as a firm that has found the answers to diversity, or that we have achieved the perfect model. We are a firm that is a work in progress. We are a firm that wants to do the right thing and is giving a lot of thought to it."
At Lord Bissell & Brook, there are seven minority partners and 25 minority associates. Coleman says the firm's commitment is, "To make it a place where the African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans in the firm have the same opportunities and chances to be successful as other lawyers."
Retention is a front-burner issue for Lord Bissell. The firm went through a period of time where retention suffered drastically in the associate ranks, and as a by-product, it impacted the firm's ability to move people to the next level. The firm's focus was to figure out a way to improve retention while also focusing on recruitment.
Coleman points out that attorneys will always leave firms for a variety of reasons. But, he says, "We have to make sure that minority lawyers have the same opportunities to be successful within the firm as other lawyers. That hinges upon getting opportunities for good quality work and exposure to clients and new business."
For Lord Bissell, one of the pivotal steps to staying on track was the firm's establishment of a mentor program for minority associates. The firm has spent a lot of time developing the structure and buy-in firmwide and putting it in place. The mentoring program is so well received at Lord Bissell that the firm will be taking a hard look at firmwide mentoring program for all lawyers.
To implement the mentoring program, the committee looked at the total number of minority associates and their practice groups, and identified partners who would be good mentors and had access to work flow. Then each minority associate was paired with a primary and secondary mentor. (For additional information on best practices for mentoring minority associates, read the "Mentoring Across Differences" column in this issue.)
Another large component of the Lord Bissell diversity plan is outreach through firm participation and sponsorship of other organizations and programs that promote diversity, such as the California Minority Counsel program and the Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium. Saul Ewing's Uchimoto agrees: "We believe that if you are out and about and meeting people, you are growing roots. You don't have a sense of isolation."
Creating an Inclusive Culture
Firms that are dedicated to diversity understand that creating an inclusive culture starts with a commitment of resources and time. Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, with 430 attorneys in six offices, has made this commitment. Managing Partner Mark D. Wasserman, who is based in Atlanta, says, "We believe that obtaining and maintaining a diverse firm must come from a holistic approach that involves everyone and every part of the firm, including recruiting, professional development, associate life, and partner development. We have a director of diversity and a 20-person diversity committee who are working at all times to institute programs and look for ways to improve our approaches."
"We believe very strongly that having a diverse group of people makes us a much stronger and more productive institution," continues Wasserman. Currently, there are 5 partners, 3 counsel, and 29 diverse associates at the firm.
Allegra J. Lawrence, a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, chairs the firm's diversity committee and is a member of the hiring committee. She recalls that the first year of the diversity committee marked a change in the firm's attitude about diversity. "We decided to be more strategic about recruiting and retention. We were having very good success with our recruiting, but we had the feeling that we weren't being as focused with our diversity efforts, and that we weren't necessarily doing a good job of coordinating and communicating these efforts between offices."
One of the successful strategies employed at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan was the use of affinity groups to promote inclusion. An affinity group is a body of individuals who share experiences, interests, issues, or other common bonds, and offer support for each other within the firm.
"We started firm affinity groups, and I will very easily say that we copied that idea from corporations," says Lawrence. She points to the successes of the women's leadership affinity group in the firm's Atlanta and Washington offices, the African American affinity group, and the affinity group comprised of women associates with children.
Lawrence observes that the diversity committee can help inclusion along by providing hands-on support. "Lawyers get busy, and schedules are hard to put together, so we try to supply the support and structure."
According to Lawrence, the diversity committee has found a natural advantage by holding affinity events at the firm, since it is much easier to get lawyers to attend. "It's the same thing with mentoring. Everyone wants to mentor, but with the demands of practicing law, without that structure, it may not happen."
"The Sutherland Scholars program is also a way we hope to impact minority students generally and also attract additional candidates to the firm in the long term," adds Wasserman.
Lawrence explains that the program, a pre-law school boot camp, was piloted last year to address the pipeline issue in a proactive manner. "We thought if we could get to the students a little earlier and explain to them the importance of doing really well in law school, and teach them the skills that are needed to succeed in law school, then we could help the pipeline issue. We, of course, hope that they all will grow to become Sutherland lawyers."
Sutherland also works to stay on track with its diversity efforts. "I don't think any law firm's numbers are ideal, but I certainly think we are headed in the right direction. And I think the profession as a whole is headed in the right direction," says Lawrence.
Meet the Challenge
Diversity challenges come in myriad forms. Sometimes a large firm is challenged by its size. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP's U.S. offices have 22 minority partners and 127 minority counsel/associates. When Mary B. Richardson-Lowry, partner at the Chicago office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, arrived at the firm in 2002, she saw that when it came to diversity, there was definitely work to be done. "But the progress we have made in a relatively short period has been extraordinary, given what typically happens at large law firms."
A large firm, she explains, is a difficult animal to move forward. At Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, which has more than 1,300 lawyers in seven U.S. and six European cities, one of the first steps was forming a working group comprised of members from each office to create a diverse and inclusive culture, and receiving the financial commitment from the management arm of the firm. A diversity plan for a large firm is not inexpensive.
"Some firms would view that as cost-prohibitive. We view it as an investment in the firm's future," says Richardson-Lowry.
One expense was the creation of a diversity web site that serves as a resource both internally and externally for the firm. Another innovation was a reference binder that includes pictures and biographies of all the diverse associates and partners. Richardson-Lowry believes that other large firms could benefit from this resource tool. "It doesn't help large firms to keep diverse members in the shadows. They really should ensure that diverse attorneys are more visible, and play a key role in client matters so the legal world knows of their commitment, and it also helps with recruitment."
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw strives to be accountable. "We measure our success in part with our ability to recruit in greater numbers, in our retention, and in the increase of the numbers of diverse partners," says Richardson-Lowry. But equally as important, she adds, is ensuring that partners at the firm fold diversity initiatives into their business plans. Hector Gonzalez, a partner in the New York office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw who sits on the firm's diversity committee, emphasizes that the firm needs to get its brand out there to law students and prospective associates. "We want to make sure that when minority students think of Mayer Brown, they think of a firm that does great work and provides top legal representation, but in addition, understand that the firm is devoted and dedicated to enhancing the life of minority lawyers," says Gonzalez.
The firm shows this dedication by recognizing diversity efforts through compensation. "The formulary allows individual partners to receive acknowledgment for their diversity efforts; it includes diversity as a factor in annual compensation determinations," says Richardson-Lowry.
Finally, Richardson-Lowry points out that a firm has to continue to energize the people who are working to create inclusiveness. "If you don't have sufficient numbers of minority attorneys, then it becomes increasingly difficult to constantly engage in activities that will move diversity forward."
Retooling and Reinvention
Sometimes a law firm's diversity efforts can benefit from just a little tweaking, but occasionally a complete makeover is necessary. Carroll James Harris, an associate with the Baltimore office of Saul Ewing, has seen the diversity committee of his firm reinvent itself for the better.
Harris, who is the longest-standing member of the firm's diversity committee, says, "One of the things that became evident when the firm started analyzing where we were and where we needed to go was that the first iteration of the diversity committee didn't necessarily have the implicit support of the executive committee and the managing partner of the firm." "The problem," acknowledged Harris, "was that if the committee had a vision or plan, it had to go up two or three levels to get buy-in. That just made the process of moving forward more complicated." Now, Saul Ewing's reconstituted diversity committee not only has buy-in from the top, but its active members include a member of the executive committee, a representative of the managing partner, and liaisons from each important firm committee. Other firms have found success in taking an informal policy and retooling it into a strategic plan. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw took an informal mentoring program for associates and created a formalized program.
Gonzalez says that hiring an administrative staff member to assist in accumulating the necessary data to ensure that minority associates are moving into the partnership ranks is a good strategy. In addition, Mayer Brown ensures that attorneys in the firm are tasked with developing initiatives, and that the firm tracks the numbers of minority associates moving into partnership.
Gonzalez also sees a firmwide benefit to inclusiveness strategies. "Any plan that we can implement that serves to enhance the experience of minority associates at the firm will serve as a model for what we can do firmwide for all associates. In some ways, some of our initiatives and projects are incubators for ideas."
Making Your Mark
A successful diversity plan encompasses all the areas within and outside the firm. E. Desmond Hogan, a partner in the Washington, DC office of Hogan & Hartson, has been on the diversity committee since its inception. He notes, "We have made specific efforts to ensure that commitment to diversity is fulfilled, but it all starts from the foundational principle that a diverse lawyer population better serves our clients, best reflects our community, and is in line with our values." The firm has over 1,000 lawyers practicing in 23 offices worldwide, and 111 of them are diverse.
"Five or six years ago in the legal community, there was really an explosion of dedication by a lot of large firms to recruit and retain diverse candidates," recalls Hogan. "Around that time, we said we have historically done very well in this area; letcontinue to do so." Hogan explains that several years ago, the firm created its diversity committee. "Half of the diversity committee's mission is to do on-campus recruiting and lateral recruiting of diverse candidates," says Hogan. "What we do is target and market ourselves to diverse candidates by being in touch with campuses to get our name out there, so there is a worldwide reach and trumpeting of the message that our culture supports diversity." The other part of the equation, explains Hogan, is that diverse attorneys who do accept positions feel welcome and professionally supported. Hogan says the diversity plan acts as a check-and- balance to make sure that the firm's historical commitment to diversity remained a bedrock principle as the firm grows in size and geographic scope. (For additional insight on how best to welcome new attorneys, read the "D&B Brief" column appearing in this issue.)
Even firms with an entrenched diversity policy can be faced with challenges, including losing attorneys of color to other firms. "Of course, the approach to losing a few minority attorneys at one time is inherently based on the unique circumstances of each departure," says Hogan.
What is essential is that the diversity committee and firm management work together to ensure that attorneys are leaving because they have unique, outstanding opportunities elsewhere, and not because of any issue with the firm or its culture.
"For example, one of my star associates left the firm a couple of years ago. I and others, including members of firm management, spent significant time discussing this with her and asking her to provide feedback on her perceptions of the firm and its commitment to her professional development," says Hogan. "It turns out that she departed because family commitments led her family to move to another city. Nonetheless, I took all of her insights about the firm back to the diversity committee. This is normal practice," he adds.
Firms that have succeeded in their commitment to diversity realize that there are many effective means to inclusiveness. In the end, it is clear that promoting diversity and sustaining inclusion in law firms requires buy-in from management, a commitment of resources and time, and real accountability among the firm's management.
Elisabeth Frater, Esq. is a freelance writer based in Napa, Calif.
From the May/June 2006 issue of Diversity & The Bar®