Recognizing the need to field more diverse legal teams, midsize law firms are aspiring to promote inclusion and increase more diversity among its ranks
As part of that, the produced a three-part Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) roundtable series to provide a confidential space to learn how the most successful law firms are innovating in the D&I space.
Starting with diverse recruitment
Increasing commitment to diversity through recruiting, specifically by introducing a greater pool of diverse candidates and ensuring that bias is removed in all recruiting systems, is the first area of innovation. Other key factors in ensuring diverse candidate recruiting include:
Build long-term relationships at law schools with many diverse students 鈥� , an insurance defense firm with more than 200 lawyers in 16 offices across six states in the Southeast, expanded its partnerships with Black law student associations, increased the number of law schools to target (especially historically Black colleges and universities [HBCUs]), and established a scholarship specifically for law students from under-represented backgrounds. , a Georgia-based law firm that has 30% of its equity partners are diverse lawyers, also builds relationships with HBCUs and started a 1L fellowship for a law student from an underrepresented background in 2020.
For firms that don鈥檛 know where to start,聽the Diversity & Inclusion聽partner聽at聽, a labor and employment firm based in 20 states,聽suggests reaching聽out to your聽current crop of聽diverse attorneys to聽tap into diverse communities for recruiting.聽FordHarrison聽also聽offers聽incentives to聽its聽attorneys who successfully recruit聽diverse聽candidates and help retain聽them聽for one year聽through聽mentorship and聽making connections with聽rainmakers聽within聽the firm.
Establish the firm鈥檚 brand by highlighting aspects that are important to diverse candidates 鈥� The law firm , 50-lawyer firm in Florida and Georgia聽that has an even number of聽men and women shareholders,聽highlights its family-friendly culture聽and policies聽鈥� such as flexible working聽conditions,聽performance聽structures,聽and remote working options聽鈥斅爄n聽its聽recruiting materials, according to , an equity shareholder.
Identify nontraditional requirements for candidates outside of the law 鈥� , a partner at Drew Ekl & Farnham says the firm prefers candidates who have gone through challenges and can demonstrate that they have overcome failure. For example, the firm views candidates who were college athletes or had work experience before law school as showing some of the key experiences the firm values.
Remove bias from prescreening 鈥� , Chief Talent & Inclusion Officer at the mid-Atlantic firm , says she employs a few tactics to reduce bias during the screening process, such as removing GPAs, names, and schools to eliminate pre-judgments before any interviewing occurs.
Standardize the interview processes 鈥� Gangjee recommends firms establish regular, robust training programs focusing on bias and microaggressions for the firm鈥檚 lawyers who interview candidates. She also ensures consistency on evaluation forms and across all the interview questions. This minimizes the 鈥渓ike me鈥� bias and personal connections that can impact perceptions of candidates.
Diverse attorneys aid retention
Two under-appreciated factors in attracting and recruiting diverse candidates are the presence of attorneys from under-represented communities in firm leadership and ensuring that new hires feel welcomed once they arrive.
Jay Courie, managing member at MGC, understands the importance of those two factors acutely. Last year, the firm promoted the first Black woman to equity partner in its 25-year history, and that is just the beginning, Courie says. 鈥淲e need to continue to be very mindful of making our leadership look more like the culture and the environment we live in,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e have a long way to go. We’ve got lofty goals, but we can’t take our eyes off the ball.鈥�
As the firm intentionally expands its inclusive culture to increase retention of lawyers from under-represented communities, Courie stresses that it鈥檚 crucial to make sure it is not perceived as a 鈥渃heck-the-box鈥� exercise. 鈥淚t is not just bringing a diverse group of people into our firm, but rather making sure they are happy and comfortable being themselves at the firm and ensuring that they feel like they have a seat at the table, and that their voices are heard,鈥� he says.
Intentional inclusion means that 鈥渆veryone is having conversations about their various backgrounds and ways that they were raised or life experiences, such as how some of our younger Black lawyers鈥� lives may have been very different than some of our younger White lawyers鈥� or how some of our lawyers of different faiths may have had very different experiences,鈥� states Courie.
Perhaps the most innovative move and biggest demonstration of MGC鈥檚 commitment to expanding inclusion is its establishment of communities created around topics of interest, such as social justice, parenting and mental health and wellness. While the firm had started some of the communities before the pandemic, it has seen the benefits in terms of employee connectivity across offices. It is also a welcoming opportunity to have transparent conversations on the topic of racial justice, because the firm understands that events outside of work can impact its employees鈥� sense of belonging.
鈥淭he openness to have these conversations and that people welcome those conversations makes us a much better environment and culture,鈥� Courie says. 鈥淚t exponentially makes us a better place to work.鈥�
