Five Ways In-House Counsel Can Boost Outside Counsel Diversity

摘要

Diversity Lab’s CEO Caren Ulrich Stacy, and Leila Hock, director of legal department partnerships, challenge in-house counsel to move from demanding diversity to taking action to supportthe advancement of underrepresented lawyers within law firms. They recommend five powerful, yet simple steps that can have a lifetime impact on a diverse lawyer’s career.Collective efforts such as the ABA’s Model Diversity Survey and the 2019 letter signed by more than 150 general counsel have proven that legal departments care about outside counseldiversity. But despite these efforts and other similar pledges, the power and influence within elite law firms is primarily in the hands of heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied, white men.And they consistently garner higher billable hours and origination credit-the dominating factors that determine compensation.