DBA Equality Committee's Toolkit to Promote and Enhance DEIB of Lawyers in Dallas, Texas

Dallas Bar Association Equality Committee’s

TOOLKIT

to Promote and Enhance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) of Lawyers in Dallas, Texas

PROLOGUE

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“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.”

esponding to the imperative of diversity in the legal profession and ongoing efforts towards its realization, the 2020 Dallas Diversity Survey Report solicited information from firms categorized as “large firms” (by number of attorneys) in Dallas. Twenty-one (21) firms voluntarily respond—Mahatma Ghandi ed. Evaluation of the provided data showed female attorneys, LGBT+ attorneys, attorneys of color, attorneys with disabilities, and veterans still remain largely underrepresent“Success is to be measured not ed in large firms locally.

so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

To articulate current “best practices” for achieving diversity in the legal profession (with acceptance and full disclosure that “best practices” in this area continue to evolve and, therefore, this Toolkit will be updated regularly), the DBA Equality Committee’s Practice Sub-Committee worked in 2021 and 2022 to craft this Toolkit. The primary goal was —Booker T. Washington to help firms and corporations of all sizes identify diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (“DEIB”) efforts and results, and to explore resources, ideas, and programs supporting progress in the following focus areas: (1) recruiting and retaining diverse talent; (2) promoting equitable resources and opportunities in the legal profession for lawyers belonging to historically underrepresented and underserved groups; and (3) ensuring inclusion and equitable participation of diverse talent through client development and provision of legal services.

This Toolkit includes checklists, templates, and suggestions for your consideration, enabling you to tailor initiatives according to your organization’s needs. Suggestions are not “one size fits all”— rather, they support your organization and leadership in re-examining DEIB objectives and efforts, evaluating the success of those efforts, and considering additional approaches to achieve better results.

Please use this Toolkit in the manner that best serves your firm or corporation in establishing, refining and, hopefully, achieving DEIB objectives. Take what you like, change what you need, and be open to piloting DEIB programs and modifying them as you learn more about what works in your unique organizational culture. This Toolkit is a working document that the Equality Committee will continue to review and change as we welcome additional insight from the bar, the community, and society as a whole. Please keep in mind that this Toolkit was written with the best intention to provide useful tools. No statement or idea is meant to be offensive. As you advance through the exciting stages of your journey, we encourage you to demonstrate empathy; foster spaces where the perspectives of those whose voices have not been traditionally heard are encouraged; and listen to those willing to articulate their experiences.

Koi Lomas, Co-Chair 2022-2023 Katie Anderson, Co-Chair 2022-2023 Jervonne Newsome, Sub-Committee Chair 2022-2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1: “The Why” 5 Why should firms be more intentional regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging?

6 More Effective Problem Solving 7 Enhanced Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction 7 Improved Client Relations 8 Increased Profits 8 DEIB and Remote Work 9 Disadvantages of Lack of DEIB 9 Conclusion 9 Section 2: “The How”: Evaluation 11 12 Objective Self-Evaluation: “Check Your Pulse” Leadership Commitment 14 Employment Opportunities 15 Qualitative Measures (Quantify Behavior Around a Specific Initiative) 16 Outreach Programs 17 Developing a Diversity Plan You Can Monitor and Evaluate Successfully 17 Diversify Recruiting Efforts and Initiatives 18-20 Leadership Development Programs (Mentorship, Training, etc.)

Performance Management Advancement Opportunities (“Promote From Within” Approach) External Diversity Factors: Sponsorship Allocation, Supplier Diversity, M/WBE partnerships, etc., Outside Counsel Guidelines Diversity Goals in Succession Planning and Promotion Process Diversity Engagement Among Teams and/or Departments Study and Evaluate Bias Interrupters. Quantify Behavior Around Specific Initiatives Ask the Right Questions Internally Section 3: “The How”: Hiring 21 22 Increasing the Diversity of Your Candidates Establishing and Promoting the Organization’s Commitment to DEIB 23 Contacts and Resources 24 Section 4: “The How”: Hiring 27 28 Interrupting Bias in the Hiring Process Hiring Tips 29 Section 5: “The How”: Retention and Promotion 36 How To Retain Diverse Talent How To Promote Diverse Talent 37

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Section 6: Small Firms and Solo Practitioners

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Conclusion and Acknowledgments

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Section 1: “The Why”

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Why should firms be more intentional regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging?

DEIB

is important for numerous reasons, among them: corporate social responsibility, transformative leadership, compliance with the law, better solutions to legal problems, increased innovation, enhanced community goodwill, improved productivity and, in many cases, better profits.

In addition to the business case for DEIB, many of our colleagues are motivated by a moral imperative. DEIB efforts are the right thing to do for everyone’s benefit and support both healthier workplace cultures and transformative leadership. DEIB helps remove explicit and implicit barriers to full participation for all people—which is why representation matters (diversity), opportunity matters (equity), access matters (inclusion), and being accepted, welcomed, and appreciated for our authentic selves matters (belonging), rather than operating under pressure to fit into dominant group norms.

The rationale for implementing DEIB initiatives has evolved over the years from a focus on compliance with the law to a strategy-level effort with a demonstrated positive impact on an organization’s performance. Strategic reasons for DEIB include cor- Characteristic United States Dallas porate branding, social respon50.5% 50.2% sibility, work culture enhance- Female persons 13.6% 24.8% ment, growth strategy, and Black or African American alone financial profits. A commitment American Indian and Alaska Native alone 1.3% 0.5% to diversity and inclusion leads Asian alone 6.1% 3.5% to improved business outcomes. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 0.3% 0.0% Research shows companies per2.9% 9.3% ceived as committed to diversity Two or More Races 18.9% 42.0% are approximately 75% more Hispanic or Latino likely to have a “pro-teamwork” White alone, not Hispanic or Latino 59.3% 28.6% 1 leadership culture.

Further, the American Bar Association recognizes the dire need for law firms to have legal teams reflecting the demographics of the general public, as well as the client base they serve.2 This need goes beyond having a single “diverse” person involved in a matter. Token representation is not true representation and does not lead to inclusive participation.

Whether based upon the “business-case” or the “moral-case,” diversity in the legal profession is important, and we should strive for representation in the profession consistent with the demography of the region in which we practice, and the country as a whole.3 By way of example (and not limitation—this is not an exhaustive list of social identities),

1 Dolan, Kevin, et al. “Diversity Still Matters.” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2020, p. 6, www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20still%20matters/Diversity-still-matters-vF.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

2 Smith, Brad. “ABA Resolution 113: Creating a Legal Profession That Reflects the Public it Serves.” Microsoft On the Issues, Microsoft, 22 Nov. 2016, blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2016/11/22/aba-resolution-113-creating-legal-profession-reflects-public-serves/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

3 Stahlkopf, Dev. “Why Diversity Matters in the Selection and Engagement of Outside Counsel: An In-House Counsel’s Perspective.”

Litigation Journal, Spring 2020, www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/publications/litigation_journal/2019-20/spring/why-diversity-matters-the-selection-and-engagement-outside-counsel-inhouse-counsels-perspective/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

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we encourage you to compare your organization’s social identity representation—at all levels of your organization—with US4 and regional5 population statistics, such as the following US Census Bureau data: Deliberate efforts to incorporate DEIB bring overall benefits, including: o More effective problem solving, o Enhanced employee engagement and job satisfaction, o Improved client relations, and o Increased profits.

More Effective Problem Solving

Diverse groups (that include people of different races, gender, backgrounds, etc.) have been proven to drive better results, drive innovation, and foster creative solutions because they bring diversity of thought and tend to reduce the likelihood of “groupthink.” The best way to have diversity of thought is to have diverse people.

Diverse groups are shown to solve more problems and have higher performance ratings than non-diverse groups. By way of example, a study by Cloverpop in 2017 showed that inclusive teams make better business decisions up to 87% of the time.6 In addition, groups that follow an inclusive process make decisions twice as fast with half the number of meetings compared to groups who do not follow an inclusive process.7 Similarly, teams with high diversity and high inclusion scores outperform teams with high diversity but low inclusion.

Enhanced Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction

DEIB also leads to increased employee engagement and job satisfaction. When individuals feel valued, they function at their full capacity and feel like they are part of a company’s mission. This culture shift towards inclusion creates higher performing organizations and can increase motivation and morale. Having engaged employees in law firms also often leads to better results for clients.

Diverse and inclusive work environments increase employees’ job satisfaction and morale. A 2018 Millennial Survey by Deloitte found that 69% of millennial employees who believe their senior management teams are diverse see their working environments as motivating and stimulating, versus 43% who don’t perceive leadership as diverse.8 Likewise, 78% of the millennials surveyed who believed their top teams were diverse reported their organizations as performing stronger in generating projects than counterpart organizations with less diverse leadership teams.9 Additionally, DEIB and inclusive cultures help firms attract and retain top talent, which also benefits the firm and its clients. If candidates see people who look like them succeeding, they may be more inclined to join the firm. When employees have a high perception that their orga4 “United States.” Quick Facts, US Census Bureau, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI225221. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

5 “Dallas city, Texas.” Quick Facts, US Census Bureau, www.census.gov/quickfacts/dallascitytexas. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

6 “New Research: Diversity + Inclusion = Better decision making at work”, Forbes, 21 Sep. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/ eriklarson/2017/09/21/new-research-diversity-inclusionbetter-decision-making-at-work/?sh=59bde47f4cbf. Accessed on 24 Mar. 2023.

7 Id. 8 “Deloitte Millenial Survey: Millenials disappointed in business unprepared for Industry 4.0,” Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 2018, p. 8, deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-2018-millennial-survey-report.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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nization is committed to diversity, they are 80% more likely to agree that they work in a high performing organization.10

Improved Client Relations

DEIB helps improve client relations by (1) enabling a law firm to better execute its mission and objectives by mirroring existing or potential client bases; (2) maximizing business opportunities; and (3) positioning the law firm to better understand its clients.

Additionally, many in-house legal departments expect to have diverse legal teams representing them in their matters,11 often inquiring with firms about their diversity efforts in pitches and during the representation. Studies also show that diverse companies outperform their less diverse peers, and diverse teams perform at a higher level; decisions made by diverse teams deliver better results, and inclusive teams make better decisions.12 In addition, many companies and in-house legal departments use DEIB data when making retention decisions. This practice is only accelerating. Clearly, having a diverse and inclusive legal team supporting clients benefits the team members, law firms, and their clients.

Increased Profits

DEIB is good for the firm’s bottom line. Recent studies show diverse and inclusive companies perform better financially than their non-diverse and non-inclusive peers. According to McKinsey and Company’s “Delivering Through Diversity” report, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 21% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability.13 The same study found that companies in the top quartile for cultural/ethnic diversity on executive teams were 33% more likely to have industry-leading profitability.14 Out of 366 organizations surveyed in a 2015 McKinsey study, the top-performing companies were also the most diverse; and gender, racial, and ethnic diversity were directly tied to the positive financial performance of the organizations.15 Diverse organizations, in general, are also better equipped to leverage the great business opportunities diverse leadership teams present, including “attracting, developing, mentoring, sponsoring, and retaining the next generation of global leaders at all levels of the organizations.”16 In addition, more ethnically and gender diverse businesses have significantly better financial returns than others. Organizations in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 10 Swiegers, Giam and Toohey, Karen, “Waiter, is that inclusion in my soup? A new recipe to improve business performance.” Deloitte Australia and Victoria Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Comm’n, May 2013, p. 2, www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/human-capital/deloitte-au-hc-diversity-inclusion-soup-0513.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

11 Kilpatrick, Charlotte and Wingrove, Patrick, “In-house on law firm D&I: ‘we want diverse teams,’” Managing IP, Feb. 2021, https:// www.managingip.com/article/2a5cyeyzwt0akjap83mdc/in-house-on-law-firm-d-i-we-want-diverse-teams. Accessed 7 June 2023.

12 Hunt, Vivian, et al. “Delivering Through Diversity.” McKinsey & Company, Jan. 2018, p. 23, www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/ business%20functions/people%20and%20organizational%20performance/our%20insights/delivering%20through%20diversity/delivering-through-diversity_full-report.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

13 Id. at p. 1.

14 Id. 15 Hunt, Vivian et al. “Why Diversity Matters.” McKinsey & Company, 1 Jan. 2015, p. 1, https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/ business%20functions/people%20and%20organizational%20performance/our%20insights/why%20diversity%20matters/why%20 diversity%20matters.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023 16 Id. at p. 3.

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over 20 percent more likely to outperform on profitability.17 The report also showed the highest-performing organizations on both profitability and diversity had more women in revenue-generating roles on their executive teams than in staff roles.18

DEIB and Remote Work

The dynamics of the new remote world have repeatedly proven that a commitment to DEIB is paramount. Because of today’s diverse work structures, attention must be given to how diversity affects remote workers. Throughout the pandemic, diversity and inclusion proved to be particularly “critical for business recovery, resilience, and reimagination.”19 Firms that continue to pay close attention to the effects of working remotely on isolation and employees’ mental health are more likely to retain employees and boost productivity.

To advance DEIB initiatives, firms should also be more sensitive to caretaker and familial considerations, cultural norms, and work-life balance, and ensure attorneys who work remotely are included in important work initiatives and are considered for promotional opportunities, countering a tendency toward proximity bias.

Disadvantages of Lack of DEIB

Organizations that do not embrace DEIB are at a severe disadvantage for several reasons. Firm cultures often reinforce unconscious bias, discrimination, and unequal access to work and advancement leading to low morale and poor team commitment. Additionally, they are more exposed to legal risks from employee complaints, and likely will not maximize profits, which could in turn lead to a lower market share as compared to their competitors.

Conclusion

Quite simply, every firm should be committed to DEIB—either because it makes good business sense, it is the right thing to do, or both. Moreover, a commitment to DEIB helps firms to serve their clients better by being better problem solvers, attracting and retaining diverse talent, increasing employee engagement, improving client relations, and increasing profitability.

17 Hunt, Vivian, et al. “Delivering Through Diversity.” McKinsey & Company, 18 Jan. 2018, p. 1, www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/people%20and%20organizational%20performance/our%20insights/delivering%20through%20diversity/ delivering-through-diversity_full-report.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

18 Id. 19 Dolan, Kevin, et al. “Diversity Still Matters.” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2020, p. 1, www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20still%20matters/Diversity-still-matters-vF.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

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Section 2: “The How”: Evaluation

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his is a summary of tools law firms can use to perform objective self-assessment and to evaluate and monitor existing performance on diversity goals - including recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion. When trying to assess how a firm is doing on its DEIB efforts, it is important to prioritize conducting a comprehensive evaluation of how DEIB metrics are measured, analyzed, and utilized by the firm.

The ultimate goal is to ingrain DEIB into a firm’s culture. To that end, firms cannot achieve their desired DEIB goals without: (i) first defining what “success” looks like; (ii) creating a plan and positive framework to support DEIB goals; and (iii) effectively working towards the desired outcome. If a firm fails to effectively assess its current DEIB climate and plan for success, it’s less likely to know where there are deficiencies and how to advance its DEIB goals.

Objective Self-Evaluation: “Check Your Pulse”

Diversity focuses on representation (e.g., identifying which social identity groups are represented within your organization): • What candidate sources are relied upon for recruiting?

• What groups are actively and intentionally recruited?

• What does representation look like at all stages of the recruitment funnel?

• Are job descriptions and recruiting materials evaluated in a social identity sensitivity reading?

• Are screening factors used that may tend to exclude certain groups?

• Who makes hiring decisions?

• Who is hired?

• What investments are made to foster a sense of belonging during onboarding?

• How quickly do members of different social identity groups advance in your organization at each stage of their career progression?

• How are growth, development, and career planning processes used to foster equity?

• In which groups is a company investing (e.g., developing, training, mentoring, etc.)?

• Who is being promoted, and in what timeframe?

• How are individuals being retained?

• Which social identities are most at risk for being discriminated against or being the targets of bias, and what does the organization do to prevent and protect?

• Which groups are represented in your leadership?

• Who speaks first and more often during meetings?

• Who is most influential in the decision-making process?

• Who makes the important decisions within the organization?

• Who is shown most prominently in the organization’s marketing and promotions?

• Who is centered at the organization’s social events?

• When the organization holds social events, what is the representation in various social clusters?

• Who holds power in your organization?

• How is representation tracked and monitored?

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First, assess the current demographics of the firm. Evaluate the composition of the firm’s workforce to determine what diverse representation really looks like within the firm.20 Use objective metrics to identify individuals with different identities.

• For example, review the employee composition based on race,21 ethnicity, nationality, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age/generational cohort, parental and caregiver status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, neurodiversity, familial status, etc. o After reviewing the overall representation of the firm’s workforce, conduct a more comprehensive review into representation by department, groups, and management levels. y Diversity within the different groups: executive leadership, partners (both equity and non-equity), associates, all staff levels.

• To increase the depth of the assessment, expand the review to allow for reporting on intersectionality and identify multiple layers of diversity within groups.

If the firm does not have sufficient representation information readily available, consider conducting a “Self-Identification Campaign” encouraging employees to disclose their social identities. o For example, in using race and gender, ask: “How many black woman individuals do we have at all levels within the firm?”

• If there is a disparity (“diversity gap”) in the representation within the firm, identify the groups most impacted by the disparity, e.g. People of Color (POC). o Once diversity gaps are identified, focus on increasing representation of those underrepresented groups throughout the organization.22 This can be accomplished by recruiting from different schools, organizations (e.g., affinity or allied bar groups or student organizations that focus on minority representation), advertising in publications that target a certain group, and other creative ways to gain the attention of diverse candidates. While you cannot legally hire a person based on race, you can commit to opening an interview cycle only when the top of the recruiting funnel has adequate representation, and you can continue to interview candidates until you have considered several candidates from underrepresented racial groups. The key point here is that each organization needs to honestly assess how it hires and be willing to explore new or different ways to do so if the representation of some groups does not meet a firm’s diversity goals.

20 While diverse representation is usually easier to measure, some components are harder to assess, e.g., religion, dis-

ability, sexual orientation, and two or more races.

21 The federal EEO-1 reporting requirements for race and ethnicity are White/Caucasian, Black or African American, Na-

tive Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Asian, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Hispanic or Latino, and Two or More Races.

22 Employment decisions should not be made on the basis of protected legal status like race, age, gender, etc. “Pro-

hibited Employment Policies/Practices.” US Equal Employment Opportunity Comm’n, www.eeoc.gov/prohibited-employment-policiespractices. Accessed September 1, 2021. Please seek advice from a legal professional to make lawful employment decisions that advance DEIB goals.

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o A source of gaps could also include a lack of diverse representation in leadership roles.

• Assess the firm’s current demographics compared to the marketplace it serves, or the overall US Census Bureau data. The goal is to progress towards your organization reflecting the diversity of the marketplace it serves, or the overall US Census Bureau data. Of course, the general population statistics are not typically mirrored in the population of interested and available legal candidates in most markets (yet!); therefore, another good starting place would be to identify the number of lawyers admitted to the State Bar in each underrepresented group.23 NOTE: It is important to have a genuine commitment and concern about diverse representation beyond mere statistics to avoid the danger of just using underrepresented employees as “tokens” to reach numeric goals. Additionally, quotas are not appropriate and could lead to legal challenges. Instead, focusing on DEIB initiatives beyond just representation will help create the psychological safety that allows diverse individuals to be truly authentic and to bring the best of themselves to work, which ultimately supports retention. Hiring diverse individuals solely for assimilation into a homogenous dominant-group culture will inevitably undermine the success of the diverse individual and the firm’s DEIB efforts.

Track the firm’s progress towards DEIB goals: Below are some additional questions to assist in your DEIB assessment:

Leadership Commitment

• Has the organization implemented a written DEIB policy?

• Is there a clear understanding within the organization regarding the meaning of “diverse representation,” “equity, “inclusion,” and “belonging”?

• Is there executive level DEIB buy-in and support from all levels of the leadership team? o Is DEIB one of the top business priorities of the organization?

o Do the operating committee, executive leadership, and mid-level management team engage in regular and substantial DEIB training? o Is there regular, organization-wide training on DEIB concepts, like upstander intervention, introduction to DEIB, allyship, and microaggressions? o Does the organization frequently communicate the importance of inclusion on a top-down level? o Is DEIB integrated into every significant process of the organization? o Is there a separate budget for and material investment in DEIB?

• Does the organization have an active DEIB committee? o Does a senior-level partner or other official of the firm oversee the firm’s DEIB initiatives actively? o Are individuals belonging to underrepresented and underserved groups who 23 See, e.g., “Racial/Ethnic Minority Attorneys: Attorney Statistical Profile (2021-22).” Demographic and Economic Trends, State Bar of Texas,2022, https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=demographic_and_economic_trends&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=56200. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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lead DEIB initiatives able to do so on a fully optional and voluntary and fully compensated basis (rather than being asked to assume extra, unpaid work)?

• Does the organization consider DEIB part of its strategic plan for business growth through recruiting, hiring, retention, evaluation, and promotion of employees?

• How diverse is the organization’s leadership team? o Does the organization take proactive steps to source for a diverse pool of candidates when selecting its executive team, partners, and other senior level officials?

• How transparent is the organization’s leadership on DEIB initiatives? o Does the organization regularly report on the progress of its DEIB goals?

o Is the leadership team conscious of how to implement DEIB during decision-making and organization-wide communications? o Does the leadership team do a good job of communicating the reason(s) behind decisions that impact all employees? o Does the organization engage a third-party DEIB consultant to issue, analyze, and report on anonymous employee surveys and research interviews?

• Does the organization “practice what it preaches”? o Is the organization more concerned about appearing committed to DEIB initiatives through media statements and public campaigns than a commitment to making internal decisions that foster inclusion and equity?

• Does the organization hold stakeholders accountable for achieving established DEIB goals? o Are top-level and mid-level managers held accountable for attrition rates within their teams? Adding measurable DEIB goals to a manager’s performance evaluation will likely reduce prejudicial behavior or unconscious bias in hiring, performance management, and promotion. o Does the organization collect DEIB-related feedback in exit interviews?

• Has the organization invested in systems, practices, and resources to increase diversity at all levels of the organizations? o Has the organization conducted a review of its policies and benefits to ensure they promote equity among employees? (For example, reviewing the organization’s healthcare benefits to confirm full coverage for gender affirmation care, ensuring the organization has a fully equipped and private lactation room and supportive policies, etc.)

Employment Opportunities

• Is there equity in treatment in the work opportunities that are offered to underrepresented employees? In the legal field, there continues to exist a lag in the opportunities that are offered to underrepresented attorneys, particularly in leadership roles.24

24 See “2020 Firm Diversity Survey Report.” Dallas Bar Ass’n, 2020, p. 12–13, https://www.dallasbar.org/docDown-

load/1718245. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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o Is there objective equity in the treatment of employees (e.g., equal pay and benefits for the same/similar work)? o How often does the organization conduct pay equity audits?

o Does the organization have the needed structures in place to ensure the success of all employees, including underrepresented employees, through professional development programs, mentoring, and sponsorship? o Does the organization provide to decision makers primers and education on various biases (including “affinity bias”) at each decision point impacting employees’ careers (including at the stages of recruiting, retention, and promotion.)?

• Is there a fair promotion process? o Does the organization use objective criteria to engage in decision-making rather than relying on personal preferences that may be driven by unconscious bias? o Is a DEIB consultant/monitor engaged to present on common bias issues and highlight potentially biased comments during the promotion committee consideration process? o Is diverse representation emphasized in the succession planning and promotion process? (For example, is the organization committed to diverse slating or recruiting goals for all positions at all levels?)

• Is work-life balance a priority at the organization? o Does the organization offer flexible work arrangements to promote better worklife balance and support employees experiencing caretaker-burnout related to COVID-19 or other factors?

• Does the organization have established employee resource groups and inclusive communication channels? o Does the organization foster a culture of listening and understanding through employee resource groups?

• Is there an open-door policy or other open channels for reporting DEIB concerns within the organization?

• Is there an anonymous reporting line for employees to use?

• Are equity, inclusion, and belonging used as guiding principles during performance management? Equity, inclusion, and belonging sometimes require the investment of additional resources like mentorship and developmental programs for certain employees to help address systemic deficiencies.

Qualitative Measures (Quantify Behavior Around a Specific Initiative)

• Does the organization use qualitative measures to assess the effectiveness of its DEIB goals?

• Does the organization use focus groups, 360 reviews, pulse surveys, polls, town halls, and informal discussions during meetings to assess progress towards DEIB goals? The more frequent an employee’s pulse is taken, the more engaged the employee is likely to be; however, it’s important to be prepared to implement, act, and respond each time you ask for feedback (employees expect action to be taken if they are asked for their feedback).

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• Does the organization use anonymous stay surveys or employee engagement questionnaires to solicit honest feedback from current employees?

• Does the organization analyze turnover with a focus on DEIB? Identify the organization’s overall attrition rate, as well as the attrition rates of specific social identity groups. o Is the organization keeping track of how many dominant group employees vs. historically underrepresented and underserved employees are leaving, as well the reason(s) for their departure? o What percentage of employees representing various social identity groups has left in 6-12 months, 3 years, or 5 years? o Does the organization use exit surveys to get a more realistic picture of how employees feel about DEIB at the organization? Are the questions crafted specifically for DEIB insights?

• Does the organization use external, third-party resources to learn about how current and former employees feel about the work culture? o E.g., Glassdoor reviews, Fishbowl, LinkedIn posts by former employees.

• Does the organization monitor and evaluate its DEIB performance on a regular cadence?

Outreach Programs

• How does the organization perform outreach to underrepresented and underserved communities? For example, recruiting at historically black colleges and law schools or through affinity groups at majority institutions, or through minority bar associations. o Identify how many diverse candidates were interviewed to see if there are issues with the pipeline of diverse candidates. o Does the organization participate in local and nationwide events to attract underrepresented candidates? o Does the organization proactively engage in outreach at each step of the pipeline (e.g., in grade school, high school, college, law school) through career day talks, mentorships, and internships?

Developing a Diversity Plan You Can Monitor and Evaluate Successfully

After going through a self-evaluation, an organization should then develop a package of initiatives—perhaps timelining initiatives for 3 months (simple goals), 6 months (a bit more ambitious), and 9-12 months (larger-scale initiatives that require time, planning, and/or change management processes). These can include consideration of the following: Diversify Recruiting Efforts and Initiatives • Identify alternative and diverse potential applicant pools and take steps to make sure appropriate outreach is being made to these groups. Strong alliances with the groups may take time to develop, so you plan to identify groups and keep in touch regularly over a course of time.

• Ensure those in charge of recruiting include individuals representing a diversity of social identities, and individuals who are properly trained in promoting diversity.

• Engage alternative resources and groups in the relevant communities to ensure job post17

ings and recruiting efforts are reaching the broadest groups possible.

• The organization can foster relationships with local law school affinity groups and conduct outreach with, and support, local college pre-law programs and/or The Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. (“CLEO”) in an effort to build a pipeline of diverse candidates starting at the college level and continuing through law school.

• The organization can also increase recruitment efforts at historically Black colleges and universities, as well as the top 30 law schools recognized as being the most diverse in the country, which can be found in publications such as US News and World Report.

• The organization can also consider blind reviews of applicants with names, law schools, and other identifying information redacted from the initial applicant review.

• A relatively easy policy change is to commence interviews only after sufficient representation has been achieved at the top of the “interview funnel.”

• Finally, the organization should create a neutral candidate rubric to help ensure candidates are asked the same questions and evaluated on the same metrics.

Leadership Development Programs (Mentorship, Training, etc.)

• Having a meaningful and realistic mentoring and training program is essential to ensuring candidates for leadership are reaching their full potential and feel integrated into the culture and future of the organization. This requires mentors to be trained on proper techniques and be proactive in their efforts. In this regard, an organization should have regular feedback sessions with the mentors, candidates, and others involved to make sure the programs are having the desired impact.

• Affinity groups can help candidates to feel more supported and comfortable that they are valued by the organization and their peers, and to see future pathways for themselves and their peers.

• If the organization does not have an effective pool of appropriate individuals to conduct or evaluate the mentoring, strong consideration should be given to engaging outside resources to assist, lead, or consult.

• The organization can also encourage mentorship efforts be taken by attorneys belonging to overrepresented groups, so underrepresented attorneys’ time is not disproportionately impacted by such initiatives. This may be accomplished by the provision of billable credit to attorneys providing mentorship and/or requiring that all senior-level attorneys provide a certain number of mentorship hours per year.

Performance Management • In addition to training and mentoring, a program can be developed to assess performance and to proactively address any issues, as well as to ensure candidates are receiving and benefiting from meaningful training opportunities.

• This can include training resources for associates on how to prepare and implement business and development plans, and pre-established guidelines for opportunities to ensure the candidates are engaging in the types of practice activities necessary to develop their experience and provide further bases for evaluating performance.

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• Evaluations should be shared on a regular basis as part of a feedback program with constructive comments and solutions to address any deficiencies, and to identify further opportunities fitting within the candidates’ skill sets and experience.

Advancement Opportunities (“Promote From Within” Approach) • All of the foregoing should be done from the perspective and understanding that the candidates will advance within the organization and hit the goals necessary to achieve all available promotions; e.g., the plan should not simply be that the organization will make opportunities available so the candidate might advance, but will not be given serious consideration; it should be from the perspective that the candidate will advance, and if the candidate does not advance it constitutes a failure on the part of the organization regarding talent cultivation and management. Accordingly, the organization needs to ensure diverse candidates get the relevant and appropriate experience and training, and the candidates become accomplished in all necessary facets of the practice for advancement.

• Additionally, efforts can be taken to provide attorneys belonging to underrepresented and underserved groups with opportunities to have direct interaction with clients and bolster their visibility internally in the organization to attorneys in other sections that could benefit from their expertise/practice.

External Diversity Factors: Sponsorship Allocation, Supplier Diversity, M/WBE partnerships, etc., Outside Counsel Guidelines • The organization should have a financial budget for DEIB events, programs, sponsorships, etc., that demonstrates a meaningful commitment to DEIB commensurate with its budgets for other significant priorities.

• Additionally, the organization can provide billable credit for DEIB activities commensurate with billable credit for business development, practice shadowing, pro bono, and other types of activities that are key parts of the organization’s mission and priorities.

• Additionally, the organization should actively educate all levels of attorneys on the resources available for these types of initiatives, and also engage in efforts to identify additional opportunities to ensure resources are used in a strategic manner that touches on all aspects of the DEIB initiatives.

• The organization should ensure diverse attorneys who are included in client pitches are also actively involved in the projects, with audits of billable time spent on such matters conducted on a quarterly basis.

• The organization can further support DEIB by engaging and partnering with minority and women-owned businesses.

Diversity Goals in Succession Planning and Promotion Process • The organization should have specific goals to promote diversity and address issues revealed by items identified above. These goals should be reviewed on a regular basis—at least quarterly—to ensure progress is being made and to address impediments to goals.

• Assign an individual or team responsibility/accountability for establishing goals, reviewing goals, and reporting on progress. This individual/team should have real power within the organization—ideally at the executive team or equivalent to “C-level.”

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• Diversity should be a priority in the succession planning of an organization, specifically as it relates to personnel as well as progress towards achieving the DEIB objectives of the organization.

Diversity Engagement Among Teams and/or Departments • Organizations should implement regular diversity training and forums for teams and departments to identify and address DEIB issues within their group.

• An organization can promote regular use of pronouns and structured events where sharing of cultures and social identities is fostered.

Study and Evaluate Bias Interrupters. Quantify Behavior Around Specific Initiatives • Have an assigned individual or team designated to be responsible for staying abreast of the most current evaluation of bias interrupters in the workplace, develop a plan to assess if any of those exist in the workplace, and ensure that the relevant plans are modified or new plans are implemented to address them.

Use focus groups, 360 reviews, pulse surveys, polls, exit interviews, town halls, and stay interviews to learn about what employees are saying about the organization (e.g., Glassdoor reviews, social media posts, informal discussions during meetings, etc.).

• Use all available methods to ensure there is common and open dialogue with employees to identify concerns or issues. HR and managers should be trained to evaluate and handle commentaries in a constructive manner. Meeting agreements may also be introduced to provide guidelines for acceptable comments and behavior.

Ask the Right Questions Internally • Internally, organizations should be regularly asking the following: 1. How transparent is your leadership?

2. How well do team members collaborate?

3. What are relationships like between peers? Between managers and subordinates?

4. Do you frequently promote from within and give employees the opportunity to gain the experience necessary for consideration?

5. Do you encourage diversity in thought and express openness to new ideas?

6. How do you show employees you care about and value them?

• Additionally, as part of the evaluation process, there should be regular reporting to management and those in charge of developing and implementing DEIB programs on these and other relevant issues–at least annually–that identifies answers to these questions and proposed solutions. In connection with this effort, the entire plan should be assessed to determine how the answers to these questions impact the plan generally.

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Section 3: “The How”: Recruiting

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“[N]o matter where a law school is ranked, law school is competitive. If candidates are succeeding wherever they are, it’s worth getting to know them and seeing whether they’re a fit for your firm.” 25 —Betsy Bousquette, Director of Professional Resources at Bryan Cave LLP

“[T]he rankings are profoundly flawed — they disincentivize programs that support public interest careers, champion need-based aid, and welcome working-class students into the profession. We have reached a point where the rankings process is undermining the core commitments of the legal profession. As a result, we will no longer participate.”26 —Yale Law School Dean Heather K. Gerken Preface

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here an individual chooses to attend law school is influenced by a number of factors—such as ranking, cost, geography, and family obligations. While many law firms choose to focus recruitment efforts on candidates only from top-ranked law schools, such limited focus can result in the exclusion of highly-qualified candidates belonging to underrepresented and underserved groups. Employers serious about creating a diverse culture must look beyond the worn path.27 Law firms must resist the urge to only seek candidates from the same traditional sources and instead expand their efforts to seek diverse candidates from non-traditional sources. “Diversity-aligned recruiting not only means recruiting diverse candidates at more recognized and traditionally esteemed law schools but also taking a chance on candidates who attend law schools that are not top ranked.”28 In addition to recruiting from fresh sources, firms must evaluate the types of candidates attracted to their firm, how they determine which candidates to interview, and who they ultimately hire.

The perception of a firm’s commitment to DEIB impacts their ability to attract, hire, and retain diverse candidates.

Increasing the Diversity of Your Candidates • Create a Diversity Recruiting Plan.

Draft a comprehensive plan, to be incorporated into the organization’s overall strategic 25 Robinson, Kara Mayer. “Debunking the Mystique of Top 20 Law Schools.” Diversity & The Bar, May/June 2007, mcca.com/mcca-article/debunking-the-mystique-of-top-20-law-schools/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

26 “Dean Gerken: Why Yale Law School is Leaving the U.S. News & World Report Rankings.” Yale Law School, 16 Nov. 2022, https:// law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/dean-gerken-why-yale-law-school-leaving-us-news-world-report-rankings. Accessed 24 June 2023.

27 Fontaine, Valerie (n.d.). “Beyond the Pedigree.” Seltzer Fontaine LLC, www.seltzerfontaine.com/beyond-the-pedigree/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

28 Harris, Ariel. “Tips for Creating Diverse and Inclusive Law Firms.” Practice Points, Am. Bar Ass’n, 29 Mar. 2019, www.americanbar. org/groups/litigation/committees/woman-advocate/practice/2019/tips-for-creating-diverse-and-inclusive-law-firms/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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plan, that commits to and focuses on the recruitment of diverse candidates. The plan should outline who will lead each initiative and include definitive, trackable goals with action items for completing each goal.

• Candidate Assessment.

Examine and define (or redefine) the traits of an ideal candidate. When assessing candidates for interview and hire, does the organization consider the following: o Academic Achievement o Relevant Work Experience o Interpersonal Skills o Writing Capabilities o Oral Communication o Ambitiousness o Ability to be a Team Player o Genuine Interest in the Firm’s Practice If so, how much weight is given to each trait? What is the historical success of individuals at the firm who exemplify these traits?

• Legal Recruiting Avenues.

Explore options for connecting with diverse candidates in the legal community.

• Enhance and support relationships with law school career services leadership and share diversity initiatives.

• Utilize legal recruiters focused on placement of diverse candidates.

• Form relationships with local organizations that support diverse candidates.

• Support bar associations that promote diversity initiatives that will assist engagement with diverse candidates.

• Take part in law school mentoring program for diverse law students.

• Support diverse law student scholarships for students attending area law schools.

• Find law firms in the community to partner with in diversity recruitment activities.

• Participate in mock interview programs at law schools.

• Create a process in which law schools with minority populations are part of on-campus recruiting programs.

• Sponsor minority attorney involvement in professional development conferences to create relationships with potential diverse lateral candidates.

Establishing and Promoting the Organization’s Commitment to DEIB • Internal Initiatives.

Recruiting and retaining highly qualified diverse candidates requires a commitment to creating an open-minded organizational culture that not only supports DEIB but encourages it through organizational initiatives and mentorship. Diverse candidates will want to see diverse lawyers thriving within the organization and what actions the organization is taking to promote DEIB internally and externally. Below are examples of internal programs that help to support and promote DEIB within your organization.

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o Provide billable hours credit for participation in internal and external diversity initiatives. o Coordinate affinity groups within the organization to support diverse groups. o Establish processes for ensuring diverse lawyers have opportunities to fill major client service and organizational leadership roles. o Celebrate and recognize diverse cultures and highlight the organization’s respect for different cultures.

• Community Action.

One of the first things that diverse candidates look for is public demonstrations of an organization’s commitment to diversity. Accordingly, organizations should be intentional about developing a public presence that reflects such commitment. Some of the actions that convey a commitment to DEIB may include: o Ensure that those in charge of recruiting include a diverse group and individuals who are properly trained in promoting diversity and eliminating bias. o Communicate the organization’s commitment to diversity by sharing the organization’s programs and goals on its website and through social media. o Contribute to diverse law school scholarships to show support for diversity initiatives. o Create and participate in mentoring programs for diverse lawyers and law students. o Support nonprofit educational programs that introduce diverse individuals to the legal profession.

Contacts and Resources • Area Law Schools: o UNT Dallas College of Law, Assistant Dean for Career and Professional Development Courteney Harris Courteney.Harris@untsystem.edu 214-243-1780 o SMU Dedman School of Law, Assistant Dean of Career Services Marcie Davis mydavis@smu.edu 214-768-3893 o Texas A&M University School of Law, Assistant Dean​for Career Services Arturo Errisuriz, J.D. aerrisuriz@law.tamu.edu 817-212-4041 24

• Diversity Recruitment Opportunities: o Dallas LEAD: Legal Equity & Diversity Job Board (https://dallasleadjobs.com/)  Dallas LEAD Job Board serves as a centralized hub for law firms, in-house departments and government entities seeking to interview (and hire) well-qualified, diverse attorney candidates. o Southeastern Minority Job Fair (https://semjf.org/)

o Sunbelt Diversity Recruitment Program (https://www.sunbeltdiversity recruitment.org/ o Minority Women Pursuing Law (https://www.minoritywomenpursuinglaw. com/) o DAPP: Diverse Attorney Pipeline Program (https://dapprogram.org/) o Job Posting Site: https://jobboard.lgbtqbar.org/

• Reference Materials: o How Diversity & Inclusion Matter | McKinsey Study

o Why Diversity Matters in the Selection and Engagement of Outside Counsel: An In-House Counsel’s Perspective (americanbar.org) o Henderson, William, Solving the Legal Profession’s Diversity Problem, 2015. o Stacey, Caren Ulrich, Trends and Innovations Boosting Diversity in the Law and Beyond, 2016

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Section 4: “The How”: Hiring

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Interrupting Bias in the Hiring Process

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nconscious bias can affect the hiring process and ultimately lead to a homogenous workforce.

By modifying your interview process and reviewing your hiring process, you can interrupt the bias in hiring that may be occurring in your workplace.

To make an immediate change, consider these eight powerful bias interrupters: • Identify in advance what factors and qualifications are important for the job. Craft interview questions based on these factors and qualifications and ask all candidates the exact same questions.

• Assign each candidate a separate rating for each factor you identified above, then average those ratings to identify the highest ranked candidates.

• Don’t limit your candidate pool to friends of friends unless your networks, your organization, or both, are diverse. By considering candidates from multi-tier schools, not just elite institutions, you can broaden your pool. Similarly, consider eliminating candidate referral bonuses, which can tend to perpetuate dominant group culture.

• Be consistent and either give everyone (or no one) the benefit of the doubt or a free pass on meeting a specific criterion for the job.

• If you waive objective requirements, be consistent, assess the decision objectively, and require an explanation.

• Don’t insist on deference, likeability, or humility from some but not others.

• Don’t assume what candidates will want or be able to do regardless of their obligations, and don’t eliminate candidates for gaps in a resume without a good reason for doing so.

• If you are looking for a candidate who is a good “culture fit,” has an “executive presence,” or meets other vague criterion, start with a clear definition of what that means (e.g., “culture fit” may mean that the person has a history of mentoring more junior employees or takes time for self-care and life outside the office, and “executive presence” may mean the person has experience serving in a leadership role).29 Consider focusing your search on candidates who are a “culture add,” rather than a “culture fit.”

More broadly, employers should look at the data to assess where improvements can be made.

Some employers may be interviewing a diverse pool of candidates but ending up with employees who lack diverse characteristics. In those cases, special attention should be given to the interview process and the types of questions being asked. Consider offering interview training for interviewers to help them understand how to avoid unconscious bias. Other employers may find the pool of candidates being interviewed all look the same. In those cases, employers should consider what is happening in the recruiting and resume review phases. Hold recruiters accountable for sending more qualified diverse applicants to the door and arm those who are reviewing resumes with more detailed expectations. Continue to review as you go.

29 “Bias Interrupters For Hiring & Recruiting: Identifying Bias in Hiring Guide.” Center for WorkLife Law, 2021, p. 2, biasinterrupters.org/ wp-content/uploads/2022/12/identifying-bias-in-hiring-guide-no-citations.pdf. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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HIRING TIPS

• Make hiring people of color or underrepresented communities an explicit goal. Ultimately, the HR department will respond to rewards or recognition. If you prioritize diversity and incentivize bringing on board a more diverse group of new hires, you can push the workforce in the right direction.30 • Interview and resume review teams should be diverse. A diverse pool of interviewers will help attract diverse candidates and will also help interrupt unconscious bias that may be occurring with a homogenous group of interviewers. Employers should, however, ensure that diverse employees are not overtaxed with administrative duties by virtue of their diverse characteristics as compared with their peers. If, for example, you have two junior associates (one a woman of color and the other a white male), and the woman of color has conducted a disproportionate number of interviews this year, ask her white male counterpart to be responsible for organizing the next associate event. It’s also important to ensure that interview responsibilities don’t ultimately disrupt career advancement opportunities such as attending a lunch with a senior partner, speaking at an industry conference, or writing an article for the organization’s blog.

• Train your interviewers. Once you have a diverse group of interviewers, make sure they are trained and empowered to interrupt bias in the hiring process. Interviewers should also understand what, if any, equity, diversity, and inclusion goals you are hoping to achieve through recruiting.

• Assemble a diverse candidate pool. If you are beginning with a homogenous workplace, limiting referral hiring may be a good place to start. Instead, consider reaching out to diverse networks through identity job fairs, affinity networks, conferences, and training programs aimed at women and people of color in your field, and send recruiters to those events. If you use a recruiter, tell them you expect a diverse pool of candidates and push for more diversity if the recruiter comes back with only one or two diverse candidates, or diverse candidates that do not meet the minimum requirements for the job.31 • Further, go beyond the common job posting sites such as Indeed, and Career Builder.

Consider social channels such as LinkedIn. Other examples of diversity specialized websites to try are: Diversityworking.com, www.glassdoor.com, and www.SimplyHired.

• Also consider the following platforms: o Zoho Recruit is a product of Zoho with a wide range of features, including candidate sourcing, candidate management, and huge space for hiring solution customization, which will suit the needs of diverse clients. 32 o Rakuna CRM is a great product to help recruiters strengthen engagement with candidates from different backgrounds. This tool has a specific Diversity Recruiting Solution Module that makes it stand out from common CRM

30 McGovern, Michele, “DEI is a top priority: Is HR doing enough?”, HR Morning, June 2021. https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/ dei-top-priority/. Accessed 7 June 2023.

31 “Tools for Hiring & Recruiting.” Center for WorkLife Law, 2022, p. 2, biasinterrupters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Bias-Interrupters-Hiring-and-Recruiting-Full-Toolkit-with-citations.pdf. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

32 “Racism in Recruitment: Review Your Current Recruiting Process and 6 Steps to Remove Unconscious Bias.” Rakuna, 29 Jun. 2020, www.rakuna.co/blog/posts/racism-in-recruitment/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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solutions. Not only can it handle the usual CRM functions, but it can help you dig deeper into diversity results, statistics, and surface diversity organizations and events that your team should follow or look at to help diversify your prospect pool.33 o Workable is a cloud-based recruitment app for businesses, which has partnered with LinkedIn, Indeed, etc. to support the hiring activities of many companies.

Its key features are social media recruitment, job posting, and advertising.34 o Use blind resumes and application materials. Stripping resumes of anything that could hint at the race of the applicant is one solution that is fairly easy to implement thanks to new technology. (Note: This may present a challenge where a diversity goal has been established for the candidate pool, but you can overcome this concern by using different personnel having different information.)

• Make sure the resume review process isn’t eliminating qualified diverse candidates. Begin by ensuring that all resumes are “rated” on the same scale. Those who are reviewing resumes should have clear grading criteria to help them assess candidate qualifications. To further ensure consistency, consider having each resume reviewed by two different people. Pre-commit in writing to what qualifications are important, and if you decide to waive those qualifications for one candidate, require an explanation of why they were waived in one instance but couldn’t be waived in another.35 To further widen your pool of interview candidates and disrupt bias, avoid inferring family obligations from resumes; consider top performing candidates from lower ranked schools to capture more candidates of color and candidates from blue-color backgrounds rather than limiting your pool to only those candidates from top-tier schools; and don’t use gaps in a resume to automatically disqualify a candidate, which may have the consequence of eliminating women who stepped out of the workplace to raise children.36 • Plan interview questions. Interviewers should generally ask each candidate for a position the same set of questions to avoid bias. This also has the added benefit of allowing interviewers to compare the quality of various candidates’ answers more easily. Interviewers should have a clear understanding of the expectations for the job and the culture you are seeking to maintain or develop in the office.37 o Use questions directly relevant to the job position (e.g., questions about experience with particular software or programs, experience in the courtroom, number of depositions taken or deals worked on, etc. are all job-related questions). o Use performance-based questions (e.g., “Tell me about a time you had too many things to do and had to prioritize.”)

33 Id. 34 Id. 35 “Tools for Hiring & Recruiting.” Center for WorkLife Law, 2022, p. 4, biasinterrupters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Bias-Interrupters-Hiring-and-Recruiting-Full-Toolkit-with-citations.pdf. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

36 Id. 37 Id. at p. 5.

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o Think carefully about culture fit questions (e.g., “What qualities do you think make a successful leader?” vs. “What are your hobbies?”). The first question may tell you more about “culture fit” than the latter question, which may result in unconscious bias in identifying candidates who have similar interests or hobbies as the interviewer. o Give candidates the opportunity to explain things about their resumes that might have otherwise been disqualifying (e.g., was a resume gap the result of a candidate being fired for poor performance or the result of childrearing; did a candidate go to a lower tier school because they were offered a scholarship; or did the candidate forego certain extracurricular commitments because they were working to put themselves through school).

• Equalize the Interview Process. There are several common hidden biases that can occur during the interview process and should be avoided. Those include: o Stereotyping. This is forming an opinion about how people of a given race, gender, religion, or other characteristics will think, act, or respond. For example: Women with children will miss a lot of work. A veteran won’t be able to adjust to working in an office. A male candidate will make a better leader than a female candidate. o Halo/pitchfork effect. The halo effect occurs when one positive characteristic or strong point made by the candidate influences the entire interview. For instance, a candidate has a degree from a prestigious university so you think they must be highly competent and look upon them favorably. The opposite of this is known as the pitchfork effect, when one negative characteristic or point overshadows the interview. For example, a candidate answers the first two questions of the interview poorly, which leads you to believe they are not qualified for the job. o Nonverbal bias. This occurs when a positive or negative evaluation is made of someone based on their body language, personal appearance, or style of dress.

Examples of this may include hairstyle, tattoos, weight, the way someone speaks, mannerisms, or how a candidate is dressed. o “Like Me” syndrome. This is also often referred to as “affinity bias.” This often occurs when the candidate appears to be very similar to you in style or personality and, as a result, you feel they would be the best candidate for the job. There is a tendency to favor people who are similar to us. Therefore, when you are interviewing a candidate with a similar personality, style, interests, or experiences you may feel like they are best candidate and base your decision on personal characteristics rather than job related criteria.38 o Consider screening candidates by telephone first—not video conference. By conducting a telephone interview as a first step, the interviewer can eliminate first impression bias. Also, consider including others in the initial telephone screening process to reduce or balance your bias. This allows the interviewer to seek out different perceptions and opinions about the candidate.

38 Moon, Courtney. “Identifying and Avoiding Interview Biases.” U of Florida, 21 Oct. 2016, leadership.hr.ufl.edu/podcast/identifying-and-avoiding-interview-biases/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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• Give less weight to first impressions. Although first impressions are important, it should not be your only criteria. The interviewers should reserve their judgments and instead test the conclusions that emerged from the initial screening process.

• Increase your self-awareness about your hidden biases. The Implicit Association Test can provide insight and help the interviewer uncover any hidden biases. For more information visit: www.implicit.harvard.edu • Eliminate Racial Bias in Job Descriptions.

Although racial bias in job descriptions can be unconscious, it happens often. Some seemingly innocuous descriptive words have hidden racial bias and may be illegal. For example, the following are common examples of unconscious bias in job descriptions and how to correct them: National Origin “Must speak good English” “Spanish speaking” “Legal Citizens Only”

Excellent communication skills required Bilingual in English/Spanish required Must be authorized to work in the US

Additionally, when writing job descriptions: o Never mention race or national origin.

o Phrases like, “strong English-language skills” may deter qualified non-native English speakers from applying. o A “clean-shaven” requirement can exclude candidates whose faith requires them to maintain facial hair (it also indicates the position is for men only).39

Many studies demonstrate bias can start from the moment a potential candidate reads a job description. To avoid this, use technology to assist with crafting unbiased job descriptions. o Textio—Textio is one of the augmented writing platforms that takes your existing job description, scores it, and makes suggestions on how to get a better score. The higher the score, the more chances potential candidates will apply. o Gender Decoder—Gender Decoder is a free tool that companies can use to review their job descriptions to make sure that gender-coded language (example: “driven” = masculine, “dependable” = feminine) is reduced/removed.

• Sample non-biased interview questions: o Tell me about a time when you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle that and what was the outcome? o What is your idea of success? Do you believe that failure contributes to one’s advancement in life? o Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone (judge, opposing counsel, mediator) to see things your way.

39 “How to Write More Inclusive Job Descriptions.” Monster Worldwide, 2020, hiring.monster.com/resources/workforce-management/diversity-in-the-workplace/inclusive-job-descriptions/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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o Describe a time when you saw some problem and took the initiative to correct it rather than waiting for someone else to do it. o What would you do if you made a mistake that no one else noticed? Would you address the error and risk slowing things down, or ignore it to keep the project or task moving forward? o What would you do if an important task was not up to standard, but the deadline to complete it had passed? o You’re working on a key assignment that you cannot complete because you are waiting on work from a colleague. What do you do? o Describe a time when you have been frustrated with your performance at work.

How did you handle the situation? o How do you keep track of things you are responsible for? For example, schedules, tasks, ongoing goals, etc. Be specific. o What is your definition of success? Follow-up: How are you measuring up?

How will you go about achieving it? o If you could go back to when you were first thinking about your legal career, what advice would you give yourself? o Give me an example of a decision you had to make quickly or under pressure.

How did you approach it and how did it work out? o Tell me about a time when you had competing deadlines at work. What did you do? How did you come to that conclusion? o Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult client. What was the situation and how did you handle it?”40

40 See e.g., Son, Sabrina. “How To Ask Unbiased Interview Questions – List of Standardized Interview Questions to Reduce Unconscious Bias in Hiring & Guide To Unconscious Bias in Hiring.” What’s Humanly Possible?, Humanly, 07 Oct. 2022, humanly. io/standardize-interview-questions-to-reduce-unconscious-bias-in-hiring/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023; Johnson, Natalie. “4 Tips for Better (and Less Biased) Interview Questions.” The Blog, HuffPost, 22 Nov. 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/4-tips-for-better-andles_b_8622166. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.; “Structured Interview Questions for Employers.” Paycor, 15 June 2020, https://go.paycor.com/rs/003-JWW-697/images/Universal_Structured_Interview_Guide_r4.pdf.

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Section 5: “The How”: Retention and Promotion

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How To Retain Diverse Talent

Create a Sense of Belonging: It is critical for organizations to create a sense of belonging.

According to Cornell University, employees who feel that they belong are more engaged and perform better in the workplace: Belonging is the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group. It is when an individual can bring their authentic self to work. When employees feel like they don’t belong at work, their performance and their personal lives suffer. Creating genuine feelings of belonging for all is a critical factor in improving engagement and performance. It also helps support business goals.41 To create a sense of belonging, it helps to encourage attorneys to share their individual stories.

Understanding aspects of another person’s story helps break down barriers and helps people to feel seen. A culture of belonging may be developed through the development of intentional connections. Organizations should think intentionally about how teams are structured as well as how offices are designed. Are you staffing a trial or a deal with a diverse team? Are section and practice leaders reviewing assignments with an eye towards building teams that recognize and celebrate differences? Are you pairing partners and associates together in a way that can foster a sense of belonging? Creating an environment that brings people together helps people feel a sense of belonging.

Build Trusting Relationships: Does your organization have a mentorship program? Having formal and informal mentoring programs can help build trusting relationships. Many mentoring programs are not as effective as they can be. Often times, the lack of success is due, in part, to the organization not being clear about what they want their mentorship programs to achieve. Consider the following steps in action:42 Identify Your Objectives For whom and where do we want to see a change/ improvement?

Determine Your Program Initiatives How will we accomplish our objectives?

o Increase diverse attor- o Understand career ney retention. goals and job satisfaction of diverse associates through surveys and informal discussions.

Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) What will we measure to understand whether we are achieving our objectives? o Diverse associate retention rates. o Job satisfaction rate for diverse attorneys.

o Turnover rate of high performing diverse o Enable mentors to proattorneys. vide relevant support. o Strengthen diverse associates’ professional development.

Set Targets What benchmarks do we want to reach for the initiatives to be a success? o Increase diverse attorney retention rate by 10%. o Reach 90% job satisfaction rate for diverse attorneys. o Reduce turnover rate of high performing diverse attorneys by 20%.

41 “Sense of Belonging.” Diversity and Inclusion, Cornell U., diversity.cornell.edu/belonging/sense-belonging. Accessed 1 Sep. 2021.

42 See LaRoe, Yuliya. “How Effective Is Your Firm’s Mentorship Program?” Law Practice Today, Feb. 2020, www.lawprac-

ticetoday.org/article/effective-firms-mentorship-program/ (tips and chart adapted from article). Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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Ensure Fair Allocation of Opportunities: Providing objective and fair methods for work allocation is important to ensuring that diverse attorneys are getting quality work and opportunities.

Do you have a resource or associate development manager? Allowing a third party to manage and oversee case and matter assignments helps ensure that the work finds its way to the people best placed to do the work, which should include a review of skill, capacity, and need for opportunity. Having an associate development manager tends to drive a more fair and balanced method of work distribution, which may also take away some unconscious bias that can exists when partners manage their own work allocation.

Track and Monitor Initiatives: Organizations should track and monitor diversity initiatives.

Are they working? Are diverse attorneys hitting key competency metrics compared to their peers?

Are diverse attorneys acquiring the knowledge and skillset for success? If not, adapt. It is not enough to initiate diversity programs. Organizations must consistently check in to see if the programs are actually making a difference in the development and retention of diverse attorneys.

Be Flexible: Does your organization provide flexible work and hours requirements for its attorneys? Flexible working opens the practice of law up to a wider range of people. It is no secret that law firms have a long-standing issue of losing women lawyers after they have children. This has led to a significant gender diversity issue, particularly at the partner level. While some firms attempt to provide flexibility and accommodations on an as-needed basis, having a formal flex policy has many benefits. First, a written flex policy allows for all attorneys to know what options are available to them. Second, a written policy prevents lawyers from being too afraid to ask for accommodations. Finally, a written policy may help remove any intentional or unintentional stigma associated with flex or reduced-hours roles.

In drafting your organization’s policy, consider what type of flexibility best suits the needs of your lawyers and the needs of the organization. Organizations should consider including caregiver support policies (paid leave policies for disability, birth, adoption, foster and family illness) as well as part-time, reduced hours, and remote work. Also, it is important to clearly communicate how, if at all, a flexible role may impact a lawyer’s compensation (in the near-term as well as the long-term) and their partnership track. Organizations who provide flexible work at the expense of a lawyer’s ability to make partner will likely not see their desired results for retention of diverse attorneys.

Instead, organizations should consider proportionate pay and bonuses as well as a partnership track that is at least proportionate. It is also important to show a proven track record of promoting part-time or flexible hours attorneys to partner.

How To Promote Diverse Talent

While it should be obvious that retention leads to promotion, it may be less obvious that promotion often leads to retention. When lawyers see others who look like them in key leadership roles, it shows them that they have a path and a place within your organization. Unfortunately, even though young attorneys are increasingly diverse, there is still considerable room for growth in the promotion of diverse attorneys to leadership positions within law firms. Bluntly, law firm partnerships and leaders remain predominantly white and male. For example, the 2021 National Association of Women Lawyers Report shows that while women make up nearly half of law firm associates, women make up less than a quarter of equity partners and even less of managing partners:43 43 Peery, Destiny. “2021 Report: It’s Time to Move Beyond the Numbers.” Nat’l Ass’n of Women Lawyers, p. 5, www.nawl.org/d/ do/1120. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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While the numbers of diverse partners and firm leaders is frustratingly low, it is also frustratingly stable. Firms must consider how institutional barriers may be continuing to serve as roadblocks for diverse attorneys.

Make the Road to Partner Transparent: To help promote more diverse attorneys, firms need to make the road to partner as transparent as possible. Does your firm clearly explain to associates what the pathway to making partner is within your organization? Does your firm articulate to associates what the needs and goals of the partnership are? Are associates at your firm aware of what the firm is looking for and what associates need to do to be considered for partner? You should consider asking associates if they have a clear understanding of the firm’s expectations in order to be elevated to partner. For example, do associates know what the firm’s explicit or implicit expectations are for business generation? Are associates expected to have a book of business in order to be considered for partner? In other words, do the associates know the rules of the game and are you clear about how decisions will be made? Consider what steps your firm can take to make the road to partner as transparent as possible including formal and informal processes to ensure all associates receive access to the same information and guidance.

Cultivate Attorney Contributions: It is important to help cultivate attorney contributions that align with the needs and goals of the firm. It is equally important to invite opinions and perspectives into the conversation about what the firm’s priorities are as far as attorney contributions.

Firms should ask for input and ideas from all attorneys. Sticking with the same example above, if associates are expected to have a book of business in order to make partner, what is your firm doing to help associates develop their own clients and book of business?

Typically, diverse attorneys may not have the same level of existing networks. Additionally, diverse attorney may not have the same natural ability to ask for work or develop business. Firms should consider how they can better create pathways for diverse attorneys to develop business.

Are your diverse attorneys getting facetime with clients? Do they have visibility with clients? Do they have visibility with courts? Be intentional about helping younger attorneys develop business.

• Client Pitches: Helping your diverse attorneys learn how to pitch business is important to their overall success in developing business. Are you including your associates in client pitches? Are they helping to prepare materials? Are they attending the actual pitch?

• Client Interaction: Consider what your partners do to get diverse attorneys facetime with clients. Are your associates handling email and phone call updates with the clients on their matters? Are your associates included in in-person meetings with clients?

• Trial and Deal Experience: A client is unlikely to hire a litigation partner who has never tried a case, or a deal partner who has never closed a deal. Are you giving your diverse attorneys meaningful opportunities to develop experience by second-chairing a trial? Overseeing key deals?

Transform Mentors into Sponsors: While a mentor provides guidance and advice, a sponsor actively advocates for their mentees’ success within the organization. Are partners at your firm using their social capital and influence to advocate for their mentees?

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Check out this chart on the ABCD’s of Sponsorship from Harvard Business Review:44 Sponsorship tactic Amplify Boost

Connect

Defend

Example behavior(s) Intended goal Being aware of and talking up a protégé’s Create or increase perceivers’ positive impresaccomplishments sions of the protégé Formally nominating a protégé for specific oppor- Increase others’ expectations of the protégé’s tunities; writing letters of recommendation, potential and readiness for advancement attesting to the protégé’s future potential Introducing a protégé to high-status individuals; Create or enhance perceivers’ positive impresinviting a protégé to exclusive events or meetings sions of the protégé; increase the protégé’s visibility Challenging others’ negative perceptions of a Reverse or neutralize others’ uncertainty or protégé; providing an alternative explanation for negative perceptions of the protégé poor performance; protecting a protégé from harmful exposure

Source: © HBR.org Rethink Partnership Structure and Model: One size does not fit all. It is important to consider whether your firm’s partnership model is conducive to the advancement of diverse attorneys.

Firms that focus on an individual’s contribution often promote more diverse attorneys because contribution is additive rather than reductive. Promotions should not be considered a zero-sum game. Instead, a partnership that rewards and respects disparate contributions often fosters an environment that believes that promoted partners will augment the firm’s partnership and value.

Additionally, as discussed above, requirements for business generation in order to make partner may place diverse attorneys at a disadvantage. Does your firm offer a two-tiered partnership track that allows diverse attorneys the ability to build their network and client-base with the stamp of partnership already behind their name? Does your firm offer flexible work for its partners? Have you made room at the partnership table for lawyers who may not fit the traditional mold of rainmakers? Or for caregivers who need flexible and/or remote work? Traditional partnership structures and models can and should be modified to allow for a diverse partnership.

44 Chow, Rosalind. “Don’t Just Mentor Women and People of Color. Sponsor Them.” Harvard Business Review, 30 June 2021, hbr. org/2021/06/dont-just-mentor-women-and-people-of-color-sponsor-them. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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Section 6: Small Firms and Solo Practitioners

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or many solo or small practices, recruiting and retaining diverse attorneys presents a unique set of challenges given the fact that smaller firms often have limited resources and often struggle when competing with larger firms to attract diverse talent. Diverse attorneys report they often look for legal offices where there are other people who look like them or come from similar backgrounds, which is harder with fewer employees. When looking at the various diversity initiatives and programs offered by the bigger firms, firms with fewer staff may feel overwhelmed to the point where they feel that they don’t have the capacity or manpower to build and develop such programs. In addition to facing these challenges, solo or smaller firms may feel that given their size, they cannot truly make a difference, as any impact they have will only be minor in the grand scheme of things.

These are the myths that solo practices and smaller firms tell themselves when it comes to addressing issues of DEIB within their own firms. The truth is, a DEIB model is not a one-size-fits-all model. As a solo practitioner or small law firm, your assessment as to whether you can put a dent in systemic racism, gender discrimination, and implicit bias does not start with looking at what larger firms are doing. Rather, you have to reasonably set your own firm goals and take it one task at a time.

Whether you are having to work with limited funds, have only 10 attorneys, or even currently don’t have any diverse attorneys on your team, you can still make a difference. Here’s how: • Seek the advice of a diversity consultant as to what YOUR firm can do. o A consultant can be hired for a very specific task, such as evaluating the firm’s needs and goals with respect to diversity and offering a plan that is specific to that firm’s needs and goals. o The relationship between your firm and the consultant can be whatever you desire. For example, if resources are limited, the firm can hire the consultant to simply propose a plan of action just to get the firm started on the right track.

• Establish a diversity committee o If your firm has anywhere from 20 to 50 attorneys, your firm could develop a small diversity committee that would meet and focus on how to achieve the firm’s DEIB goals.

• Train your lawyers on the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and require a diversity CLE as a part of your firm’s performance evaluations. o It is important to note that diversity is not necessarily about the number of diverse attorneys within a firm. When dealing with a solo firm or a firm with 3 to 4 attorneys, the ratio of diverse and non-diverse attorneys may be relatively small or completely nonexistent. However, that does not mean the firm should not value DEIB initiatives. Diversity is also about education, awareness, and self-evaluation. Accordingly, a smaller firm can contribute to the overall DEIB initiative by becoming more sensitive to discriminatory and bias practices that continue to impact the legal profession. Awareness leads to accountability, and accountability may ignite a view towards change in that person as well as in the firm.

• Internal Mentorship Program o Establish a mentoring program whereby the senior attorneys have the opportunity to meet junior associates who have different cultural backgrounds. In exchange, the junior associates will have one-on-one time with a partner to gain more knowledge and skill regarding being a lawyer. Ideally, the partner will help train the associate, expose them to clients, train them in client development, and ensure the younger lawyer has opportunities to learn and grow.

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• Participate in a pipeline initiative that seeks to improve diversity or recruitment for a specific program, profession, or area of study by helping students, particularly those at the high school and college levels.

• Partner with an organization that has a diversity program already in place and work with that organization to assist in advancing DEIB in the legal community.

• Volunteer in external programs to develop better relationships with programs that promote diversity and provide opportunities for diverse attorneys. o To attract diverse attorneys to your firm, visibility of your commitment to DEIB is important. Diverse attorneys want to know whether your firm is truly committed to DEIB initiatives. That commitment will show if the firm is visibly participating in DEIB programs. o Develop relationships with legal associations that promote DEIB such as the Dallas Women Lawyers Association, Dallas LGBT Bar Association, J.L. Turner Legal Association, Dallas Asian American Bar Association, and the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association.

• Use targeted and personal recruitment efforts. o When you are at a smaller firm, it is hard to compete at various career and minority fair events packed with big law firm recruiters. Thus, it may be beneficial to engage in recruiting efforts that are more targeted and personal. The managing and hiring partners of the firm should develop a relationship with law schools within the region and share your firm’s goals and successes with the career counselors of those schools. Be visible at various law school functions. Participate in mock trial competitions or moot court. The talent you meet and the personal introduction to these candidates goes a long way in showing your genuine interest in their success. Your firm may have to do a little more to stand out.

• Use your realm of influence: o You can use positions on the Dallas Bar Association or other civic or legal professional committees to assist in advancing DEIB. For example, a solo practitioner who has been tasked with hosting a panel discussion on the benefits of arbitration can use his or her position to ensure the panel has a good representation of diverse attorneys to speak on the issue. The opportunity to advance DEIB is everywhere. o Sponsorship y Any person or firm can propel the ideals of DEIB through sponsorship. Sponsorship is using your voice and realm of influence to advocate on behalf of someone else whether by providing them with a platform to showcase their talents, partnering with them to write an article or present a CLE, or by speaking highly about them to others who have the ability to enhance that person’s career. As a solo practitioner, you can personally seek out diverse attorneys to present with you in a CLE or write a short article on a new rule or law. Senior partners at the small firms can sponsor their junior attorneys in the same way. y Sponsor with funds. Many of the diverse bar associations have scholarship grants they provide qualified diverse attorneys. These organizations welcome the opportunity to partner with your law firm in helping to fund these scholarships in order to provide more opportunities for diverse lawyers.

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Conclusion and Acknowledgments

ometimes just getting started is the hardest part. We hope this resource is one of many you might use in this journey of attracting and retaining attorneys who represent a diversity of thought, experiences, culture, and backgrounds. Please use this Toolkit in any way that helps your organization expand its knowledge and practice of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the legal community. At the same time, create your own initiatives, committees, and metrics to ensure your team welcomes and advances a diverse array of attorneys and leaders. Reassess, revisit, and redefine strategies and goals. Success will come from flexibility, tenacity, openness, and sincerity.

This Toolkit has been crafted with input from numerous contributors and use of many resources.

The Dallas Bar Association Equality Committee led this effort and appreciates its own members and those of the Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors, the Allied Bars, the judiciary, local law school leaders, and more. While this list will almost certainly, inadvertently exclude someone who helped, we feel it is valuable to list those whose names we captured.

A special thanks to these people who gave time, energy, and talent to create this Toolkit: Koi Lomas, Co-Chair Katie Anderson, Co-Chair Jervonne Newsome, Practice Sub-Committee Chair Tim Ackermann Tolu Babade Lisa Tomiko Blackburn Leslie Chaggaris Sydne Collier Nicole Collins Joe Coniglio Claudia Cooper Isabel Crosby Al Ellis Katie Anderson Alison Ashmore Stephanie Almeter Chad Baruch Lauren Black Vicki Blanton Rebekah Brooker Callie Butcher Rob Cañas Jr Liz Cedillo-Pereira Jonathan Childers Kristine Cruz Stephanie Gause Culpepper Rocío García Espinoza

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Erika S. Fadel Jack Fan Gregory Franklin Robin Gant Michael Garder Elizabeth Griffin Stratton Horres Taylor Jenkins Marc Katz John Lawrence

DBA Board of Directors 2022 and 2023

Hilda Galvan Hon. Dennise Garcia Ashlei Gradney Carla Verena Green Amber Hamilton Gregg Nadia Haghighatian Trerod Hall Britney Harrison Hon. Martin Hoffman Rhonda Hunter Michael K. Hurst Nicole Munoz Huschka Krisi Kastl Andrew Jee

Andy Jones Haleigh Jones Jennifer King Jonathan Koh Edward Loya, Jr. Elsa Manzanares Bill Mateja Derek Mergele-Rust Hon. Audrey Moorehead Cheryl Camin Murray Timothy Newman Hon. Erin Nowell Marisa O’Sullivan Kelly Rentzel

Derek Mergele-Rust Terah Moxley Hon. Erin Nowell Cortney Parker Britney Prince Paul K. Stafford Julie Ungerman Phyllis Young

Linda Valdez Thompson

Sarah Rogers Mark Sales Mary Scott Janet Landry Smith Drew Spaniol Paul K. Stafford Amy M. Stewart Robert Tobey Aaron Tobin Elissa Wev Kandace Walter

Dallas Bar Association

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