Diverse Rainmakers Making a Difference
PRIDE 50 Years | Asian American Lawyers on Fighting Bias | Growing a Solution to Supplier Diversity
CONTENTS
SUMMER 2019
FEATURES
STAPLES
16 THE TIDE IS CHANGING:
05 | NOTES FROM THE CEO
MCCA RAINMAKERS 2019
08 | LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
We profile this year’s Rainmakers. We find out what motivates them; how they developed their book of business and what advice they would give to their younger selves. By Catherine McGregor
38 PRIDE 2019 As we mark 50 years since the Stonewall riots, we celebrate Pride by featuring images from MCCA members’ events and celebrations.
13 | PAYING IT FORWARD
We speak to David Braff about his life and career and his work at the forefront of many significant civil rights cases for LGBTQ+ equality.
42 | INTERNATIONAL FOCUS Us Too? Sexual Harrassment & Bullying in the Legal Profession
64 | OUR DIVERSITY STORY
52 THE LONG ROAD: ASIAN AMERICAN
Larry Midler, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at CBRE, discusses the legal team’s journey to greater inclusivity; why it’s got to be a team effort and the impact of inclusive leadership.
LAWYERS ON FIGHTING BIAS AND
CONTRIBUTE TO D&B
REACHING FOR LEADERSHIP
Be featured in the premier magazine for diversity and inclusion! To discuss getting involved in any of these initiatives, please email Editor in Chief, Catherine McGregor at catherine.mcgregor@mcca.com
Asian American lawyers still fight virulent implicit biases and have the worst attrition rates of any minority group relative to their entry numbers. We discuss how to change that with three leading Asian American lawyers.
ALSO
COMMUNITY VIEWPOINTS
09 | ALLIES AND
33 | GROWING A SOLUTION
The National Association for
What Managing Partner John
ADVOCATES FOR D&I
Diversity in Compliance (NADC) share why #advancingtogether
with MCCA is producing results.
45 | WALKING THE WALK
TO SUPPLIER DIVERSITY
Sheppard Mullin Richter &
Harrity learned after suffering
five years spent helping to
from the worst kind of heart attack — the Widowmaker.
Hampton, LLP share what their reform the New Orleans Police Department has taught them.
68 | SOCIAL IDENTITY DIVERSITY MATTERS
How inclusion of social identity diversity should focus on
underrepresented identities, not just obvious diversity.
D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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MCCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS JEAN LEE MCCA President & CEO STUART ALDEROTY RIPPLE & MCCA CHAIR General Counsel
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RICARDO ANZALDUA FREDDIE MAC Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary DAMIEN ATKINS THE HERSHEY COMPANY Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary CRAIG B. GLIDDEN GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY Executive Vice President & General Counsel
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KIRKLAND L. HICKS Former Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Lincoln Financial Group DUANE HOLLOWAY UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary
SANDRA LEUNG BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB Executive Vice President & General Counsel LINDA LU TRANSUNION Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel – Litigation, Enforcement & Strategy SUZAN A. MILLER Former Corporate Vice President, Deputy General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Intel Corporation LANESHA MINNIX FLOWSERVE Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary SAMUEL M. REEVES WALMART, INC. Senior Vice President & General Counsel Walmart International Legal ROBIN H. SANGSTON COX COMMUNICATIONS, INC. Vice President & Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer
DAWN SMITH COLOGIX President, Chief Operating Officer RICHARD J. WALLIS Former Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation NEIL H. WILCOX USAA Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Enterprise Services SIMONE WU CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & External Affairs
MCCA BOARD OF ADVISORS
A.B. CRUZ, III Former Senior Vice President, Enterprise Shared Services, Chief Legal Office, USAA
D&B MAGAZINE PUBLICATION STAFF
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EDITOR-IN CHIEF Catherine McGregor
DESIGN/ART DIRECTION Elfatrany Design
PRESIDENT, MCCA ADVISORY PRACTICE Sophia M. Piliouras
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jodi Bartle
MCCA® STAFF
Tieara Jones Sherla Allen Karen Kim Felipe Braga Lauren Hossfeld Sophia M. Piliouras
GENERAL INFORMATION ADVERTISING For advertising inquiries, contact Catherine McGregor, catherine.mcgregor@mcca.com
MCCA MEMBERSHIP Please visit https://www.mcca.com/membership/ for details or email membership@mcca.com
PERMISSIONS AND REPRINTS Reproduction of Diversity & the Bar in whole or part without permission is prohibited. To obtain permission, visit https://www.mcca.com/db-magazine/reprint-request/ COPYRIGHT
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Copyright® 2018 by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Diversity & the Bar is published four times a year and is distributed to supporters and subscribers, 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. The information contained in this publication has been provided to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA®) by a variety of independent sources. While MCCA makes every effort to present accurate and reliable information, MCCA does not endorse, approve or certify such information, nor does MCCA guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy or chronological sequence of any such information. Use of such information on the readers’ part is entirely voluntary, and reliance upon it should be undertaken only upon independent review and due diligence. References to any commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer or otherwise shall not constitute or imply endorsement, preference, recommendation or the favor of MCCA. MCCA (including its employees and agents) assumes no responsibility for consequence resulting from the use of the information herein, or in any respect for the content of such information, including (but not limited to) errors or omissions; the accuracy or reasonableness of factual or other data, including statistical or scientific assumptions, studies or conclusions; the defamatory nature of statements; ownership of copyright or other intellectual property rights; and the violation of property, privacy or personal rights of others. MCCA is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims and denies liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to or reliance upon such information. No guarantees or warranties, including (but not limited to) any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose, are made by MCCA with respect to such information. Copyright in this publication, including all articles and editorial information contained herein, is exclusively owned by MCCA, and MCCA reserves all rights to such information. MCCA is a tax-exempt corporation organized in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its tax ID number is 13-3920905.
NOTES
FROM THE CEO
IN OUR SUMMER ISSUE OF DIVERSITY & THE BAR, WE HAVE THE HONOR OF FEATURING OUR 2019 RAINMAKERS. EVERY YEAR, WE ARE INSPIRED by the success of our honorees and their extraordinary commitment and service to the community; and this year is no exception, proving yet again that those who do well are always doing good. We share their inspirational stories of achievement to provide valuable insight to advance your career. We congratulate the 2019 Class of Rainmakers for being a shining example of our profession. Our feature article, The Long Road, delves into the work of David Douglass and Jonathan Aronie, Partners at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, LLP, who oversaw reforms in the New Orleans Police Department. We learn how their experience taught them valuable practical lessons about advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Recognizing that diversity and inclusion is a priority across all industries, we believe in the importance of being open to ideas from others, including outside of our own industry, as we continue to advance forward with innovative and impactful measures. We recently celebrated Asian PaciďŹ c American Heritage Month. Despite the long history and successes of Asian Americans, many still face prejudices and are often overlooked in diversity initiatives. Our feature looks at the way in which the pernicious stereotypes of Asian American men and women can impact both professional and personal lives. We hear from four Asian American members of MCCA and the tactics they have used to help overcome such ways of thinking. June marked PRIDE month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which was the catalyst for the organization of the gay rights movements and paved the way for LGBTQ+ equality efforts. As we discussed in the last issue, despite great advances in LGBTQ+ rights, these are not writ in stone and are vulnerable to the machinations of social and political agendas. In Paying it Forward, we are pleased to hear from David Braff of Sullivan and Cromwell, a long-time advocate of LGBTQ+ representation and rights in the legal profession. D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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It is more important than ever to come together and share ideas, challenges and successes. The proverbial needle will not move forward without our collective efforts and voices speaking up for inequities. I encourage each of you to join MCCA and be part of the solution to increasing diversity, creating a more inclusive workplace and achieving equity. If you are interested, you can start by joining us at our Creating Pathways to Diversity Conference and Diversity Gala on October 14 – 16 in New York City. Sincerely,
Jean Lee President & CEO
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NOTES
FROM THE EDITOR
N THIS SECOND QUARTER ISSUE OF 2019 WE FOCUS OUR COVER FEATURE, AS IS OUR TRADITION, ON THOSE DIVERSE LAWYERS SELECTED BY MCCA AS OUTSTANDING RAINMAKERS. Rainmaking is still a fraught concept for diverse attorneys as, structurally, many of the defining markers of success and merit in organizations such as law firms are predicated on criteria of success based on attributes commonly held by the historical majority of white, privileged, cisgender men. A key discussion point with this year’s crop of Rainmakers is how they made a successful book of business on their own terms. June saw Pride month and this year is particularly noteworthy with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and the advent of the Gay Liberation movement which has paved the way for many of the key advances made for LGBTQ+ individuals. In our “Paying it Forward” feature we’re delighted to feature David Braff of Sullivan & Cromwell. Aside from being a highly successful litigator, David has also been at the forefront of many significant civil rights cases for LGBTQ+ equality. To further mark PRIDE we once again run our essay showcasing examples of MCCA members pride celebrations. Culture change is a key part of the movement to produce lasting change in the profession. In our feature ‘Walking the Walk’, David Douglass and Jonathan Aronie of Sheppard Mullin detail their work overseeing the reform of the New Orleans Police Department and lessons it has taught them regarding change in the legal profession. Asian Americans still face wide ranging and pernicious stereotypes. As lawyers, Asian Americans enter the profession in greater numbers than any other minority but ascend to leadership roles in far fewer numbers. We explore the personal stories behind the stereotypes with three MCCA members and hear how they have managed to move into leadership roles against the odds. Please enjoy and do stay in touch with ideas for articles as this is YOUR magazine.
Sincerly,
Catherine McGregor Editor in Chief 8
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D&B/TALK
COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT Allies and Advocates for Diversity and Inclusion
By Sara Badler, Pratyusha Challa and Lakeshea Latimer
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN OUR NAME AT RECENT MCCA EVENTS; NOW WE’D LIKE TO SHARE WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE’RE ABOUT. THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR DIVERSITY IN COMPLIANCE (NADC) LAUNCHED IN 2015 WHEN OUR FOUNDING MEMBERS RECOGNIZED THAT THERE WAS NO FORMAL GROUP SPECIFICALLY DEDICATED TO CHAMPIONING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (D&I) IN THE COMPLIANCE PROFESSION. Many of our founding members were lawyers and had access to organizations such as the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and various bar associations dedicated to promoting D&I in the legal profession. But after searching their networks across industries and across the country, our founding members discovered no analogous formal groups promoting D&I across all industries in compliance. We certainly noted that there were organizations committed to advocating the value of D&I that compliance professionals could belong to, including associations targeted toward, for example, lawyers or financial professionals; but none that spanned multiple industries. Sandy Rich, Chief Compliance Officer for Nationwide, one of the founding members of NADC, recalls that she was thinking about the need for a D&I organization for compliance and ethics professionals when she became the executive sponsor for the Diversity and Inclusion Council for Nationwide’s legal and compliance department. Having practiced as an attorney for many years prior to becoming Nationwide’s Chief Compliance Officer, Sandy was aware of the numerous diversity organizations serving the legal profession. Knowing the value that diversity adds to any organization, Sandy remembers looking for comparable organizations that served the compliance and ethics community – and finding none. She, along with a few other founding members,
attended the MCCA Creating Pathways to Diversity Conference in Washington DC in 2015 and heard Rick Meade, CLO for Prudential Financial at the time, discuss the need for an organization like MCCA to support the compliance and ethics profession. She and the other founding members gathered between sessions and lamented that their colleagues in compliance were missing out on the diverse peer networks and development opportunities available to those who were lawyers and wanted to do something about it. It’s important to note that the work done by compliance professionals, while complementary to the work done by lawyers, is different in meaningful ways. Both lawyers and compliance professionals ultimately work to ensure their company is adhering to the laws and regulations that govern their industry, but they diverge in how they function to achieve this and on the corresponding impact on their respective professional duties. Essentially, a compliance professional must understand and effectively translate the rules and regulations that govern the industry into effective policies and procedures that address the regulatory requirements, are adapted to the specific operational structure of the organization, and enable the business to achieve its goals. Furthermore, the work done by lawyers and compliance professionals addresses different risks and works toward different objectives. D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 1 D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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It is important to note that diversity is particularly crucial in the compliance profession. Research shows that homogenous teams that are easier going can be perilously overconfident about the rightness of their own ideas which can be quite damaging to a company’s compliance department tasked with handling regulatory matters. As Junna Ro, (VP & Associate General Counsel and Head of the Corporate Compliance function at CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer, and founding member of the NADC) points out, “D&I enhances the compliance & ethics function because it’s a way to create a culture where people are comfortable speaking up.” Over the course of her career, Junna has seen the value of including multiple voices in a discussion – not only does it help generate more innovative ideas, but she believes it also drives better business solutions and increases employee engagement. “When people feel comfortable speaking up, and feel that they are heard and valued, they are more likely to speak up when they observe misconduct as well. This goes to the very heart of why a compliance function exists – which is to ensure that not only does a company meet its legal and regulatory obligations, but that its people are committed to doing the right thing and to operating with integrity.” As an Asian American female attorney, Junna often found herself the “only” in the room. She notes that when you look different from the majority in any setting, you can feel alienated, even excluded. When a person is in an environment where they feel like they are an outsider, 10
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this adds additional challenges to their willingness to speak up. We need to create workspaces where people’s inputs are encouraged and valued. Similarly, Sara Badler, Head of Compliance for New York Life Investments and another founding member of the NADC, recalls a time early in her career when someone assumed she was in the General Counsel’s office to take dictation because she was a woman. This experience motivated her to be sure everyone has a voice at the table – which she believes leads to more robust participation from all employees and a healthier debate of ideas. Not only is this something many of our members believe and have experienced, it is also backed by research that shows assembling a diverse team is an antidote to poor decisions made by groupthink. Thus, despite the fact that some compliance professionals could attend and be affiliated with other specialized D&I organizations, these types of personal stories led our founding members to establish an organization targeted to a wide range of compliance professionals to fill a significant gap. WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO ACHIEVE? A commitment to diversity and inclusion in the compliance profession can no longer be an after thought: we want to bring it to the forefront. As we mobilized to gather like-minded individuals in the compliance space with a commitment to diversity, we also established a set of concrete goals and objectives. The NADC’s mission is to promote
diversity and inclusion in the compliance profession and, in the process, highlight how that diversity will yield positive outcomes to organizations. We also want to emphasize, as study after study now highlight, that a commitment to diversity and inclusion is more than a “feel-good” tactic: demonstrating and carrying out an intentional commitment to diversity leads to better business outcomes and happier employees. Finally, we want to act as a consortium for those in the compliance profession. In some industries, the role of a compliance officer is fairly new, and we want to encourage our members to maintain an open dialogue with their colleagues in the same profession, regardless of what specific industry they work in. The NADC was formed to provide its members support and development in their careers, to organize networking and career and skill enhancement opportunities, and to celebrate the successes of its members. As a result of these overarching goals, our NADC initiatives are designed to lead to greater attraction, hiring, retention and development of diverse compliance professionals across various industries and sectors. OUR OBJECTIVES INCLUDE: • Raising awareness of the compliance profession to diversity-oriented organizations and diverse individuals • Promoting the value of diversity and inclusion in the profession
•
Providing professional development, technical insight and networking opportunities; and • Providing leadership opportunities for diverse professionals We also want to emphasize that a diverse work environment involves more than just hiring people of different genders, races, and sexual orientations; it’s also about having different backgrounds, skillsets and viewpoints. When companies have such diversity in thought, especially in their compliance professionals, the effect of bias and groupthink can be reduced. Diversity in both backgrounds and perspectives enriches the dialogue and leads to better decisions and multiple research shows that, seeking diverse opinions from informed third parties outside of the organization can be very help reduce biases. Having an organization like the NADC that serves as a peer network and an information clearinghouse for compliance professionals can help our members share their individual successes and struggles while leaning on and learning from the group’s other diverse members. THE NEED FOR COLLABORATION AND ALLIES As the central theme for MCCA #advancingtogether demonstrates – the more allies we have, the more likely we are to achieve our goals. Allies hold the power and key to stimulate positive change. We recognize that by collaborating with like-minded organizations, we can accomplish more. This is why the NADC has partnered with the D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 3 D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W . M C C A . C O M 11
LOOK FOR WAYS TO INCLUDE OTHER FIRM DEPARTMENTS
IN THE EFFORT, INCLUDING RECRUITING, TALENT MANAGEMENT, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, AND THE PRAC-
TICE GROUPS THEMSELVES. A PROGRAM THAT ENGAGES MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS AND INDIVIDUALS IS HARDER TO DISMANTLE (OR FORGET ABOUT) THAN A PROGRAM THAT OPERATES IN A SILO.
MCCA and also why this relationship has been
roundtable discussions, workshops, networking
As a result of this partnership, the NADC has been
diversity and inclusion in the compliance profession.
mutually beneficial.
able to leverage MCCA’s national platform and
provide valuable information from a compliance
officer perspective to the MCCA membership. For
example, last year, the NADC partnered with MCCA as part of the Creating Pathways to Diversity Confer-
ence in New York City where we facilitated sessions related to the compliance profession. The feedback from conference participants was very positive –
and particularly resonated with MCCA members who work with colleagues in compliance as well as
with attorneys considering career alternatives. We also recently presented at the luncheon plenary
session of the Global TEC Forum in San Francisco. We believe this partnership is especially important in light of the groundbreaking research on bias
published in 2016 by the American Bar Association
Commission on Women in the Profession, MCCA, and Center for WorkLife Law, which shows many of the traditional diversity tools that we have relied
upon over the years have been ineffective. We know
that one-shot diversity trainings, mentoring and networking programs typically don’t work. That’s why
we’re seeking to foster a longer-term collaborative environment to undertake a strategic approach to
promote our objectives. As we move forward, you
can expect to see more panel discussions, webinars, 12
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events, and more articles about topics important to As Junna puts it, “Through a valued partnership with
MCCA, NADC has been able to amplify its platform and relevance to a broader group of minority professionals.”
As allies with compatible goals to further diversity
and inclusion, MCCA and the NADC will continue
to partner on important initiatives. We have found
this work personally and professionally rewarding, and we hope you join the NADC as we look
forward to continuing to find ways to support the compliance community.
NADC National Association for Diversity in Compliance SARA BADLER is Senior Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company, Head of Investments Compliance PRATYUSHA CHALLA is Corporate Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company, Investments Compliance LAKESHEA LATIMER is Corporate Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company, Investments Compliance Sara, Pratyusha, and Lakeshea are all members of NADC (National Association for Diversity In Compliance).
D&B/TALK
PAYING IT FORWARD David Braff, Sullivan & Cromwell
IN THIS REGULAR FEATURE, WE ASK A SUCCESSFUL ATTORNEY TO REFLECT BACK ON THEIR CAREER, AIMING TO USE THOSE REFLECTIONS AS A TOOL TO ADVISE YOUNGER LAWYERS, OR THEIR YOUNGER SELF, ON HOW THEY SHOULD MANAGE THEIR CAREER. Following on from Pride month in June and this year’s 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, we speak to David Braff. Aside from being a highly successful litigator at Sullivan & Cromwell and previously heading up the litigation department, David has also been at the forefront of many significant civil rights cases for LGBTQ+ equality. He has also been out for the majority of his professional life—not an easy decision in the early 1980s when he began practicing law—and as a result has become a role model for future generations of LGBTQ+ attorneys. Diversity and the Bar: What first made you want to become a lawyer? David Braff (DB): I was certainly not one of those people who always knew they wanted to be a lawyer. I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, but went to college at Cleveland State University, which was a diverse urban college. My experience at CSU opened my eyes to the challenges many people faced in getting an education: many students worked full time to put themselves through college. That experience, together with my coursework, which focused on local politics and social issues, led me to consider what I could do to make a difference in the community. I saw becoming a lawyer as a way of becoming involved in civil rights and other community issues. D&tB: What were the key steps in first achieving success as a lawyer and what was most useful to you in these? DB: When I arrived at Sullivan & Cromwell I was
assigned to work on a jury trial representing a bank, and really loved the experience. Very early on, I also decided to balance my practice with pro bono work of the sort that was my original motivation for going to law school. So together with others, I took on a pro bono case representing the Gay Veterans Association in a case against the American Legion, which ran New York City’s Veterans Day parade and which refused to allow the gay veterans to march alongside the rest of the veterans. This was the first in a series of LGBTQ+ discrimination parade cases. Later, I and others also represented the Gay Teachers Association in a case against the City of New York in a successful challenge to the City’s refusal to provide domestic partnership benefits to gay teachers. I and others also represented gay service members in the first challenge to the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation prohibiting gay service members from serving openly. These were very high profile cases. The Gay Veterans case was front page news - we were even invited onto the Geraldo Rivera show! And the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ case was obviously an extremely important case that garnered a lot of attention. For me, the first such case I worked on was a particular challenge, as well as an opportunity, on a personal and professional level, to test the waters as I came out at work and with my family. I started at the firm with a lot of insecurity about being out on Wall Street, and when I took on the D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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first case I anticipated a negative response. But, the opposite happened: the firm was incredibly supportive and both partners and associates backed me every step of the way. At the time I remember being amazed at the way the firm came together. This experience had a big impact on the way I thought about practicing law: it taught me the value of teamwork, collegiality and collaboration. The lesson was simple. I came to a Wall Street law firm with a bit of an inferiority complex, having not gone to an Ivy League college or law school and being openly gay at a time when that was unusual on Wall Street. But what became clear to me was that what mattered was not my background, but the quality of my work and the relationships I forged with colleagues and clients. D&tB: Is there one failure or challenge that you now can see was helpful in shaping your career? DB: We lost the Gay Veterans case, so I guess that was a failure of sorts, but it paved the way for more successful future challenges in similar cases. That case was in front of Judge Constance Baker Motley, one of the great early civil rights lawyers, so that was a fantastic experience. I did find it a challenge to balance the personal and professional aspects of my life, particularly regarding being out at work. But using my pro bono work as a vehicle to be out at work made it more comfortable for me: it wasn’t about me, it was about issues of broader importance. These experiences allowed me to begin to shape a personal answer to the question of how to be genuine at work, and fit in professionally. The firm’s unqualified support made it much easier than I anticipated it would be. D&tB: Authenticity is something that many diverse leaders speak about. For LGBTQ+ leaders there’s an added factor in the choice to be out at work or not, which historically may not have been an easy decision. Can you speak about how authenticity has assisted you, as a leader, and how you think this has impacted the culture at Sullivan & Cromwell and lawyers you have worked with? 14
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DAVID BRAFF
DB: For me, it was always very important to not allow my sexual orientation be completely defining or a central issue, especially at work, but also not to ignore it when relevant. One of the hallmarks of practice at S&C is the daily collaboration with colleagues, and along with that a deep appreciation for the value that diversity in its broadest sense can have on the quality of the collaborative experience. From my experience, it’s undeniable that clients are the ultimate beneficiaries of diversity coming together in the practice of law—and that process of brainstorming together also is one of the great joys of practice. D&tB: What, in your opinion, can and should law firms and legal departments be doing in regards to extending the pipeline for diverse entrants? What would be your top practical tip to achieve that? DB: There’s always been a lot of discussion about this and the law firm community has taken a lot of time figuring this out. Every firm is facing the same issue, so what I say is not going to sound like a unique idea. What’s fundamental is to identify
candidates we might otherwise miss out on as early as possible, as early as high school. We need to find ways to nurture relationships with promising candidates over a number of years. We need to make sure we are being proactive and not just going into law schools but also reaching more broadly into communities. Today, talented diverse candidates have many choices and law firms need to build relationships with them so that they can get to know and like the firm’s people. It’s all about the people; you can send out all the recruiting brochures you want, but if you’re going to make a connection with people you have to know them, and they you. D&tB: Are there particular challenges facing inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees that you feel employers need to be cognizant of? DB: Visibility is certainly less of an issue than in the
have a family that mattered in the same way as other lawyers was not always understood. Today the concept of family has broadened, but the fundamental point hasn’t changed: we all care deeply about our families, no matter how it’s defined. There are constant opportunities to acknowledge this fundamental point, and in my experience that acknowledgment is deeply appreciated. D&tB: Was there a particular individual or individuals whom you would say have been most influential in helping you achieve your success? DB: One of the great privileges of working at Sullivan & Cromwell is working with so many talented people, with so many different practice styles. That’s been a critical part of my growth as a lawyer. That said, I would single out John Warden as most influential as I came up through the ranks. John Warden was the head of the litigation group
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE; YOU CAN SEND OUT ALL THE RECRUITING
BROCHURES YOU WANT, BUT IF YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE A CONNECTION WITH PEOPLE YOU HAVE TO KNOW THEM, AND THEY YOU. 1980s, when I started. That problem has been alleviated to a large degree. I think a challenge for organizations is that the LGBTQ+ community gets lumped together, so we need to make sure we are cognizant of differences where they exist. By way of example, there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement in the way the legal profession deals with the transgender community. Having said that, to me the most important aspect of inclusion is the recognition of the importance that everyone, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, places on family. There are many moments in large law firm life that implicate family life and it’s important to make sure that traditional and non-traditional families are being remembered and included. In the early years of my career, the idea that an LGBTQ+ lawyer could
and on the firm’s management committee when I was a senior associate. He gave me enormous professional guidance and support, and he remains one of my and my husband’s closest friends. And ultimately when I took over as managing partner of the litigation group, I like to think that I brought to the job some of what John taught me about collegiality and the importance of supporting younger lawyers. D&tB: Finally, with hindsight, what would be the one piece of advice you’d give your younger self? DB: I spent a lot of the eighties and early nineties worrying that a Wall Street law firm would be full of obstacles to an openly gay lawyer without an Ivy League education. My advice to my younger self would be to relax, work hard and do your best, and achievement will follow! D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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The Rainmakers The tide is changing. This time for good. By Jodi Bartle
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There’s a scent of change in the air, and it begins with people working together to make things better. Nowhere else is MCCA’s 2019 theme of #advancingtogether better evidenced than by an exploration of this years’ Rainmakers list. Eleven diverse attorneys have made the grade; excelling in their chosen fields, commanding respect from peers and clients, building their books of business, and contributing to their communities in profound ways. Just as no person is an island, nor is a Rainmaker able to reach professional success in a silo. All the lawyers in this years’ list agree it is only through the benefits of mentorship, sponsorship and networks forged that they have made their individual impact. The imperative for our Rainmakers to find common ground despite - or because of - their diversity was another echoing thread. You might not look like the others in the room, but you can find a reason to relate beyond the boardroom or the country club. Affinity associations continue to be crucial for support; while hard work and technical skills are a given in the legal profession, it is the ability to find, nurture and extend relationships that allow the best attorneys to develop their careers. Woven throughout all this, Rainmakers are united in their dedicated pro bono and community efforts, ensuring that we all advance, together.
Elena Baca
Partner Paul Hastings - Los Angeles Practice Area: Employment Law | Years practicing: 22 Elena Baca, chair of the Paul Hastings LA office and co-vice chair of the Employment law practice, has crafted her career on high-stakes litigation: she is a “go-to” employment lawyer for many large employers with high-profile disputes and contentious issues including class action claims. Her litigation track record is notable for its sheer volume as well as the ways in which the decisions can shape legal precedents. Elena is also a walking, talking example of intersectionality in the workplace - as a Hispanic, gay, woman, Elena embodies diversity from many angles. Her whip-smart litigation practice is primarily focused on employment-related issues such as employee mobility, wage and hour and whistleblower issues. Such is her reputation for stellar work, that Elena is often called upon to turn around cases prior to trial that have been mishandled or when the stakes are too high to keep with current lawyers. Clients include talent agencies, entertainment companies, web-based services, financial institutions, medical technology and research companies, law firms, public utilities, major manufacturers, and leading consumer brands. Elena cites her mother as the inspiration for her legal career. “When I was in grade school, my mother decided to pursue a law degree from Arizona State University. When she graduated - as a married, female Hispanic with two young children - she and other women with whom she graduated found they faced challenges in finding jobs with law firms in Phoenix. Their solution: to start their own firm.” This inherited drive D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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and work ethic has seen Elena rise in the profession to become an acknowledged rainmaker. For others not yet there, she advises “to be excellent at what you do; to develop clients, serve them well and make sure they pay you. These fundamental responsibilities to the partnership hold true, regardless of firm size.” To
achieve these things, Elena suggests becoming a true partner to your client, developing trust, taking the time to understand their needs and challenges, and delivering results as essential to advance both career and practice.
Alongside and sometimes interwoven with her own work, Elena has a flourishing community service
sideline such as her involvement over many years with The Children Affected by AIDS Foundation/Keep a Child Alive. “That experience and a shared affinity have allowed me to develop a relationship with one of
my longest standing clients. The same is true for my involvement with Out and Equal and serving on the
National Board for Human Rights Commission (HRC),” she says. “The opportunity to network and meet
...be excellent at what you do; to develop clients, serve them well and make sure they pay you. These fundamental responsibilities to the partnership hold true, regardless of firm size. people who may provide you with business opportunities is important, but it has been equally beneficial to be exposed to different points of view and experiences.”
Elena was a founding member of Voting Inspires Participation which focused Hispanic voter outreach and
she has been a board member for the Hispanic American Bar Foundation. She has been a tireless advocate for LGBTQ+ and Hispanic communities as well as the State Court system. Her involvement with the HRC
National Board saw her working with its leadership to develop and assist with educational programs for educators to better support LGBTQ+ children and their families.
Within the firm, Elena serves as a partner advisor to the Paul Hastings Latin and LGBTQ+ affinity networks
which develop programming in support of the firm’s diversity recruiting, professional development and
business goals. As to whether diverse lawyers have to approach aspects of business development differently, Elena says that it isn’t a matter of ‘have to’ so much as ‘having the opportunity to’, particularly in regards to networking. “All lawyers should network to develop relationships, profile raise and, in turn, develop
business. In the past, diverse lawyers, particularly through organizations like MCCA and others focused on diversity, had opportunities and platforms to network. More recently, through the conscious work of
in-house counsel pressing for more diverse teams and representation, the opportunities are expanding. There’s no question support and mentoring networks are valuable.” 18
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The advice she would give to the younger Elena is prosaic: talk to someone you don’t know. “When I first started practicing law, I would go to events and was more guarded. I interacted with a few lawyers I knew and that was it. I eventually came to realize that everyone in the room at those networking events had the same goal of meeting people; no one was showing up to spy on the competition. My advice would be to interact and be receptive. Once I opened up and found commonalities it made networking that much easier,” she reflects. As such, she mentors to the OUTLaw groups at UCLA and USC, and each year Elena hosts and OUTLaw mixer inviting all UCLA and USC OUTLaw students to her home to network and learn about professional opportunities.
Neel Chatterjee
Partner Goodwin - Silicon Valley Practice Area: Intellectual Property | Years practicing: 25 In our rapidly changing world, the need for a new breed of technological lawyer has emerged - and few have had as high a profile as Goodwin’s Neel Chatterjee. He is an internationally known tech litigator and trial lawyer with a proven track record of success in high-stakes cases on the cutting edge of tech and law. Career highlights include defending Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook in the famed Winklevoss case that later served as the inspiration for the Academy Award - winning film “The Social Network;” helping develop and then later defend eBay with respect to its online transaction business model, creating important fundamental law that validated Internet business models related to user generated content; and prosecuting, defending and trying cases involving global patent litigation for NVIDIA as part of the smartphone patent wars. Most recently, Neel represented star engineer Anthony Levandowski who was caught in the middle of the high profile dispute between Google and Uber relating to the future of self-driving cars. The common thread running through these cases is uncertain legal environments; Neel navigates these by the creation of narratives that defend the business model of his high-profile clients. Known for thinking several steps ahead in client protection, he is also responsible for handling some of the most complicated intellectual property disputes in the country. Neel eventually discovered he is a fifth generation lawyer, but as a young man had never met an Indian legal professional. Pushed heavily towards engineering or medicine, he says it did not occur to him that going into law was a career option. But law won out; after clerking with Federal Magistrate Judge Patricia Trumbull during the summer of his first year at law school, he saw the impact of what being a great lawyer could have. “During my time with the Court, Judge Trumbull always took great care to pronounce recently arrested people’s names correctly and to show them the utmost respect. The impact that a lawyer, and particularly a litigator, can have on people’s lives and the ability to care for clients during these highly stressful times, was extremely exciting and meaningful to me.” Committed to his community, Neel is engaged in significant pro bono work which has, he says, been instrumental for his career development. He has handled litigation involving civil rights issues for same sex couples, veterans’ rights and countless other issues. Neel is currently handling pro bono matters related to ICE detentions, police brutality against protestors at Trump rallies, Silicon Valley homelessness, and D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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prisoners’ rights. One of the things Neel is most proud of is founding the Bay Area Diversity Career Fair, one of the most successful diversity career fairs in the U.S. Now in its 15th year, the Fair sees over 400 diverse law students and has over 50 law firms participate; those who obtained their job offers through the fair often return and interview as law firm partners. Neel thinks that the bar on work quality and the ‘relatability’ is higher for diverse lawyers. As to business development, Neel thinks an advantage has come from various ethnic bar associations he supports, such as the South Asian Bar Association and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. “At times, I feel like I need to be much more visible and much more active in marketing than my peers. Many people’s initial reactions, before I speak, is that I am a back office lawyer who does the hard technical work on cases. For that reason, I spend considerable time public speaking, teaching CLE programs and putting myself in environments where clients, and potential clients, can see my communication and leadership skills.” Neel stresses the importance of mentors and says he was blessed with numerous mentors who looked nothing like him but were always in his corner. “Notably, none of these people had the same background as me, but took a chance on me when others may not have. My mentors told me that people will sense when you are not your authentic self and it will hurt with client development and credibility.”
Michael Chu
Partner McDermott Will & Emery - Chicago Practice Area: Intellectual Property | Years practicing: 27 Michael Chu - former president of the National Asian Pacific and Asian Bar Association ( NAPABA), partner and local practice head of the Intellectual Property Group with Chicago’s McDermott Will & Emery - has a pragmatic approach to career progression and development of business. Fueled by his early experience in a large, boutique Chicago law firm where he saw “some partners that could generate business, and many more partners who could not,” Michael got game-ready. “I saw the partners who could generate business were the ones who had the most management power in the firm, and who had the most control over their own career fulfillment,” he says. As he became more senior, he began to ask those business-generating partners how they got to where they were and why they were successful. “It was clear that it was the right combination of technical skills and people skills that made the difference.” His own recipe for career progression is rooted in both. Alongside his litigation practice and handling of the full cannon of IP and patent issues, Michael lists the importance of responsiveness, helpfulness, research, empathy (“I make it a priority to put myself in the position of the business, the client or the attorney I am working with”), and communication. Crucially, he says, “I show up. I attend events that my clients sponsor, I share a stake in the organizations that my clients believe in. If I share a passion for a particular cause, I let 20
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the clients know about it.” This approach works: Michael is the second-highest revenue generator within his IP practice group nationwide, and his success in pitching and retaining significant clients sees his client revenues on a consistent upward trend. His involvement of over 27 years in probono, community and diversity spaces is a case in point and affirms that these efforts have strengthened and expanded his network. This allows him to reach and engage with individuals he would not have otherwise met in his area of practice. Through this work, Michael says he has learned about the needs of under-served communities beyond his original understanding which has “made me a much better and empathetic lawyer. These efforts have been incredibly fulfilling in so many aspects of my life; put it simply, this work and my involvement in it have made me a happier lawyer, and I think my clients can see it.” Michael is firm-wide Chair of Racial and Ethnic Diversity and in this role he has overseen the growth and development of McDermott’s attorneys of color through programming, talent development initiatives, recruitment and retention efforts through mentoring. Michael’s team has also planned and run McDermott’s annual two-day Racial and Ethnic Diversity Summit, a global event bringing together its attorneys of color and many of its clients from around the world. Outside of the office, Michael has held various leadership positions in bar associations and other organizations focusing on diversity and the Asian Pacific American community. Michael serves as the current board chair of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, a national affiliate organization that is dedicated to empowering the Asian American community, and is also a professional photographer and filmmaker who has produced dozens of projects for various non-profit organizations. He thinks that while diverse lawyers often do not have the same opportunities for business development as non-diverse lawyers, those opportunities certainly do exist. “Diverse lawyers have little excuse not to be precisely attuned to their audience, whether it be a client during a pitch or to a judge or jury in a case.” A
Michael says he has learned about the needs of under-served communities beyond his original understanding which has “made me a much better and empathetic lawyer. These efforts have been incredibly fulfilling in so many aspects of my life; put it simply, this work and my involvement in it have made me a happier lawyer, and I think my clients can see it.” diverse lawyer, Michael admits, may feel the need to “cover” more than other lawyers for perceived and actual implicit biases, and he considers that as a disadvantage. “It is a disadvantage not just because of the existence of such biases, but because a diverse lawyer often has to account for them, think about them, and otherwise waste time considering how to avoid them.”
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Dan Clivner
Partner Sidley - Los Angeles Practice Area: M&A | Years practicing: 31 Rainmaking, according to Dan Clivner, is a team sport. A member of Sidley’s Executive Committee, managing partner of the greater Los Angeles offices and global co-leader of the firm’s M&A and Private Equity practice, Dan handles high-profile transactional matters for clients in the media and entertainment, telecom, technology, financial services and retail industries. Acknowledging that his own time and expertise is limited, Dan’s business development approach is: “To share the services and talents of other lawyers at the firm, and expand client solutions which allows us to become the destination law firm for all of their needs; not just those I can handle personally,” he says. The strategy is to expose his associate team to clients early and often, encouraging junior lawyers to make lifelong connections with more junior members of the client team. The takeaway here? “Softening one’s grip on a client is the surest way to deliver a handful of services,” assures Dan. A national leader in the legal community and member of several prominent organizations, Dan led the opening of Sidley’s Century City office in 2015 and grew the office to 56 lawyers in just three years. His deft management of the new office, combined with his success in completing more than $20 billion of transactions, has seen Dan earn a strong reputation among industry professionals. He also advises executives, boards, management, special committees and investment banking firms on domestic and international corporate transactions. The success of Dan’s transactional and firm management work is matched by his accomplishments as an LGBTQ+ leader, both at Sidley and in the broader community. He has been an LGBTQ+ diversity pioneer throughout his career, breaking down barriers and helping others to do so as well. When he became partner at Simpson Thacher in 1998, he was one of only three openly gay partners, and ever since then has filled many roles as a leader and mentor in the LGBTQ+ community, both within the legal profession and in local and national organizations. Additionally, Dan has served on the board of Public Counsel, providing free legal services to those most in need; APLA Healthcare (formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles); the Williams Institute; and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “My pro bono and community efforts are a source of great pride, personally and professionally,” he says. “I’ve never engaged in these activities with a view to somehow generating more business. However, they reflect my passions and humanity, and further connect me with clients and potential clients with who share those passions on a wholly different level, around doing good. To that end, I suppose these activities indirectly benefit the practice as well.” He is a firm believer that affinity matters. “Diverse lawyers often feel alone, not able to relate to clients who don’t look like them or share similar backgrounds. In my case, I remained closeted for a long time, to make myself appear more like my clients, and I eschewed certain social interactions which would force me to reveal more about my personal story,” he says. “You need to get out of your comfort zone and share more 22
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of yourself in order to connect on a human level and make the connection true.” Eventually, Dan shared his story and admits, “That truth and vulnerability made the bond with my clients (now friends) even stronger.” Within Sidley, Dan’s advocacy and leadership has led to increasing the numbers of diverse and LGBTQ+ partners at the firm, as well as a revamp of the recruitment process for the local summer associates’ program in its greater L.A. offices to include diverse communities. He has also helped launch a new professional development series that gives students and associates opportunities to meet successful LGBTQ+ attorneys and allies in the business community who will share their strategies for achievement.
Vincent H. Cohen, Jr.
Partner Dechert - Washington D.C. Practice Area: Litigation | Years practicing: 14 Role models don’t come much more heavyweight than one of the first African American attorneys to make partner at a major law firm in the District of Columbia - especially when he is your father. Vincent Cohen, litigation partner at Washington, D.C’s law firm Dechert LLP, took serious note. “I watched my father closely throughout my youth, admired the way he held himself, and knew from the earliest age that I wanted to be a trial lawyer, just like him,” he recalls. Vincent’s career progressed to the role of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia where, on federal issues, his remit touched the entire country; yet his responsibilities have also been very much focussed on ways to resolve local D.C. difficulties. He realized the law could help restore a community that had been ravaged by drugs and violence and says he became a prosecutor, “To bring justice to the victims of the crack epidemic that ripped so hard through Washington, D.C.” Further efforts to reduce violent crime in the U.S. capital saw him tackle its root causes while also preserving resources for prosecuting serious offenders. Vincent helped reorganize the Superior Court Division to redirect prosecutorial efforts from low-level, non-violent drug offenses to violent crimes and expanded diversion programs that provide alternatives to incarceration to include low-level offenders posing little risk to the community. Now as a partner at Dechert, Vincent has overseen some of the nation’s most significant prosecutions involving national security, financial fraud, public corruption and cyber-crime and has represented individuals and corporations in sensitive government and internal investigations, in enforcement matters, and in complex civil and criminal litigation on a domestic and international scale. As leader of the firm’s Black Lawyers Alliance and a member of its Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Vincent considers it a top priority that the principles of diversity and inclusion are embedded in every aspect of life at the firm. “Primarily, we dedicate time to pro bono and to community programs because it’s the right thing to do. Period. But there are other benefits, too,” he says. “Lawyers are fortunate in that they can gain experience in some very sophisticated areas of the law by working on their firms’ pro bono programs. Many also see direct benefits in the additional profile-raising that commitment to socially conscious projects can bring.” Vincent lists integrity as the single most important quality behind his success as a lawyer. “As a prosecutor, I learned that no one should allow their moral compass to waver, no matter what political pressures D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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“Lawyers are fortunate in that they can gain experience in some very sophisticated areas of the law by working on their firms’ pro bono programs. Many also see direct benefits in the additional profile-raising that commitment to socially conscious projects can bring.” are brought to bear. We each need to know what’s right and wrong and strive to make the best decisions, always basing our behavior on what we believe to be correct.” Fostering relationships is vital to the development of business and career progression, he suggests. “Particularly in the legal world, there are smart, competent people everywhere, so just being good at what you do is not enough. To progress, you need more.” The answer, he offers, lies in developing a network of people who can guide, advise and mentor while also providing the kind of positive peer review that helps a lawyer stand out. “The network of relationships I have built throughout my career is the foundation of the successes that I have enjoyed. I learned a long time back that it is important to treat people well and, if parting ways, to try to leave on good terms. The people you meet at each stage in your career are the ones who will ultimately be the most helpful to you, referring you the business that will expand your practice.” Advice to his younger self is centered on mastering his craft. “Put in the time and effort necessary to become an expert in your chosen field—whatever it is. Knowing something that few others know is a rare and valuable asset that will stand you in good stead for life.”
Stephen Korniczky
Partner Sheppard Mullin - San Diego Practice Area: Intellectual Property | Years practicing: 32 A self-described “product of the New York City melting pot”, Stephen “Steve” Korniczky, son of a Hungarian second generation father and Guamanian mother, became a lawyer after his father made it clear there were only three choices to make: become a doctor, lawyer or engineer. “As parents, mine wanted their kids to be ‘successful’ and to do ‘better’ in life than they did,” he reflects. “My mom always used to say “Don’t just focus on being the best, focus on making your best better.” And that he did: Steve is now an IP trial lawyer at Sheppard Mullin with over 30 years experience successfully litigating or trying more than 200 patent and other IP lawsuits in district courts throughout the US, before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the International Trade Commission 24
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and on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is known for his efforts in building Sheppard Mullin’s Intellectual Property Practice Group from a small team of practitioners to a cohesive global department. In 2018 Steve set new award-winning precedent in TCL v. Ericsson to become one of the preeminent attorneys in the evolving area of standard essential patent (SEP) litigation and FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory terms denoting a voluntary licensing commitment between a standard-setting organization and the holder of standard-essential patents) licensing disputes. Breaking new ground, Steve has taken this experience in SEP and FRAND licensing disputes into the autonomous automobile world. Thankful to have been the recipient of numerous scholarships growing up, Steve established a scholarship of his own at his alma mater, the University of Buffalo Law School. The Korniczky Intellectual Property & Diversity Scholarship is a three-year scholarship for a first-year law student who has an engineering or hard science background, has an interest in intellectual property law, and is a member of a traditionally underrepresented group (with a preference for a person of Pacific Islander descent). He is a member of the Diversity Law Institute and is a Platinum Member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). Steve says that there is an individual aspect to rainmaking, but acknowledges that there’s more to it - if you want to be a rainmaker, he suggests, you should build and maintain meaningful relationships throughout your undergraduate education, law school and professional endeavors. The friends you make today may be your clients tomorrow, he says. “Rainmaking is not only about bringing in business - it’s also about being responsive to your clients, consistently doing high quality work and winning by solving your client’s problem.” Steve says that lawyers have a limited amount of time, but are still expected to wear many hats: great technical lawyer, terrific business developer, responsive client manager, capable mentor and trainer, clever strategist, and economical implementer. “In order to be a real rainmaker – one who makes rain for him or herself and for others – you need others to help in a high quality and economical manner. In patent litigation, in particular, you can’t just attract and win cases by yourself. It’s a team sport.” Steve’s collaborative approach extends to the trickledown effect of mentoring other lawyers to help them grow. “By being a good mentor, you develop relationships with others – and those relationships can play a key role when you want to put a team together to pitch or work on a client matter,” he notes. “It’s extremely gratifying to have attorneys you’ve mentored join you on a matter – and it’s even more gratifying when you see those attorneys begin to really build their own practices and become rainmakers themselves.” He says successful lawyers, diverse or not, are in the business of relationships both outside and inside the firm. “Generally, I think the secret to a lawyer’s success is the ability to build relationships and to sell oneself. Clients hire lawyers they like and trust – and that often translates into clients hiring lawyers who are like them. I think it’s natural to seek out work from people you socialize with or from people with whom you have something in common,” he says. In this way, he says diverse lawyers often have diverse clients. “Initially, many of my clients tended to be from Asia – but as I worked and built my reputation, I began to attract clients from all across the US and Europe. I guess my advice is to play to your strengths – and, as a diverse attorney, you should use that diversity to your advantage.” D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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Lorraine McGowen
Partner Orrick - New York Practice Area: Restructuring | Years practicing: 33 Described by colleagues, clients and diversity leaders as “tireless, driven, determined, dedicated and devoted,” Orrick’s Lorraine McGowen knows how to make a difference. Her experience over 30 years has seen her join clients on the front lines of their recovery crisis and innovate investment strategies with entrepreneurial enthusiasm, advising financial institutions, creditors and other parties in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Most recently, Lorraine was the lead bankruptcy attorney representing Toyota in the highly complex global restructuring of Takata Corporation, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of automotive safety systems. Takata’s restructuring was implemented through in-court bankruptcy proceedings in the United States and Japan, and out-of-court in other jurisdictions, and Toyota was one of the largest creditors, with claims in excess of $7 billion. Of her restructuring practice, Lorraine says, “I’m tenacious—but still able to drive the agreed strategy in a collegial and collaborative manner. I think like an entrepreneur to discover creative new solutions to maximize recovery. And I remain an optimistic and enthusiastic partner no matter how difficult the financial challenges facing my client.” Lorraine brings her innovative thinking and leadership skills not only to her clients but also to her firm, her profession and her community. She recently completed two terms of service on the firm’s eleven-member Board of Directors having previously chaired Orrick’s Restructuring Group and currently co-leads both Orrick’s Automotive Technology & Mobility Group and its global Diversity & Inclusion Initiative. She was first inspired to become a lawyer when she witnessed a cousin who graduated from the University of Washington Law School after serving in Vietnam as an enlisted Green Beret. “He returned for his second tour even after being injured. I looked up to my cousin throughout those years and knew, even then, that I wanted to be a lawyer just like him.” His influence extended to Lorraine’s launch of the nation’s first-ever Veterans’ Legal Career Fair in 2015, focused exclusively on veterans, active duty service members and military spouses who are experienced attorneys seeking to transition to the private sector. Now in its fifth year, the Fair has helped employers see the value veterans bring to the profession as a result of their training and service, and has helped to connect more than 400+ service personnel and veterans with 45+ law firm, corporate and government employers. Lorraine’s community involvement includes serving on the Board of Directors of The New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a nonprofit civil rights law firm specializing in the areas of disability rights, access to health care and environmental justice. She is active on the Board of Legal Advisors for Legal Outreach, a nonprofit legal education organization that prepares urban youth from underserved communities in New York City to compete at high academic levels and facilitates their pursuit of higher education. She also serves on the Advisory Committee and the Africa subcommittee for the Vance Center for International Justice and is an active member of the Bar Association of the City of New York. 26
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“My pro-bono and community efforts are integral to my client service; in many ways, they ‘feed my soul.’ I’m excited whenever I see an opportunity to help others, and those efforts have always helped me.” In addition to her board service, Lorraine regularly provides pro bono advice for Legal Momentum, NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund and New York Appleseed. For Legal Momentum, Lorraine led the Orrick team that prepared a joint report which highlights for the first time how easy it is to hack into computers to record and steal sexual imagery. The report led California and a number of other states to adopt legislation criminalizing sextortion. Lorraine says, “My pro-bono and community efforts are integral to my client service; in many ways, they ‘feed my soul.’ I’m excited whenever I see an opportunity to help others, and those efforts have always helped me.” She credits mentoring and sponsoring female and minority attorneys for exposing her to new ways of thinking and allowing her to see the world from different angles. “And it’s that divergent perspective that has helped me succeed,” she adds.
Raj Natarajan
Partner McGuireWoods - Charlotte Practice Area: Debt Finance | Years practicing: 20 “To me, rainmaking is not only about growing my practice, but helping our team, department, and firm become more successful. That may not be attributed to my specific bottom-line, but I am a firm believer in the rising tide,” says Raj Natarajan, Partner and Chair, at McGuireWoods LLP. “My partners and associates believe the same and are critical to building our success,” he adds. Raj first considered the practice of law as a career for him when he was in grade school and learned that his great grandfather was a judge in Madras, India, under the British Colonial system. “He was the first Indian to sit on that high court, and became a leader in the fight for Indian independence. He was the last lawyer in our family - and that inspired me to be the next.” Over 100 years later, Raj leads McGuireWoods’ Debt Finance Department, a team of more than 90 lawyers in 12 offices around the globe that represents a remarkable array of prominent financial services institutions. Known as a calculated risk-taker, Raj successfully segued from handling financings and restructurings across most sectors into the burgeoning healthcare space. As many lenders were beginning to create verticals dedicated to the healthcare industry, Raj postulated that healthcare spend, research and innovation would grow exponentially and thus concentrated on representing financial institutions lending to middle market healthcare and life sciences companies. The strategy paid off handsomely; McGuireWoods went from having one client in the space to dozens, and the associated revenues have nearly tripled. When asked when he became aware of the need to provide more than technical legal skills to advance D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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his career, he is unequivocal. “It became clear within my first week of practice,” he says. “I think it was fairly easy to sense which partners and associates were building practices and connecting people, and which ones were just waiting for billable work to come through the door. I started networking immediately with a telecom/technology investors forum bringing investors, debt providers and entrepreneurs together in my first year. I didn’t know how to practice law yet, but knew that if I could facilitate introductions, eventually they’d call.” He stresses the importance of finding a commonality in his practice, and thinks this is a useful tool for diverse lawyers generally. “I just try to find some thread of commonality with everyone. As diverse lawyers, we may have fewer of those than others, but there are ties that bind us all. Finding those threads helps to create friendships, respect differences, and appreciate diversity,” he reflects. That commonality extends to his pro bono and community efforts also. Raj has served on the national board of directors of the Network of Indian Professionals and as fellows of the American Bar Foundation and the Georgia Bar Foundation. Among other community initiatives, he is a member of Leadership Charlotte (Class XXXI), a program that provides a diverse group of emerging and existing leaders with opportunities to increase their community knowledge, civic network and service to the community; he serves on the board for the Council for Children’s Rights; chairs the Basic Needs Council for the United Way of Central Carolinas; helped establish the Charlotte Community Toolbank, a nonprofit program that facilitates hands-on volunteerism; served for Raksha, a nonprofit organization that uses counseling, education and advocacy to address the challenges facing the south Asian community; and acted as outside general counsel on a pro bono basis to CHRIS Kids (now known as CHRIS 180), an Atlanta-based charitable provider of therapeutic treatment and support to abused and neglected children. “Volunteering for a cause immediately creates a common bond with the other volunteers – a belief in a common mission. And while I have never used pro bono or community engagement specifically to create business, it sometimes grows from it.” While he doesn’t believe a lawyer should ever get involved with an organization or project specifically because clients or prospective clients are engaged in it, he does believe in getting involved if you truly believe in the mission of an organization. “That way, you will do your best work for them, and that will show both to the organization and all those involved,” he notes.
Kimberly Parker
Partner WilmerHale - Washington, D.C. Practice Area: White Collar Criminal Defense & FCPA | Years practicing: 23 Rainmaker Kimberly Parker, who co-leads WilmerHale’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Anti-Corruption Practice, says she came early to the notion that being a technically skilled lawyer wasn’t enough. “I noticed that my mentors who were highly successful were not only skillful lawyers, but also well-rounded people who focused on business development. They each had forged a name for themselves in different ways, whether through serving in gov28
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ernment, speaking engagements and legal writing, or spending time building their network of contacts. Through their example, I learned that career and business development was something you had to do, but you could focus on what works best for you as an individual.” Kimberly focuses on white-collar criminal matters, internal corporate investigations and compliance counseling, representing clients in a range of criminal and enforcement matters and providing compliance and governance advice. Under her leadership, the FCPA and anti-corruption practice has achieved unprecedented success, including being consecutively ranked among the top three of the world’s leading investigations law firms by Global Investigations Review since 2016. Regularly counseling clients facing difficult FCPA issues in business contexts, Kimberly is also a speaker at FCPA events in a nod to developing her business and engaging her network. She acknowledges that there are aspects of business development that diverse lawyers have to approach differently, and says, “I always knew that some of the more traditional forms of business development like playing golf or going to sporting events with clients would not work for me. I tried to look for ways to develop relationships more informally by keeping in touch with clients as they moved up the ladder or moved from company to company, by attending and speaking at conferences, and by investing in a client relationship by offering free training and thought leadership programs to clients.” As the co-chair of WilmerHale’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee, she oversees the firm’s extensive pro bono and community service initiatives, which have received numerous awards and recognitions during her leadership. Kimberly says pro bono work has always been a key piece of her practice, having come to the firm after working at the American Civil Liberties Union. “Providing legal support to underserved clients and communities has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career. I’ve also looked for ways to find leadership opportunities in the pro bono space - I think pro bono opportunities are a great way to build your profile both within the firm and externally and to expand your network,” she notes. Sharing WilmerHale’s commitment to public service, Kimberly strives to ensure equal access to justice for under served communities and fights to protect vulnerable groups. Specifically, she has spent more than two decades litigating pro bono cases in the field of women’s health and reproductive rights, including the representation of Planned Parenthood in a number of challenges to laws restricting access to reproductive health care. For more than 15 years, she has led teams of WilmerHale attorneys in representing the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) on a pro bono basis. Her amicus briefs on various reproductive health matters have been cited by numerous courts, including the US Supreme Court, and in 2016, the ACOG voted unanimously to select Kimberly as the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of women’s health and the practice of obstetrics and gynecology. Additional public service work sees her closely involved with her local community in Washington DC, serving on the board of trustees for the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia and sponsoring the District of Columbia Bar Pro Bono Center.
“Providing legal support to under served clients and communities has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career.” D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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As to advice she would give to her younger self, Kimberly says, “I never thought that I would become a partner in a big law firm and stay there for twenty years, so my career trajectory would have been a surprise. I would tell myself to be open-minded about the different paths you can take to have a fulfilling and well-rounded career in a law firm filled with challenging legal problems, wonderful colleagues, and meaningful pro bono work.”
Grace E. Speights
Partner Morgan Lewis Bockius - Washington D.C. Practice Area: Labor & Employment | Years practicing: 38 Grace E. Speights, partner and leader of Morgan Lewis Bockius LLP’s topranked global Labor & Employment practice, first came to employment law with a view from the factory floor. As the first person in her family to graduate from high school, “much less go to college”, attending law school was more of a dream than a goal for Grace, but early on, she says, she was attracted to employment law. “My mother worked at a drapery factory when I was younger and I used to accompany her to work. Some of the conditions for those workers were so rough, even as a teenager, I thought I could do something to improve the lives of those workers.” This desire proved prescient: in 2018 she was named “Attorney of the Year” by The American Lawyer for helping companies navigate the new workplace environment that has emerged in the #MeToo era. As a leading trial lawyer, crisis management counselor, and well-respected African American female employment lawyer, Grace is sought out for her expertise and experience. This means not only investigating workplace misconduct claims, but also examining the very culture of the companies themselves. In the last year, Grace’s practice has gained greater prominence for her pioneering role in leading high-profile internal investigations for companies as they navigate the new workplace paradigm. Grace and her team were behind many of the investigations of the organizations whose #MeToo stories have made headlines in the past year, including Fidelity Investments, National Public Radio (NPR), and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Her work has a proven track record, generating revenues for her firm in excess of $5 million annually over the past three years. Grace says the personal qualities that have helped make her a successful lawyer include compassion and “critically important” good people skills. “Many times I am in the position of being the bridge between two parties at odds. Being able to negotiate a consensus by using my interpersonal skills can make a huge difference for my clients.” Since joining Morgan Lewis in 1984, Grace has logged countless pro bono hours advocating on behalf of organizations with legal needs in Washington, DC and for minority families and children to ensure they have the opportunities she fought for as a young student. She was the first African American woman to be named a partner at Morgan Lewis and has blazed significant new trails: for her clients, in developing novel solutions for their critical workplace challenges; for her associates and colleagues, whom she leads and 30
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mentors; and for her community. Outside of the firm, Grace is a member and recent nominee to Chair of the Board of Trustees of The George Washington University and is involved in a number of professional organizations including the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Commission and the DC Public Defender Service. In May 2018 Grace was awarded the Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit by the Washington Bar Association, which is presented to individuals who demonstrate a commitment to its namesake’s ideals. She credits her pro bono and community efforts for contributing to her success as a rainmaker. “Being a great attorney and excelling involves more than coming into your office and working hard. It involves giving back to the community in some way — whether it’s through community involvement or pro bono work, she notes. “Being able to give back, network with like-minded people, and develop different legal skills has made me a more well-rounded lawyer.” Mentors have been equally important: having come up as a young lawyer without seeing many other female lawyers of color in major firms, Grace says, “I was lucky to have partners at Morgan Lewis who took an interest in me and wanted to invest in me. I think all young lawyers, but especially diverse lawyers, should make it a priority to network and find sponsors or mentors that will both teach them and platform them. I was lucky to have mentors who took that role seriously and I try to do the same for younger lawyers both in and out of Morgan Lewis.”
Eric Wang
Partner DLA Piper - San Francisco Practice Area: Corporate and Finance | Years practicing: 24 Eric Wang initially became a lawyer in an effort to avoid becoming a doctor, as his grandfather, father and older brothers had all done before him. “After realizing that in the eyes of my immigrant parents there were only limited professions that were ‘acceptable’, which did not involve medical school, attending law school and obtaining a law degree seemed to provide me with the most career path optionality as I sorted through what I wanted to become professionally, even if not a lawyer,” he says. It wasn’t until after a number of years working as a corporate associate that Eric began to realize he actually enjoyed what he did. At DLA Piper, Eric now regularly advises large multinational corporations in M&A transactions, publicly-traded companies in board and corporate governance and other matters and insurance carriers in merger and acquisition policy underwriting. Eric serves on DLA Piper’s policy committee providing guidance and advice in firm decision-making, and co-leads the firm’s Northern California corporate practice, encompassing three of the firm’s offices and over 50 attorneys. He also serves on the firm’s recruiting committee and previously served as co-chair of the diversity committee in the Silicon Valley Office. Prioritizing the hiring and advancement of attorneys with diverse backgrounds, Eric leads office-wide diversity initiatives, events and mentoring activity, including leveraging his practice to create opportunities for interaction with clients to give diverse lawyers valuable experience. Outside of the firm, Eric spends time in numerous firm diversity and inclusion initiatives and pro-bono D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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“My firms have always fostered an awareness of client development from an early stage - that, along with the development of technical legal skills, business and client development was always part of the job.” services, and notes that, “these efforts have helped me professionally in the sense of keeping me grounded
in remembering law can be used for good, to fight for the underprivileged and to effect social justice. These
things are not always easy to remember in day-to-day life, where our clients are corporations, which have a sole focus of maximizing profits for shareholders; so having the opportunities to participate in pro-bono or community efforts always provide a good dose of reality to life.”
Eric advises GeoHazards International, a local non-profit that works around the world to reduce prevent-
able death and suffering from natural disasters, in a variety of legal aspects including board governance
and contract matters on a pro bono basis. He also recently assisted his non-profit client Children’s Health
Council in its acquisition of Parents Education Network. Eric also participates in other pro bono clinics
such as One Justice’s Justice Bus, providing free legal services to rural communities, and Virtual Law Clinic providing free legal services to the local community virtually.
As a successful rainmaker, Eric says he has always been aware of the need for more than technical legal
skills to advance his career. “I went through my years as a corporate associate like many, working hard, billing long hours and perfecting my craft. But part of this has always meant client care and focusing on
client relationships. My firms have always fostered an awareness of client development from an early stage
- that, along with the development of technical legal skills, business and client development was always part of the job.”
Diversity is not as much a disadvantage for Eric in the Bay Area and in Silicon Valley (“which is largely due
to the level of existing diversity and meritocracy that has developed in the region”,) but he insists there are
still challenges for diverse attorneys in finding the right approach towards business development. “As a diverse lawyer, there are differences in how you have to approach things where your general audience is often a very non-diverse executive team or board of directors. Business development is all about relation-
ships, so while some relationships at times do not come as naturally due to the differences that a diverse attorney will have with a non-diverse audience, I find that it is not about fitting in to pretend to be someone you are not.” He suggests focusing on the things you do have in common and the relationships you are able to build more naturally, and nurturing those. “I have yet to learn to play golf and join a country club, and have been able to find some degree of success outside of that world,” he says. 32
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D&B/TALK
COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT Growing A Solution To Supplier Diversity
By Jodi Bartle
HARRITY & HARRITY IS A PATENT PREPARATION AND PROSECUTION BOUTIQUE FIRM SPECIALIZING IN THE ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY AREAS, LOCATED IN FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA. IN 2016, MANAGING PARTNER JOHN HARRITY SUFFERED THE WORST TYPE OF HEART ATTACK A PERSON COULD HAVE - THE WIDOWMAKER - WHICH LED TO A RECALIBRATION OF HIS OWN AND THE FIRM’S MISSION. During John’s recovery, he and his twin brother Paul Harrity launched Harrity 4 Charity and in 2018, they developed parameters for their Harrity Minority Firm Incubator program. Like the firm’s charity initiative, the Harrity Minority Firm Incubator program is focused on serving others, with the ‘others’ being female and minority patent attorneys. Diversity & the Bar spoke to John about this new and totally innovative disruptive idea in the IP space. Diversity & the Bar: Incubators have been used by some innovative law firms for development of new legal solutions - it is interesting that the incubator model can also be used for development of D&I. What led you to founding the incubator, and can you outline how it works? John Harrity: Our incubator program came about as a result of an event that happened on May 2, 2016. On that date, I played in my regular Monday night basketball game. In a five-minute time span that night, I went from feeling fantastic to feeling a kind of discomfort that I had never experienced before in my life. As I was exiting the gym to get some cold air, the discomfort intensified. I asked my friends to call 9-1-1 and then I passed out. I woke up three weeks later in a bed at the local hospital. My situation got gravely worse and eventually led to multiple organ failure. During that first day in the hospital, my wife was
told more than a half of a dozen times that the chances of me surviving were very slim. My cardiologist said the odds of me making it through those first few weeks were a million to one. I eventually woke up three weeks after my heart attack, unable to speak and unable to move. From the second I woke up and understood what had happened, I was laser focused on two things: getting back to 100% and ensuring that I don’t “waste” my heart attack. I feel that if I just went back to my old way of life, then this traumatic experience would have been for nothing. So, during the following weeks, as I lay in intensive care regaining my ability to speak and move, my twin brother and I had many conversations about the future direction of our firm. We both acknowledged that we, as a firm, needed to be more service-driven. Shortly after I rejoined the firm, we started developing our first service-focused initiative and last year we developed the Harrity Minority Firm Incubator program. D&tB: How does the program work? JH: Our firm will select a female and minority male, from a pool of applicants, and begin training them through an exhaustive four year apprenticeship program that will not only prepare them to draft and prosecute patent applications, but also prepare them to successfully run their minority-owned patent firm as a business. In addition, D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 1 D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W . M C C A . C O M 33
what makes this a truly once in a lifetime opportu-
how to pitch clients, how to brand your new firm,
during their time at my firm, relationships with
departments. In the fourth year, the attorneys will
nity is that these selected attorneys will develop, Patent 300TM companies, who are part of our
program. So, in the end, the selected attorneys will learn how to successfully run their law firm according to our firm’s best practices, but they will start their firm with already established relationships with Patent 300
TM
companies.
Additionally, in their first year with the firm, the
selected attorneys will be trained to draft patent
applications in accordance with the firm’s industry leading procedures, which focus on quality and efficiencies. In the second year, the attorneys will be
trained to prosecute patent applications in accor-
dance with the firm’s industry leading procedures. In the third year, the attorneys will continue to
draft and/or prosecute patent applications while learning firm management skills, such as how to hire and train superstar patent attorneys and
support staff members, how to manage clients, 34
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and how to set up and run efficient support staff
leave the firm to start their own new patent firms
with already established relationships with Patent 300™ companies.
To be eligible to participate in this program,
candidates must be a female or a minority male;
be an attorney or a law student graduating in 2019 and have a degree in electrical engineer-
ing, mechanical engineering, computer science, physics, or a similar technical field; be registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; demonstrate a record of academic and
professional achievement; and have a sincere
interest in starting a law firm. We will be accepting
applications from September 1, 2019 through November 30, 2019. Candidates should email their resume and an essay as to why they should
be chosen to be part of the program (500 word limit) to: incubator@harrityllp.com.
D&tB: What do you most want to see happen as a result of these incubators? JH: The ideal result is that attorneys, outside of the area of law in which we practice, take our model and replicate it. So, hopefully, we develop a network of really well-run minority-owned law firms that are capable of providing any type of legal service. As we all know, the diversity needle hasn’t moved much over the past twenty years in the legal field. Programs like mentoring initiatives and internships have only had a very marginal effect on the partnership ranks of law firms. With the potential expansion of our incubator program into other areas of law, I hope we can finally move the diversity needle in the right direction and in a significant way. D&tB: What will increased D&I bring to the IP sector? JH: I believe increasing D&I in the IP sector will result in an increase in innovation, and improved performance.
My firm almost exclusively does patent prepara-
tion and prosecution for electrical and mechanical
related inventions and we have a huge uphill
diversity battle in our area of patent law. If you look at the numbers, I believe that possibly over 80% of the attorneys in our area of patent law are white men. So, it is difficult to significantly move the diversity needle.
At my firm, our diversity journey began in
November 2015. At this time, my firm was 8% diverse at the attorney level. After much analysis of what was happening in the legal field, we estab-
lished our Rooney Rule 2.0, where we committed
to interviewing a female or minority candidate for
every male, non-minority candidate we interview for any position at my firm. The Rooney Rule 2.0 has increased diversity at my firm, at the attorney
level, to 27%. That number simply reflects gender and racial diversity. We have also greatly diversi-
fied the ages and backgrounds of the attorneys we hired during this time period. For example, we D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 3 D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W . M C C A . C O M 35
WAYS TO INCREASE DIVERSE CANDIDATES FOR THE INCUBATOR PROGRAM In order to find the most qualified attorneys for our incubator program, it is important that the details of our program be provided to as many female and minority male patent attorneys as possible. In addition to the leading diversity associations with which we have partnered, we have spoken with the diversity committees of the Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). IPO and AIPLA are the two leading patent associations in the U.S. Most patent attorneys are a member of one or both of these associations. We hope to provide the details of our incubator program to the members all of these associations. We will also be advertising our program in the publications that are most viewed by patent attorneys. These publications include Patently-O, IP Law360, and IPWatchdog. We hope that through these efforts and through word of mouth, that we will have 100 or more female patent attorneys and 100 or more minority male patent attorneys apply to the program. This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope that female and minority male patent attorneys appreciate that.
WAYS TO INCREASE THE QUANTITY OF CANDIDATES FOR LAW FIRMS IN GENERAL Any firm wanting to increase their diversity numbers at the attorney level can do some simple things. We started by hiring a diversity consultant and still use the same consultant today. He helped us understand what the lay of the land was in the legal field with respect to diversity efforts and was instrumental in helping us determine worthwhile diversity initiatives versus ones that have a track record of being unsuccessful. Another thing we started doing was heavily advertising our job postings at diverse schools and with diverse organizations. That helped increase the quantity of diverse candidates who were applying to my firm. Firms could also implement our Rooney Rule 2.0 or something similar. If they implement our rule or create a similar rule, it is really important that you track, statistically, how you are doing to ensure that you are abiding by whatever rule you create. have hired, for the first time, attorneys who were
I have no doubt that a large part of what my firm
been amazing what my firm has accomplished
attributed to becoming much more diverse.
working in-house at Patent 300TM companies. It’s
has accomplished over the past two years can be
since our diversity journey began. Among other
D&tB: What challenges have you faced so far?
automation tools that helped improve the uni-
JH: Luckily, we haven’t faced a lot of challenges
added benefit of improving efficiencies. In fact,
parameters of the program, and then we created
things, we have created lean workflow steps and formity and quality of our work product, with the we often hear from partners at other firms that
what we are doing at my firm seems impossible. 36
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What have been the easy wins for the project?
so far. Internally, we began by setting forth the a detailed agenda so we knew exactly how the
program would flow from a candidate’s perspec-
tive. This detailed agenda includes time lines,
a willingness to let your trainees emerge as
details of the training the attorneys will receive
negatives of this?
how the interview process will work, and the over the course of the three years they are with
my firm, along with the mentoring they will receive afterwards.
Once we worked out the details of the program,
we partnered with all of the leading legal diversity associations, like MCCA. We are now focused on getting Patent 300TM companies to join our
program. I’m thrilled to say that Accenture has not
only joined our program, but they have committed to giving work to these firms once started. Getting one of the leading technology companies in the
potential competitors. What are the positives and
JH: Well, you mentioned the biggest negative – we are creating competition for my firm. This was the exact reaction that our diversity committee had when I initially pitched the incubator idea. I look at it this way – we can’t be afraid of competition. True competition just means we need to up our game. But here’s the reality - it will be difficult for these attorneys to master everything we do at Harrity. That is why the ongoing mentorship, in year four and afterwards, might be the most important part
...LOOK AT IT THIS WAY – WE CAN’T BE AFRAID OF COMPETITION. TRUE COMPETITION JUST MEANS WE NEED TO UP OUR GAME. BUT HERE’S THE REALITY - IT WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR THESE ATTORNEYS TO MASTER EVERYTHING WE DO AT HARRITY. THAT IS WHY THE ONGOING MENTORSHIP, IN YEAR FOUR AND AFTERWARDS, MIGHT BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR PROGRAM. world to participate in our program was a huge
of our program. Here’s another reality - there is
I would say our easiest wins were getting the
field. I’m not, in any way, fearful of the competition
win for us.
leading legal diversity associations to partner with us. We have fantastic conversations with Sophia Piliouras at MCCA, Robert Grey at LCLD, Joel
Stern at NAMWOLF, and Karen Royer at ChIPs. Each of these individuals instantly understood how unique and impactful our incubator program
can be. They also provided some great insights
more than enough work to go around in the patent
that these replica firms will create. With that said, the patent firms, who do patent preparation and prosecution in the electrical and mechanical areas
and who don’t operate as well as we do, should
be the ones who are fearful of the competition our replica firms will create.
With respect to positives, the members of my
into what they considered to be the path of least
firm would get no greater joy than from these
the challenges that we would have faced and was
huge positive for our post-May 2nd, 2016 firm.
resistance. These insights helped remove some of
the exact reason that we approached the legal diversity associations first.
D&tB: The incubator model requires both collaboration with other firms/organizations and
replica firms being hugely successful. That’s a
And, if this incubator program moves the diversity needle in a significant way, as we hope it will, then
that’s not only a huge positive for my firm, but for the patent field overall.
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By Catherine McGregor
JUNE IS PRIDE MONTH. AND IN 2019 IT’S OF EXTRA SIGNIFICANCE AS IT MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL RIOTS AND THE START OF WHAT BECAME THE GAY LIBERATION MOVEMENT. IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WHILE PRIDE IS A CELEBRATION OF LGBTQ+ IDENTITY NOW, IT WAS TITLED AS SUCH TO COUNTER THE FEELINGS OF SHAME AND SOCIAL STIGMA THAT WERE IMPOSED IN LGBTQ+ INDIVIDUALS BY THE MAJORITY VIEWS OF SOCIETY IN 1969. However, the fight is not yet over. There are still plenty of parts of the world where that stigma is still imposed. In many countries, being LGBTQ+ is a crime and can endanger your life. There are many parts of the US where it’s much less acceptable to be LGBTQ+ than others and LGBTQ+ individuals can face discrimination just for being who they are. While there have been many hard won victories for LGBTQ+ rights, these are not necessarily protected forever due to the vagaries of government at local, state and federal levels. Many organizations now celebrate Pride and
adopt rainbow colors for their logos. But as with any area of inclusion and diversity it is important to mean it and not merely adopt it for window dressing. As writer, filmmaker and performer Amrou Al-Kadhi recently wrote: “If you’re all going to steal our rainbow, we deserve more than your crumbs.” In this photo essay we celebrate a selection of MCCA members’ Pride celebrations. We’d like to thank all our members as due to their continued support of MCCA and our initiatives for all diverse groups they ensure that together we can make a real change for the better.
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ALTRIA
NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT
MORGAN LEW AN EVENING DISCUSSION WITH THE MATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION
PRESENTED
AFFINITY GROUP
BY
DECHERT’S
LGBTQ+
EACH JUNE, DECHERT JOINS EMPLOYERS AROUND THE
WORLD TO CELEBRATE PRIDE MONTH AND RECOGNIZE
THE COMMITMENT, DIVERSITY AND BRAVERY OF OUR
LGBTQ+ LAWYERS, STAFF, CLIENTS AND COMMUNITY. ON JUNE 27 IN NEW YORK, WE WERE PARTICULARLY
HONORED TO WELCOME DENNIS AND JUDY SHEPARD
(SHOWN HERE, LEFT), THE PARENTS OF MATTHEW
SHEPARD, WHOSE TRAGIC MURDER IN 1998 GALVANIZED A WORLDWIDE RESPONSE AGAINST HATE CRIMES AND IN
SUPPORT OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY. DETERMINED TO PREVENT OTHERS FROM SUFFERING THEIR SON’S FATE, JUDY AND DENNIS DECIDED TO TURN THEIR GRIEF INTO
ACTION AND ESTABLISHED THE MATTHEW SHEPARD
DECHERT
G A Z I N E FULBRIGHT SUMMER ISSUE 2019 NORTON 40 D & B M AROSE
FOUNDATION TO CARRY ON MATTHEW’S LEGACY.
| W W W. M C C A . C O M
NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT
WIS
MORGAN LEWIS
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D&B/TALK
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS IBA Report By Jodi Bartle
IN MAY THIS YEAR, THE INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION’S LEGAL POLICY & RESEARCH UNIT AND CONSULTANCY ACRITAS LAUNCHED
A GROUNDBREAKING PIECE OF RESEARCH INTO BULLYING AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE LEGAL WORKPLACE. The report was the largest of its kind, taking in over 7,000 respondents from 135 countries and covering the whole of the legal sector. The IBA’s report Us Too? Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession seeks to look at and address where things have gone wrong. Specifically, the report reveals the nature, prevalence, and the impact of bullying and sexual harassment in legal workplaces, and provides recommendations to eradicate these behaviors. It encompasses the entire spectrum of the legal profession including private practice, in-house, barrister’s chambers, government and the judiciary. The London launch marked the beginning of the IBA’s global campaign to raise awareness of these issues and engage with the profession in an effort to change behaviour in the workplace. The results of the report are deeply troubling, impacting the profession in profound ways including legal professionals leaving their workplaces and, in some cases, leaving the law entirely. The IBA report says the profession must do better, and provides ten recommendations to start addressing bullying and sexual harassment for all legal professionals. Diversity & the Bar spoke to Kieran Pender, the author of the report, on what must be done to make a difference. Diversity & the Bar: What led you to initially embarking upon the research? Kieran Pender: The genesis of the survey is twofold. In 2017, the IBA did research on the 42
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barriers women face in the law (particularly in commercial legal practice) looking into why, years after countries have achieved gender parity at the entry level to the profession, this just has not translated into senior ranks. That report identified bullying and sexual harassment as continued barriers to inclusion. We received the results just as the #MeToo movement was about to begin, so with those two ideas in mind, we realized we needed to look in more detail at the issues of bullying and sexual harassment and their prevalence of the profession. Prior research had been very jurisdictional-specific or focused on one slice of the profession but this survey is different. It is global, available in six languages, and as the largest survey of its kind on this topic, is aimed at all sectors of the profession. D&tB: Were there any surprising results? KP: “Surprising” is not the right word because we knew from our prior research and anecdotally that bullying and harassment were both widespread in the profession, but the findings were nevertheless shocking. The survey was about getting a rigorous, empirical understanding of these issues - and these were deeply distressing. We found that one in two female lawyers and one in three male lawyers who responded to the survey have been bullied at work, while one in three female and one in 14 male respondents have been sexually harassed at work, and these incidents are chronically underreported. When targets of such
behavior did report the incidents, their workplaces did not respond adequately. These findings are both shocking and inappropriate, particularly in the legal profession, which is predicated on the highest ethical standards and which has a role in shaping society’s approach to these issues generally. We need to get our own house in order and this report demonstrates that at the moment, it isn’t. D&tB: Why have these issues been left unchecked for so long? KP: If you look at the factors which the research has identified as contributing to the prevalence of bullying and sexual harassment, they are structural elements such as a very hierarchal power structure and a male dominated leadership; the legal sector ticks just about all the boxes. This isn’t the first time these issues have come to prominence in the sector - the report highlights a story from the 1980s when a big US law firm wanted to hold a wet t-shirt competition, but colleagues said no, that it wasn’t appropriate and so it was instead switched to a swimsuit competition. In 1993, a London lawyer went to a strip club with a client. These are issues that have caused outrage in the past but here we are, 35 years later, still discussing it. The nature of the issue may have changed but only ever so slightly. The hope is that the time has now come - we have the #MeToo movement and we have a momentum which the IBA report findings contributes to, and we hope to keep this up. D&tB: How do you best work with the data to effect change? KP: The report findings has resulted in ten recommendations, based on the data, extensive secondary review and consultation. The IBA has articulated the things that can happen in order to support each of the ten recommendations. To that end, we will visit every continent to talk about these issues over the coming months, maintaining the dialogue and increasing awareness. We
really believe the first step is getting the issues out into the open, getting people to talk about it, removing any stigma around it. We believe sunshine is the best disinfectant, so shining a light on the problem is a critical step. D&tB: Did you find it difficult to define the terms “sexual harassment” and “bullying” when applying a global standard? What cultural issues did you have to face? KP: Yes, that is definitely a challenge with research like this because it is inherently subjective. The survey adopted a mixed method approach of having a self-labeling method, where you ask if someone has been bullied or harassed without defining it as such, or the behavioural method, where you outline the behaviour that constitutes bullying and harassment. We asked “Have you been bullied? Have you been sexually harassed?” and if they said “yes”, then we identified ten categories, and asked them what form it took. Societal perceptions are variable, and the report talks about the perception paradox. In the US, Australia or the UK, for example, levels of reported bullying are very high and if you look at other countries, say, Russia, the levels are low. This may be an accurate representation, or it may be that in Australia, UK and the US, efforts to raise awareness about this type of conduct have been successful and that has led people to link what they’ve experienced with these labels and ultimately to be more aware than in other countries. If people aren’t aware and don’t connect to the labels or definitions, they are less willing to be involved. So yes, societal perceptions are a big element within this type of study, but the exact number doesn’t really matter. Whether it is 20% or 27% of people who have been bullied in Russia or 60% of people in Australia, it’s still too much. The data is important and we are transparent about these caveats, but the critical takeaway here is that the issues are all around the world and they shouldn’t be. D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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D&tB: How did you deal with elements of intersectionality of respondents? KP: We asked people for demographic information relating to their gender and had a non binary self-defining option. The numbers for that were low, so that data isn’t significant, but it did indicate from the small sample we did have that non binary self-defined people experience bullying at really alarming rates. The report is alert to issues of intersectionality but we couldn’t ask questions about certain issues such as ethnicity, sexual preference, and disability due to data protection laws in different jurisdictions internationally, which is a shame because it inhibits a more integrated intersectional analysis. Bullying and sexual harassment impacts LGBTQ+ people in the same way as heterosexual people and in different ways. We were not able to comment more on this, but the report is not ignorant of these issues. D&tB: Are there plans to take the issues of diverse groups deeper? KP: I think that’s probably a role for our national IBA and related groups. Because we operate at an international level, our ability to engage with research on these issues where the regulations vary a lot between countries on data protection is inhibited, but we are engaging, for example, with the LGBTQ+ Bar Association in the US. So the report explicitly calls on and encourages more research. D&tB: There’s a new guard coming through the ranks with the statistics looking better in terms of more diverse lawyers. Is this change going to be a 44
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help toward changing workplace culture? KP: It is a help, and the next generation will be instrumental but don’t presume that change is inevitable. We’ve had gender parity at entry level for 30 years now in Australia, the UK, US and Canada but it’s still only 20-30% at partnership level and that’s because of factors like this. Change is not inevitable but it is possible. It’s also important to note that these aren’t solely “women’s issues”. Bullying and sexual harassment affects all genders - it affects men too. The report extracts a number of quotes from male lawyers where they say something happened to them but it wasn’t until the #MeToo movement that they realized what they had experienced was sexual harassment. I suspect the rate of one in 14 male respondents who say they have been sexually harassed is probably an underestimate, because there is so much stigma around this issue. Obviously it disproportionately affects women and non binary individuals but it is important to note bullying and sexual harassment affect all genders. JODI BARTLE
JBARTLE@MCCA.COM Jodi Bartle is a New Zealander who has been working in legal publishing since completing her Law and English degrees and arriving in the UK over 15 years ago. Previously she has worked for the Chambers and Partners directories, The Lawyer, GC Magazine and has written for Vice, i-D, Sunseeker, Gaggenau and Quintessentially, Chanel, Selfridges, the Luxury Law Alliance and legal recruitment company Taylor Root.
D&B/TALK
COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT Walking The Walk: What 5 Years Reforming The New Orleans Police Department Has Taught Us By David Douglass and Jonathan Aronie
WITH ALL THE NEWS ABOUT HOW POORLY LAW FIRMS AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION GENERALLY ARE DOING WITH DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (D&I), IT’S EASY TO LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE. EVEN WITH THIS PROGRESS, HOWEVER, IF WE’RE BEING HONEST WITH OURSELVES, WE ALL STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO. Countless organizations — from law firms to gov-
United States. The report led to a Consent Decree
meet the challenge and reap the benefits of creating
transform virtually every aspect of the NOPD’s op-
ernment agencies to corporations — struggle to strong, diverse, and inclusive organizations. But
how do we attract diverse attorneys in the absence of a significant presence of diverse attorneys in our
existing workplaces? How do we change decades of thinking about the problem and eliminate
barriers — visible and invisible — that perpetuate it? How do we change a culture? How do we reform
large organizations that are already successful by
traditional measures? And, perhaps toughest of all,
under which the City of New Orleans committed to erations, from their policies, to recruit and officer
training, use of force, misconduct investigations
and discipline, to achieving bias-free policing and
implementing a true community policing model. It was then and remains the most comprehensive
police reform effort ever undertaken, and we were appointed to oversee and guide this unprecedented transformation.
Over the course of the last 5 years, we have
to the extent we are able to implement reforms, how
worked closely with the NOPD, the U.S. DOJ, the
sion, we have searched for insights that would help
remake the NOPD into a model for constitution-
do we ensure they stick? Like others in our profesus answer these questions and meet the challenges they present.
In 2013, we embarked upon a project that helped
crystallize the way we think about these issues and organizational reform generally. In August of that
year, the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana appointed us to oversee the reform of the New Orleans Police Department. The appointment flowed out of a scathing report by the
United States Department of Justice following an 18 month investigation into the NOPD’s practices. The DOJ found not only that the NOPD engaged in a
pattern of unconstitutional conduct, but that it was
one of the most dysfunctional police agencies in the
federal court, and community stakeholders to al policing. While the work is ongoing, we can say confidently that substantial reform has occurred and is on track to continue. And this remarkable progress has not gone unnoticed. Members of
NOPD’s leadership and its officers have presented their path to reform and their current practices to
national policing conferences across the country. Several of NOPD’s newly implemented practices
and performance-tracking systems are considered
the standard for best practices. As a sign of NOPD’s
progress, in 2018, 52 police departments sent representatives to New Orleans in an effort to learn from and model its practices.
The success achieved thus far is undeniably the
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result of many factors, including new NOPD lead-
8 LESSONS WE HAVE LEARNED FROM OUR
between the NOPD and our team, a pro-active judge
1. Be a drum major for change.
ership that embraced reform, effective partnership
and DOJ legal team, a clear plan for achieving reform, a willingness to ask tough questions and face tough
answers, an unwavering commitment to accountabil-
ity, and perhaps most important, a group of talented, experienced, professionals committed to working in
good faith and with open minds to meet a daunting but worthwhile goal. Through this process we have gained valuable insights into how diverse teams help
organizations accomplish novel, complex challenges — like those our respective organizations face daily
WORK HELPING THE NOPD REFORM ITSELF: 2. Set expectations and lock in transparency.
3. Establish institutions that are difficult to dismantle. 4. Establish institutions that the organization’s personnel do not want to dismantle. 5. Let them see the world.
6. Formalize reform initiatives into policy.
7. Implement meaningful measurement techniques, including audits and evaluations.
8. Be patient and enjoy the journey.
As you will see, these lessons are not rocket
— and how reforms can be achieved and sustained.
science. They are simple, straight-forward, and
directly to the challenge of increasing diversity and
an in-house law department as a law firm.
We are convinced these lessons and insights apply inclusion in corporations and law firms.
practical. And they can be applied just as easily by
We have seen these strategies work in New
STRATEGY 1: BE A DRUM MAJOR FOR CHANGE
corporate settings. Our practice often has us support-
Understanding the value of change, such as the
sizable organizational reform projects (often, sadly,
doubtedly a necessary condition for change, but
Orleans, and we have seen them work in a variety of
ing large organizations as they work to implement
after the resolution of a significant indictment, False
Claims Act case, or PR disaster). The same strategies we use in the corporate setting have worked in New Orleans. And, we believe, these strategies will work in the context of D&I initiatives as well. 46
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Change requires both understanding and action.
competitive advantages diversity can confer, is un-
not the sufficient condition. The knowledge must be spread, shared, taught and, yes, even preached. In New Orleans, we did not simply put our noses to the
grindstone to produce change, we spread the word, as did our NOPD counterpart leadership. Whether
on ride-alongs with officers, meetings with City and
do more than beat the drum; you also must lead the
about the benefits of police reform and our commit-
partially as a result of David’s leadership of a new
NOPD leadership, or the public, we constantly talked
ment to completing the work. In the early days of our work, a respected and influential community activist
expressed to us that despite her desire for change she was not just skeptical but disbelieving that the NOPD could be reformed. We responded with our belief that change was not only possible but that we
were committed to making it so. A few weeks ago at a public hearing in which we were able to report that the NOPD successfully had reformed of a number
of consequential practices, including use of force,
sexual assault and domestic violence investigations,
band. We have seen this play out in our firm. It was initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in our D.C. office that he was asked to become the office’s
managing partner. And general counsel and law firm
managing partners now regularly work together to find solutions and spread the word that diversity and inclusion are here to stay. The commitment of organi-
zations to collaborate on implementing D&I initiatives to recruit, mentor, retain, and advance diverse law
students, associates, and partners has gone a long way toward moving the needle.
Once people see that a commitment to reform,
custodial interrogations and photographic lineups,
whether with regard to policing or diversity and
The then-police Superintendent of Police (Michael
to success, it does not take long for them to join the
she was beaming in the audience.
Harrison) was an equally enthusiastic advocate
for reform and the Consent Decree. His advocacy
inclusion, is more than just words and that it is a path band.
occurred in his communications with his officers, city
2. SET EXPECTATIONS AND LOCK IN TRANSPAR-
successor, that reform was not merely necessary, it
By signing the Consent Decree, the NOPD not only
leaders, and the citizenry. He made clear, as has his
ENCY
was in the interests of the Department and the City.
committed to change, but to be transparent in and
using every opportunity to proclaim the “new culture
admittedly carry the force of judicial oversight and
He touted the Department’s progress and successes, of the New Orleans Police Department.”
Of course, being a drum major requires you to
accountable for that change. While consent decrees
authority, the fact remains that transparency and accountability are powerful motivators to honor any D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 3 D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W . M C C A . C O M 47
commitment. Consistent with its commitment to change, over the past few years, the New Orleans Police Department has made an unprecedented volume of data publicly available. Calls for service data and Use of Force data, for example, now are accessible at the click of a mouse. As a result, the New Orleans community has come to expect this sort of openness from its police department. This expectation will make it tough for a future leader to reverse course. What police chief wants to be the one to tell the community, “I’m going to take away the data you have come to expect from us”? Most major law firms, including ours, already share
and private sector has taught us this law applies in the Law Firm/Department setting just as in the physics classroom. Like the rest of us, leaders do not like creating extra work for themselves. This trait can be used to help institutionalize cultural and procedural reforms. The recent improvements surrounding the NOPD Police Academy provide an apt illustration of this principle at work. The New Orleans Consent Decree demanded a lot from the NOPD in terms of Academy reforms, including new structures, programs, courses, and lesson plans. As the Police Department and the Monitoring Team worked together to implement these
LOOK FOR WAYS TO INCLUDE OTHER FIRM DEPARTMENTS IN THE EFFORT, INCLUDING RECRUITING, TALENT MANAGEMENT, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, AND THE PRACTICE GROUPS THEMSELVES. A PROGRAM THAT ENGAGES MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS AND INDIVIDUALS IS HARDER TO DISMANTLE (OR FORGET ABOUT) THAN A PROGRAM THAT OPERATES IN A SILO. their D&I data with the public. However, thanks to now-routine diversity data requests from clients and potential clients and to law firm diversity rankings that are regularly and widely published, this strategy has been reinforced. Our firm also reports annually to our partners and employees not only how we are doing but what we are doing to become a more diverse and inclusive firm. In addition, the legal profession’s Rooney Rule (known as the Mansfield Rule), is now in its second year and has motivated firms to assess and maintain regular metrics regarding diversity in lateral hiring and leadership roles. Providing for ongoing evaluations/assessments and sharing the results of those assessments with the firm — and beyond the firm — helps to promote and institutionalize progress. 3. ESTABLISH INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO DISMANTLE As Newton famously observed, objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Our experience in the public 48
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reforms, we looked for ways to ensure the programs put in place would be hard to dismantle by a future administration. Adding new courses to the curriculum and developing compliant lesson plans was part of our reform strategy, of course, but we supplemented the creation of those courses and lesson plans with the creation of a process for the ongoing development, review, and promulgation of new programs. That process integrated the efforts of multiple departments beyond the Academy itself, including patrol units, supervisors, district commanders, internal affairs, and more. The highly integrated nature of the resulting reforms will make it hard for future leaders to move in a different direction because the absence of any one element of the new structure will cause a disruption in a number of other areas – thus, creating more work for more people. The same strategy can be employed by law departments and law firms looking to promote diversity and inclusion. Rather than thinking about D&I as a silo
endeavor, integrate the firm’s D&I initiatives into the
other business of the firm. Look for ways to include
other firm departments in the effort, including recruit-
engagement and offer opportunities for learning and development.
ing, talent management, knowledge management,
5. LET THEM SEE THE WORLD
engages multiple departments and individuals is
miss opportunities for innovative solutions when you
that operates in a silo.
with similar problems. By exposing personnel to the
and the practice groups themselves. A program that
harder to dismantle (or forget about) than a program
4. ESTABLISH INSTITUTIONS THAT THE ORGA-
NIZATION’S PERSONNEL DO NOT WANT TO DISMANTLE
It’s easy to think your problems are unique and to
don’t have visibility into how other organizations deal obstacles and innovations of others, an organization makes it harder to revert back to the “old ways” of doing things as time passes.
Prior to its recent reform efforts, New Orleans
An organization’s personnel, whether police
police officers had surprisingly little visibility into the
have no interest in dismantling reforms that have
NOPD is not a wealthy organization and, as a con-
officers, corporate executives, or athletics coaches, made their jobs safer, their work easier, or their reputation stronger. We put this principle into play throughout our work in New Orleans and in the private sector.
To take but one example from New Orleans, in
2016, the NOPD developed a trailblazing peer intervention program called EPIC (for Ethical Policing Is
Courageous). The EPIC program teaches officers strategies and tactics for effectively intervening in another officer’s conduct to prevent mistakes and misconduct
before they occur. The program has received broad
support within the Department and the community,
profession of policing beyond New Orleans. The sequence, NOPD officers rarely were afforded the opportunity to attend conferences, visit other depart-
ments, or collaborate with national policing experts. Since 2013, however, the Department’s efforts to
learn from (and share experiences with) other depart-
ments have increased. Officers and leaders now have
more opportunities to see how other police agencies have solved the same issues NOPD faces. It’s hard to
complain that a new program is “not workable in our organization because we are unique” when you have seen it work in other organizations just like yours.
The importance of broadening one’s D&I horizons
and coverage by the New York Times. Few officers
is just as critical for law firms and law departments
so widely supported and so clearly of benefit to the
torically, the burden of preaching D&I in the legal
would have any interest in dismantling a program officers themselves.
Attorney affinity groups come to mind as a good
illustration of this practice in the law firm setting. Such
groups have become a key tool for creating dynamic
internal communities for diverse attorneys (including women), and serve as an important catalyst for
internal communication, both with peers and with law firm leadership. What member of firm man-
agement wants to be the one that does away with affinity groups or cancels the annual D&I summit? People enjoy these activities – which also promote
that are trying to crack the same stubborn nut. Hisprofession has fallen largely to diverse attorneys. They have been the D&I leaders by default and this
in turn has led to some degree of burnout. Organizations now recognize the importance of engaging allies and can learn more about these and other D&I
best practices by looking outside their organizations
and the legal industry for opportunities to engage in peer dialogue and expert training. Not only will you become exposed to new ideas, you will also realize
that others are experiencing the same challenges and sharing your same frustrations. Such interaction D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 5 D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W . M C C A . C O M 49
is not only informative, it also can be comforting and encouraging. 6. FORMALIZE REFORM INITIATIVES INTO POLICY Whether an organization is implementing reforms due to an enforcement proceeding, as the result of pressure from the public, or voluntarily, at the end of the day, reform initiatives are only as good as the reform-minded leaders in place to enforce them. A change in leadership can bring about a change in organizational direction. The Pittsburgh Police Department found this out the hard way following years of impressive reforms spawned by a federal Consent Decree. Four years after the Pittsburgh Consent Decree came to a successful end in 2002, a new mayor dismissed the police chief who had championed the reform process and rolled back many of the changes he had put in place. “Over time,” according to the New York Times, “various aspects of the consent decree fell out of use.” Indeed, it appears “fell out of use” may have been an understatement as one of the later police chiefs went to prison during a post-Consent Decree corruption scandal. One step the City of New Orleans has taken to help lock in its police department’s reforms was to incorporate the core components of its Consent Decree into a formal City regulation. While a regulation can be undone by a future City Council, it cannot be undone in secret by a new police chief. Consequently, the community would be made aware of any backsliding and would have the opportunity to weigh in on the legislative process to fight for the continuation of the reforms. Law firms and in-house law departments can do 50
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this just as easily as the NOPD did. At our firm, for example, following a thoughtful process that encouraged input from a wide range of firm stakeholders, we developed a series of policies that established primary and secondary caregiver leaves, a business development coaching program for women attorneys, and a pre-approved ramp-up policy for women returning from maternity leave. We also revised our systems and procedures in order to increase LGBTQ+ self-identification, adopted a structured associate mentoring program with specific guidelines, and overhauled the association performance evaluation method of feedback and delivery to reduce implicit bias and provide greater transparency. It’s not enough to support diversity and inclusion. You need to document that support — and the steps that need to be taken to achieve those goals — in concrete, meaningful, written detail. 7. IMPLEMENT MEANINGFUL MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING AUDITS AND EVALUATIONS Peter Drucker, the famed business management consultant, is credited with having said, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The concept is a critical one for sustaining organizational reforms over time. An organization’s ethics and compliance program, for example, is far more likely to have legs if the organization has the means regularly to audit and measure its effectiveness. We use this strategy continuously in New Orleans. We measure everything, from uses of force to pedestrian stops and citizen complaints. We do this not only to evaluate the current state of NOPD compliance with its Consent Decree, but also to evaluate how
likely those reforms are to be sustained over time.
Indeed, to help sustain the Department’s reforms, the New Orleans City Council has committed to maintain a “Compliance Bureau” within the police department. This Compliance Bureau is charged with evaluating, on an ongoing basis, the full range of
NOPD programs, including all Consent Decree-driven reform initiatives.
Law firms certainly understand this concept. We
measure chargeable hours, non-chargeable hours, pro bono hours, client development expenses, pro-
fessional development expenses, margin, and more. We measure these things because we recognize the
truth of Drucker’s adage. The benefits of measuring
were many “tough love” sessions in her chambers, she also convened public hearings that allowed the NOPD to demonstrate its progress to New Orleans’ citizens. In those hearings, she gave the Department the recognition and praise it had earned through its hard work. When it comes to diversity and inclusion, the great distance our organizations need to go to achieve our goals makes it easier to accept and celebrate incremental progress. While you have to keep your destination firmly in sight, sometimes it’s nice to take a glance in the rearview mirror to appreciate how far you’ve come. Enjoy the journey and the bonds you will establish with those joining you for the ride.
our various D&I initiatives are the same. But it is
important to not be overly constrained in what we
measure. It’s not enough to measure the end results, i.e., how many women we have in our GovCon group
(50%, by the way; it’s one area where we are quite
proud of our numbers). We also need to measure our progress against the milestones laid out in our strategic D&I plan. At our firm, our D&I Committee
Chair provides the Executive Committee with regular
reports. She utilizes data and metrics from internal
studies and other sources to monitor our progress, review and assess the outcomes, and recommend needed adjustments. As members of firm leadership, we take those metrics very seriously, as we are measured against them too.
8. BE PATIENT AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY
Change is hard. Overcoming centuries of exclusion
and underrepresentation to achieve the goal of
creating a diverse and inclusive organization is hard. Set reasonable, achievable goals and celebrate the small victories. Praise effort as well as results.
The judge overseeing the NOPD Consent Decree
was unrelenting in her demands that the NOPD commit to implement the Consent Decree’s require-
ments, but she also was unsparing in her praise when the Department demonstrated progress. While there
DAVID DOUGLASS AND JONATHAN ARONI Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, LLP Jonathan Aronie leads Sheppard Mullin’s Government Contracts, Investigations, and International Trade Practice Group. David Douglass manages the firm’s Washington D.C. office. Both represent top clients and have sizable pro bono practices. Over five years ago we undertook to help the NOPD bring its policing practices up to 21st century standards. Coincidentally, that was about the time we created a new initiative to make our young Washington, D.C. office more diverse and inclusive. These different journeys traveled on parallel tracks. Six years later, the NOPD not only has made substantial progress toward achieving compliance under the Consent Decree, it is becoming a model police department. Our office also has made substantial progress, with greater diversity at the partner, associate, and paraprofessional level, and an inclusive working environment. Our respective journeys demanded hard work, presented numerous challenges as well as a few setbacks, and forced courageous conversations. Yet, along the way, we formed new friendships, expanded our intellectual horizons, achieved demonstrable change, and experienced the satisfaction of making a difference. Our work with the NOPD likely will end in the not too distant future. Our dedication to achieving a diverse and inclusive workplace will require a longer commitment. Regardless, we have seen first-hand that change is possible, worthwhile, and rewarding. D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M 7 D & B M A G A Z I N E S U M M E R I S S U E 2 0 1 9 | W W W . M C C A . C O M 51
The Long Road Asian American Lawyers On Fighting Bias And Reaching For Leadership By Catherine McGregor
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Asian American lawyers still fight virulent implicit biases and have the worst attrition rates of any minority group relative to their entry numbers. We discuss how to change that with three leading Asian American lawyers. Many of the stereotypes of ethnically Asian people (who are a hugely diverse group) are an example of cultural hegemony, where the dominant culture imposes meaning upon others which has far reaching ramifications for cultural identity. What do these ways of viewing the world, these deep seated cultural biases, mean for Asian American men and women in the legal workplace today? For both Asian men and Asian women there are a number of stereotypes which still prevail both socially and in the workplace. The media, which has woken up to many issues around stereotyping, still woefully lags behind in how it represents Asian Americans. For women, it’s a choice between Geisha submissiveness or Dragon Lady aggression. For men, many of the stereotypes call into question trustworthiness, their masculinity or suggest an underdeveloped nerdy/geeky identity. For both men and women who are Asian, in these biases their American identity is questioned, and professionally they can fall victim to further implicit biases which suggests they aren’t leadership material. There’s a further layer to add in here in that those of Asian-Pacific origin are sometimes not even considered to be minorities or diverse. It’s ironic - given they can be the victims of some of the most virulent stereotyping - that this group is then simultaneously denied the ability to identify as disadvantaged in the current power structures of representation. D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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In this article we will mostly be exploring the experiences of East Asian individuals but many of the experiences of cultural hegemony around Asian identity stretch from the Middle East, across India to the Far East. There is a conflation in many of these stereotypes of a range of very diverse countries, ethnic groups and experiences. All minority groups will suffer in some way from stereotyping. But what seems to be crucial with Asian stereotypes is that they are incredibly pervasive. Indeed, even those working in the field of diversity who should know better can still fall into traps of stereotyping the experiences of Asians. But while some of the stereotyping of Asian ethnic groups, particularly East Asians, may focus on positive traits such as being academically bright and hard-working, this does not generally translate into professional progress equitable with the said hard work. A number of studies have found that Asian Americans are the least likely ethnic group to be promoted into management positions. In an article published in Harvard Business Review in 2018, Buck Gee and Denise Peck shared their research on promotions amongst white collar professionals: “Our analysis of national EEOC workforce data found that Asian American white-collar professionals are the least likely group to be promoted from individual contributor roles into management — less likely than any other race, including blacks and Hispanics. And our analysis found that white professionals are about twice as likely to be promoted into management as their Asian American counterparts.” So these are not just irritating pop culture stereotypes but ones which significantly impact the legal profession and beyond. We spoke to four different members of MCCA about their experiences and practical tools and tips they use to overcome these. To note, these interviewees are 54
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of East Asian ethnic origin so their responses will not aim to speak to all Asian American or Pacific Islander experiences.
Shaping Your View Of Reality
For all minority groups it can be both the little things, those micro-aggressions, as well as more tangible episodes of discrimination that shape your sense of self as you start to navigate the world. Are there people like you in TV or in films? Do they represent a vision of reality you see yourself in? Can you easily buy products that cater for your skin and hair type? Do you feel like you’re part of the dominant culture or instead, do you feel you are trying to find ways to squeeze yourself in at the edges? While often not being classified as a minority in the same way as other minority groups, ethnically Asian Americans report more often than others that they are asked ‘Where are you really from?’. What this reveals is a sense that this group has not assimilated and is not truly American. This dates back as a harmful stereotype to the late 19th century when the fear of a “yellow peril” was propagated through media and various propaganda centered around the notion that a wave of mass immigration from East Asian would destroy dominant cultural values and ways of life in countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We can see similar versions of this bias played out at different times and different places with other ethnic groups. But the constant question “Where are you really from?” also suggests that, “You don’t really belong here.” It’s also pertinent to remember that there’s a long history of institutionalized racism against Asian Americans from the days of the “yellow peril” and beyond. The Chinese Exclusion Act banning Chinese immigration was in force in the U.S from 1882-1943. While during the Second World War, Japanese Americans, including those who
While often not being classified as a minority in the same way as other minority groups, ethnically Asian Americans report more often than others that they are asked ‘Where are you really from?’ had been in the U.S. for generations, those who were children or have only a fraction of Japanese ancestry such as 1/16, were placed in internment camps. It’s an action that now is recognized as being primarily based on racist assumptions that Asian immigrants did not have full loyalty to the U.S. rather than any real security issues. As Andy Yoo at Pearson, who is Korean American, states: “There’s a long history of culturally institutionalized racism, such as the Chinese exclusionary law and Japanese internment which people forget. It’s often assumed institutional racism is related to certain minority communities but it’s certainly not exclusive and can affect all minorities.”
Undercutting Stereotypes and Entry to Law
As mentioned earlier, many of the most virulent Asian stereotypes are found in the media and popular culture. Even at times when stereotyping has been called into question with other ethnic groups, many Asian stereotypes still persist. In recent years, mainstream films and TV have still fallen victims to whitewashing where a non-ethnically Asian actor plays an Asian role. While that would now be unthinkable for an African American role it’s still deemed as OK for an Asian character. A milestone was hailed earlier this year when the majority Asian cast mainstream film Crazy Rich Asians achieved box office success. But that’s still very much the exception rather than the rule. While portrayals in popular media and pop
culture representations may seem far removed from professional life, the implicit biases these can stimulate can be hard to shake off and there is no doubt they can shape viewpoints, particularly during an individual’s formative years. Often children will display biases as a result of their environment which can include exposure to particular ideas and tropes in popular culture. What this could mean is a sense that certain professions are not for you or out of reach. Even those who should know better can display biases about Asian Americans. Is this perhaps a factor of both the still-unchallenged stereotyping in popular culture but also the sense that Asians are not a minority or not a minority as much as others? Joyce Sophia Xu, a prominent corporate lawyer who recently joined Paul Hastings to lead the firm’s derivatives practice, recalls that as immigrants from China, her parents were not comfortable with the idea of their daughter becoming a corporate lawyer. She explains, “I always loved to read and write, to reason and debate. I also love to engage with people. Even though I had just recently immigrated to the U.S. when I was fourteen and was still learning English, I found myself gravitating towards a career in law. At the time, my parents who were academics (and the antithesis of the stereotypical Asian ‘tiger parents’) cautioned me against it. My dad came to the U.S. first with 600 dollars to his name. He worked extraordinarily hard and saved every penny to build a life for his family here. He wanted to keep his daughter safe and in a profession where there were more Asians and immigrants, like computer science or D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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engineering. My parents were concerned about the risks of going into a profession that we as new immigrants knew very little about.” This lack of familiarity with the professions and clear role models can lead to unseen challenges for Asian lawyers and all minority groups, as Joyce explains. “I think it’s common for many immigrant families like mine to not have the network of friends or family in finance or in law. This means that we tend to take the long road; the first ten years of my life as a corporate lawyer were all about pushing myself to the brink of physical exhaustion, taking on every project I could get, and completing every assignment with a painstaking level of perfectionism. I didn’t know anyone who could show me the ropes or explain how law firm power dynamics worked.” Andy Yoo shared the sense growing up that a more academic route would have been easier or more “natural”. “The Asian role models I saw mostly were in the learned professions: profes56
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sors, academics, medical doctors and engineers,” he explains. “Growing up in the seventies and eighties, I saw very few Asian American lawyers at that point. Maybe that supported the stereotype and myth that Asians are good at academic professions but not visible leaders in industry. In more academic and learned professions, there may be less implicit bias that impacts your career progression. You perceive that the path is easier for those types of professions, where there are less barriers to entry due to cultural stereotypes.” When Andy decided to study law the attraction was due to the fact he was a good communicator and enjoyed debate and analytical thinking. “We did not have lawyers in the family but my family did encourage me as they viewed a lawyer as something like a professor, very analytical. They thought of lawyers as government officials, prosecutors and Judges, though - they didn’t have concept of a corporate lawyer.” For Albert Giang, a litigation partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, the impact of cultural stereotypes and lack of role models was mitigated by growing up in a majority-Chinese town in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. This meant that Albert’s exposure to the usual stereotypes about Asian identity was also countered by positive ethnic associations at a formative age, which, he believes, helped him later in life. “Growing up in a diverse community, where people had the option of different paths, helped me build self-confidence. For me, the idea of being a lawyer was not impossible - I felt I could be anything. I was a top debater in high school, and many of the top debaters were Asian American, so there was nothing incompatible between my ethnic identity and speaking up,” he recalls. It was that consistent bedrock of options and possibilities that Albert is now supremely grateful for. “Having role models and an open horizon for opportunity was an important formative experience for me.”
Natural Born Leaders?
Pervasive stereotypes that question Asian Americans’ assertiveness and ability as leaders means a huge lack of progression and therefore significant attrition of Asian Americans in the legal profession. Asian Americans historically have entered the profession in greater numbers than any other major minority group in the U.S. but are less likely to make partner. A 2017 in-depth study by National Asian Pacific Bar Association confirmed this. Asian lawyers face bias throughout their career but it’s particularly evident as they try to reach leadership roles. Another study undertaken by Don Liu (now GC at Target) when he was GC at Xerox found that Asian Americans were less likely to become partners than African Americans or Hispanic lawyers. Despite having greater entry numbers to the profession, Asians are not rising into management ranks. According to the most recent Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Report, the number of Asian partners has also slowly increased over the last decade from just over two percent of law firm partners in 2007 to more than three percent in 2017. Over the past three decades, the number of Asian Americans in law school rose to comprise nearly 7 percent of total enrollment— the largest increase of any racial or ethnic group. But since 2009, Asian American enrollment has fallen by 43 percent—the largest decline of any racial or ethnic group. The number of Asian Americans who entered law school in 2016 was the lowest in more than 20 years. Even the 3 percent figure doesn’t tell the full story, as Joyce Sophia Xu notes. “There are a lot of things beneath the surface that aren’t visible when you just look at the numbers: law firm partnerships are often tiered, and only a tiny number of the 3 percent Asian partners are true equity partners. A small number of the 3 percent have mainstream, U.S. focused practices. A significant majority of Asian
American partners’ practices are still focused on Asia or are located in an Asian office of the firm. I would say even the 3 percent figure is most likely an inflated indicator of the actual level of diversity and inclusion in grooming and promoting Asian American lawyers.” Joyce adds, “There has been and still is this pervasive perception of Asian Americans as the ‘model’ minority, that somehow we are viewed as not having the same road blocks and headwinds as other minorities in terms of academic and career advancement. These are misconceptions not rooted in reality and not supported by data. The dismal statistics about the career trajectory of Asian American lawyers we are seeing tell a very different story.” Partner numbers remain disproportionately low compared to other minority groups: Asians represent almost 45 percent of all minority lawyers but just 38 percent of all minority partners. Twenty-one percent of Asian American lawyers are partners, compared to 27 percent of African D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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American attorneys and 30 percent of Hispanic/ Latinx lawyers. There is an underrepresentation of Asian American lawyers at partner level and a similar underrepresentation in law firm management. Asian attorneys represent under three percent of executive committee members—less than either African American or Hispanic/Latinx attorneys, even though the total number of Asian lawyers at law firms is more than that of African American and Hispanic/Latinx lawyers combined. Some of that is due to implicit biases and cultural assumptions about Asian lawyers’ leadership skills, which may have little or no basis in reality. As Andy Yoo explains:
the intersectionality of his identity helped with figuring out his authentic self, he says. “That’s where intersectionality can be helpful as my mix of backgrounds forced me to think about the best and most authentic version of me. My experiences can’t speak to all Asian men or all gay men or all Asian gay men. But I am a very relational person and that’s led to some really good, deep relationships with clients. Intersectionality often sparks the need for individuality and authenticity, which breeds thoughtfulness and trustworthiness, which I think makes me a good counselor for clients.” For Joyce Sophia Xu at Paul Hastings, a lot of this comes down to implicit biases against Asian Americans. “When it comes to the decision of
One of my tips for younger lawyers is to develop a toolkit of professional styles. Figure out how to be aggressive when needed, how to be collaborative, how to negotiate and how to strategize. “Those have certainly been challenges throughout my career. I found that there was implicit bias that affected me, based on an assumption that as an Asian, I might not be good at communicating or speaking publicly or being visible, forceful or taking a controversial position.” For Albert Giang at Boies Schiller, an advantage initially was entering the law to practice in a boutique litigation firm in Los Angeles - Caldwell, Leslie & Proctor. “There were very few minority lawyers in the small firm I started in, but because it was a boutique practice, I got exposed to lots of different styles for the different partners. I had the chance to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be as a litigator,” he notes. Albert is also gay and for him focusing on 58
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making an associate partner or making a partner, the key relationship person for a client, law firms focus heavily on presence, gravitas and the strength of their client relationships. Unfortunately, an implicit and wrongful assumption and belief seems to be that Asian lawyers simply don’t possess these qualities. Many still unconsciously associate the words ‘leader’ and ‘leadership qualities’ with being white and male. Asian associates may be praised for their extraordinary work ethic. They may be top billing lawyers at a law firm year after year, and yet ‘Asian’ to many still conjures up someone who is quiet, self-effacing, geeky, meek and submissive. The result is, Asians, similar to white women and other racially diverse lawyers, are not being supported and groomed like white
males - they are not being given headline deals or being brought to client meetings, and they are for sure not being introduced to the client as the trusted superstar lawyer who will eventually inherit the institutional client relationship.”
Battling the Bias
All of our interviewees have bucked the trend identified by many studies, including the one I quoted from Harvard Business Review, for Asian Americans to be excluded from leadership. What then would their practical tips be on how to do it? For Andy Yoo at Pearson it was a case of running towards opportunities that were seen as those in which Asian Americans would not excel, such as public speaking and being visible. “I looked for those opportunities, I joined boards and spoke publicly - particularly in ways that would advance diversity in the legal profession. I tried (and still try) to be as visible as possible to counteract those stereotypes and myths around Asian Americans.... battling those stereotypes through actions.” Andy admits that there can be challenges in getting the initial opportunities to question those myths for many. But he feels this is where diversity and inclusion initiatives can come to the fore. In this space, as a minority group, it can be more likely that Asian Americans may be offered opportunities, which can lead to other opportunities. “I think you can use D&I experience and leverage that into other areas. Frankly, also, D&I is now such a key area that it’s something that’s good to embrace. It’s a good platform; you have many people who are likeminded and have come through the same experiences you have. You can champion for them and them for you,” Andy says. A challenge with many stereotypes is that they operate in a very binary and unnuanced way such as the ones about Asian Americans and leader-
ship. The danger there, Albert Giang believes, is that if you know what the stereotype is you may overcompensate in the other direction to avoid the stereotype and that might not be good either. “If the stereotype is that you are not aggressive then that can create pressure to overcompensate to counteract stereotypes. I generally don’t like other people setting a binary course for me,” he says. Albert’s advice is to look outside the binary: “One of my tips for younger lawyers is to develop a toolkit of professional styles. Figure out how to be aggressive when needed, how to be collaborative, how to negotiate and how to strategize. When you have practiced a diverse toolkit of styles you can figure out the right one for the right context. It’s about rejecting this binary way of approaching stereotypes and being more thoughtful - you sometimes have more options than playing into, or overreacting to, those stereotypes.” Albert feels that adding soft skills and emotional intelligence is something that can also assist with combating stereotypes. “Indeed, as I became more comfortable in my own skin, it presented a lot of professional advantages. As a young lawyer you are so focused on developing the hard technical skills, and all of those are needed. But I wish someone had also told me my natural soft skills and EQ would be valuable too.” These are skills that are important for everyone and can be very useful in law, where some traits associated with masculinity have become linked with leadership and success. It’s worthwhile to interrogate these when looking for an authentic professional presence, as Albert explains. “There are lots of ways to lead and win. I don’t have the obligation to perform masculine traits that do not serve my clients. That comes from feeling comfortable with my way of doing things. I would sometimes see opposing counsel engage in counterproductive posturing that actually hurt D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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their client’s interests. At some point I decided, if that’s what it takes, in extreme circumstances, I could do that, but I would rather be smart than pointlessly aggressive.” Joyce feels that tackling implicit biases is fundamental. “Some law firms are starting to recognize that implicit biases are pervasive and they negatively affect the experiences of Asian Americans and other diverse lawyers. When diverse lawyers leave after such experiences, the law firm loses talented and dedicated members who contribute not only to the profitability of the firm, but also to the richness and quality of the client service it is able to provide. Any law firm that is forward-looking and thoughtful about planning for its financial and cultural well-being and longevity, whether it is for the next five years or the next five decades, should be proactively tackling implicit biases.” Joyce offers some practical ideas on how to do this: “There are measures we can take that would enhance diversity and inclusion at every level of our business – from recruiting, to staffing, to client engagement, to performance
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reviews. Let’s face it, we are all human. We all have a natural tendency to feel more at ease with people who look and talk like us. A reminder of those tendencies during the recruiting season and performance review season may help raise awareness and combat implicit biases. Inclusion of more diverse lawyers in conducting interviews and performance reviews and in making staffing, budget and compensation decisions would also help.” Joyce also notes the importance for law students and younger lawyers to understand and be aware of the prevalence of implicit biases, and to remain confident and grounded as they pursue careers in big law. “I am disheartened when Asian students at some of the most prestigious law schools in our country ask if they should put a more ‘American sounding’ name on their resume; I tell them that I’m not a believer in doing that. I tell them – you are training to be some of the brightest legal minds in the country, and you’ve gotten this far in your education through hard work and natural talent, so you should absolutely own that and be proud of
who you are, Asia-ness and all. I would advise the students to learn in advanced about the law firm or company they are interviewing with, to ask lots of questions and to pick a place where they have the best chance at being authentic and valued for who they are.”
Inclusive Leadership
Our interviewees have proved the biases wrong about moving leadership but how as leaders can they best pay it forward for other Asian attorneys? For Andy Yoo at Pearson, “it’s that leaders have to develop a brand that embraces D&I as part of your moniker, who you are and what you present as a leader in the legal profession.” Andy cites his visible support and involvement in organizations/initiatives such as ABA Resolution 113, AABANY, PipelinetoPractice Foundation, NFB Disability mentoring, The Mansfield Rule, and sitting on the MCCA N-Gen board as crucial. “They are all my brand and when people come into interview they know that. They can see I am a champion for D&I and because of that, diverse candidates want to come in. Creating that visible
D&I brand is particularly important in education, where I am,” he says. Andy also feels that for diverse attorneys becoming a true sector expert can help their path into leadership in-house. “For somebody that’s diverse looking for a leadership position in-house I think it’s really important to develop a sector expertise because deep understanding of the business can undercut stereotypes about you as leaders. For somebody diverse who is looking to rise up, that deep expertise might give you better pathways to leadership, which can undercut implicit bias and stereotypes.” Andy also believes that all aspects of implicit bias need to be addressed as a structural issue within the legal profession, particularly regarding leadership and progression. “This is clearly an issue for Asians. We have a tremendous amount of participation in law school, do well in law school and join leading law firms but the ratio of partners to associates is the lowest ratio of any ethnic group. Something prevents success at that last stage of leadership. Is it that stereotype again? Is it that people think
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It’s like Ruth Ginsberg said - ‘real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.’ It is hard, ongoing work to bring change, to BE that change. Asian Americans don’t have the soft skills but only analytical expertise?”, he asks. Albert agreed that this is a significant issue that the industry really needs to address. “A conversation about Asian American attrition is really important. In addition to any discussion of the hurdles facing specific groups, we also need to focus on common structural issues. If there are five spots and one is assigned to be a ‘minority’ slot, that’s myopic to me. We need to ask ‘Why is there only one spot?’ It’s almost like we are inured to the idea there are limited minority slots, but we need to rethink how we divide the pie.” What becomes fundamental here is working together, as MCCA’s own mission statement (#advancingtogether) this year articulates. Albert supports a number of racial justice coalitions and diversity groups and feels that uniting groups and addressing the big picture is what leaders need to do. He says, “There are some things that hit lots of minority groups at the same time. If you have many racial groups who can’t meet clients or develop professional networks it needs to be addressed; it’s not a zero sum game. Addressing Asian American attrition doesn’t have to be at the expense of addressing attrition of all underrepresented groups and how all of us need more equity.” Thinking of inclusive leadership more generally, Joyce comments “leadership must set the right tone and lead by example. The best way to effectively communicate a firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is to welcome more Asians and other diverse lawyers into partnership ranks and into management and leadership roles.” Joyce also notes it’s an encouraging development that clients are increasingly focused on inclusion
and diversity and that there are more women and racial minorities in senior legal and business
roles than ever before. For many diverse clients, reaching their own current level of status and
success meant that they had to work harder than their peers, facing disrespect, setbacks, and ineq-
uitable and devaluing treatment along the way.
In dealing with and overcoming these obstacles, they have come to personally understand the prevalence of deep-seated implicit biases against
diverse lawyers. This heightened sensitivity and awareness makes many of them wonderful allies
and champions of diverse lawyers. “When a client takes the time to tell firm leadership how important
diversity and inclusion is to them, firms like ours pay attention and we listen. The most powerful thing a client can do in improving diversity at their outside
law firms is to vote with their pocketbook. It creates the right economic incentives for law firms.”
“Ruth Ginsberg said - ‘real change, enduring
change, happens one step at a time.’ It is hard, ongoing work to bring change, to BE that change,” Joyce says. “America to me has always been about opportunity, progress, innovation and change. We lawyers have such an important role in society. We
are in a profession with the ability, access, power, and responsibility to keep the moral fabric of our
society intact, to administer order and justice, and to bring about meaningful social change. It is vitally important for more Asian Americans
and for diverse lawyers generally to be included, supported and recognized in this effort. We have to work together to create a career path that can work for all of us.”
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D&B/TALK
OUR DIVERSITY STORY
Diversity & Inclusion Is A Team Effort By Larry Midler
WHEN I JOINED CBRE AS GENERAL COUNSEL IN APRIL 2004, OUR LEGAL TEAM WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY U.S.-BASED AND, LIKE THE COMPANY ITSELF, SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER THAN IT IS TODAY. BUT IT HAD STRONG
FEMALE ATTORNEYS IN LEADERSHIP ROLES, INCLUDING THE GCS OF TWO OF OUR LARGEST MARKETS – NEW YORK AND LONDON. That said, we saw an opportunity as we grew to create a more diverse legal team. And when I am asked how we did it, I tell the truth — we always sought the best legal talent and actively promoted our best people to positions of leadership. We never had to sacrifice or compromise on experience, talent, work ethic or any other quality. We always hired and promoted attorneys who have shared interests but diverse perspectives. We value people who embrace innovative strategies, value great client outcomes over mere effort and want a collaborative workplace culture. It is no coincidence that many of the most senior leadership positions on our 120lawyer team are held by diverse attorneys. Our spectrum of diversity is broad. We employ lawyers in dozens of countries and view diversity beyond just gender and race. We have done a terrific job of attracting and retaining women at all stages of their careers. Today, nearly 70 percent of attorneys in the global legal department are women (60% in the U.S.), and approximately 35 percent of attorneys in the United States are people of color. Globally, our attorneys represent a diverse range of nationalities, languages spoken, and cultures. But diversity alone is not enough. Women might be 70 percent of our global population, but they make up approximately 65 percent 64
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of the team’s leadership— including two of our three deputy general counsels, the legal heads of three major global geographies and our Chief of Staff. Women of color are also overrepresented in the leadership ranks compared with their numbers overall. Thus, attorneys at every stage of their careers can look at their legal leadership team and see a reflection of themselves. Diversity is important, but inclusion and belonging are what truly signals to everyone that their potential here is unlimited. The first time I met Bobby Griffin, CBRE’s head of Diversity & Inclusion, he shared a simple metaphor to illustrate the difference between the two key elements of his title. His sage words have stuck with me. “Diversity is being invited to the dance,” he stated. “Inclusion is being asked to dance.” But, what Bobby said next was most striking and inspiring to me. “Truly belonging is being taught the dance.” The next time I saw Bobby at a conference for CBRE’s African American Network Group (AANG), I had the opportunity to see his words come to life. Following the keynote address after dinner, a band kicked up the beat to get the evening activities started. I looked on, even tapped my feet to the rhythm, but stayed safely on the sidelines. Given my lack of experience or training on the dance floor—you’d never mistake
me for Travolta—I wasn’t comfortable staking the dignity of the General Counsel’s office on my two left feet. I was spying the nearest exit sign and about to leave when, out of nowhere, a colleague who I did not know took me by the hand and said, “Come on Larry, I’ll show you the Electric Slide!” Fully aware that all eyes were now on the “Compliance Corner guy,” I had no choice. It took me the first time through the paces to figure out what the heck everyone was doing. But, with some simple instruction from my new dance partner, I was able to mimic the basic steps. The second time, I awkwardly fumbled
regardless how senior or credentialed. At our meetings, we actively seek comments and questions from people who traditionally have not spoken up. We promise an inclusive workplace, and we make sure that we deliver. For example, we provide transparency in compensation and career pathing, provide a flexible work schedule and the ability to work remotely as needed, and we ensure that all positions within the legal department are posted and communicated to the entire team. We pride ourselves on being able to avoid the in-group/out-group dynamics that sometimes perpetrate global teams and create a non-inclusive environment.
WHEN YOU LOOK ACROSS CBRE’S LEGAL TEAM, YOU SEE PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND EXPERIENCES.
WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT SEE IS THAT OUR UNIQUE BLEND OF IDENTITIES, CULTURES AND, IMPORTANTLY, PERSPECTIVES RESULTS IN MORE INNOVATIVE WAYS OF THINKING, ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF OUR SERVICE AND PRODUCING GREATER OUTCOMES FOR CLIENTS.
through the pattern. The third time, I did it without messing up. By the fourth go ‘round, this guy was gaining some flow. Then, by some miracle, it clicked. By the end of the song, I was feeling the music and riffing to the moves. After the song and feeling light as a feather, I rushed directly over to Bobby Griffin and with a big smile I said, “Now, I get it.” As long as I’ve been leading our global legal team, we have always promoted and embraced “true belonging” as our desired workplace culture and values. Personally, I always strive to ensure that everyone is asked their opinion,
Liz Atlee, Deputy General Counsel – Global Litigation, Employment & IP, who joined the legal team in 2011, has explained our vision perfectly. “When you look across CBRE’s legal team, you see people with different backgrounds and experiences. What you might not see is that our unique blend of identities, cultures and, importantly, perspectives results in more innovative ways of thinking, enhancing the quality of our service and producing greater outcomes for clients.” We are proud of our diversity, but even more gratified that we have our company’s D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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full support so that we can “put our money where our mouth is.” We share the belief that our profession should be more diverse and create opportunities for traditionally disaffected groups, particularly within law firms, and so we have empowered our U.S. attorneys to promote diversity within the legal industry. CBRE’s legal team adopted the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity’s Resolution 113 to “expand and create opportunities at all levels of responsibility for diverse attorneys.” To further that goal, our litigation and employment team analyzed the diversity data submitted by law firms in response to the ABA model survey and selected the inquiries that were key indicators of opportunities for leadership. The team attribut66
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ed the weight of each question based on how significantly the response demonstrated the law firms’ efforts to create leadership opportunities for its diverse attorneys. With the assistance of our Digital & Technology department, our legal team developed an innovative “Diversity Scorecard” that was used to assess outside counsel who had been retained to provide legal services in the prior two years. Once the Diversity Scorecard was completed, the majority of our U.S. attorneys divided up the firms and communicated the results of the Diversity Scorecard to our business relationship partners. We also highlighted our ongoing commitment to ABA Resolution 113. CBRE attorneys evaluate the relative diversity of the law firms and the diversity of teams proposed to work
on CBRE matters when selecting outside counsel. The Diversity Scorecard serves as an additional resource to aide in the selection of outside counsel. We also have encouraged members of CBRE’s legal team to follow their passions to support diversity and inclusion well beyond their core job function. For example, Liz Atlee is the executive sponsor of CBRE’s Hispanic employee network group, known as “HOLA,” which stands for Hispanics Organized to Leverage Our Advantage. HOLA promotes diversity and inclusion while providing opportunities for Hispanic and Latinx professionals to develop their businesses and careers. (Liz has also served on the board of the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), a non-profit, non-partisan, organization committed to ensuring political and economic parity for Latinx.) Several of our attorneys are active members and leaders within the CBRE Women’s Network, with Liz recently receiving the Mentorship Award at the 2018 Women’s Networking Forum. Our Chief of Staff, Alison Caplan, serves on the WNF’s Advisory Board where she oversees programing and operations, and currently leads its Field Delegate Program, which has 100-plus delegates across the country. Alison is also a mentor to other women. CBRE attorneys also fill the ranks of the company’s Employee Network Groups, such as AANG, LGBTQ+ & Allies and CBRE Military. Our lawyers also serve outside CBRE on various community and bar organizations, such as Barbra Diallo, Senior Counsel - Employment, who has actively served as a board member of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Inc. for several years. Kathy PourSanae, Senior Counsel – Litigation, has been an active member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. These are just
a few examples of the commitment of CBRE attorneys to strengthen diverse, professional communities. While there is always work left to do (particularly in areas of diversity that have not been as high profile such as mental or physical disability), I am encouraged by what we have achieved demographically, and I see a very bright future beyond the end of my own career given the pipeline of diverse leaders we are cultivating at the firm. A highlight of my legal career occurred last year when CBRE’s legal department was honored with the Myra Bradwell Award by the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles for our success in promoting and advancing female lawyers. While recognition is welcome and encouraging, it is the legacy we are leaving for our profession that is most meaningful to me – the diverse legal team we have developed with our collective vision over the past 15 years will have a tangible impact on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession for decades to come. But it was not an unnatural act that got us here — my vision for a diverse legal department has always been perfectly aligned with our goal of developing a world class legal team. LARRY MIDLER
Larry Midler has been an Executive Vice President and General Counsel of CBRE Group, Inc., (known as CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.) since April 26, 2004. He also serves as Secretary and Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Midler previously served as Chief Compliance Officer from April 2004 to January 2014. Mr. Midler is responsible for all legal affairs of CBRE, including coordinating the activities of its regional and corporate legal departments, as well as several other risk-related functions such as Compliance, Global Risk Management and Safety. Mr. Midler began his legal career as an attorney at Latham & Watkins. Larry holds a BA degree from the University of Virginia, and a JD degree from The New York University School of Law. D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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D&B/TALK
COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT Social Identity Diversity Matters By Bendita Cynthia Malakia
IT’S BEEN A LONG ROAD WITH NO END IN SIGHT... ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN EFFORTS TO ADVANCE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (I USE THE TERM ‘DIVERSITY’ TO MEAN THE INCLUSIVE D&I) IN THEIR RANKS AND CREATE INCLUSIVE WORKPLACES FOR DECADES. THESE EFFORTS HAVE PREDOMINANTLY BEEN FOCUSED ON THE ADVANCEMENT OF HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHIC IDENTITIES IN THE US INCLUDING WOMEN, ETHNORACIAL MINORITIES AND SEXUAL/GENDER IDENTITY MINORITIES. The hierarchies that exist in broader society
effort. Organizations have collectively invested
thus cisgender straight white women have been
The financial resources and efforts advancing
often play out in the context of diversity efforts,
billions of dollars annually in diversity efforts.
the focus of most organizational diversity efforts,
diversity haven’t yielded progress commensurate
to benefit members of other underrepresented
of matrixed societal and sociological problems
even when those efforts are specifically intended
social identities as well. While efforts to promote
women and ethnoracial minorities have been around for quite some time, efforts have intensi-
fied within organizations over the last five to ten
years to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are recruited, included and promoted.
Additionally, outside of simply complying with
the Americans with Disabilities Act, organizations
are starting to think critically about how to recruit, develop and advance people with disabilities.
The efforts made on behalf of underrepre-
sented social identities within organizations have
ranged from programs and scholarships built to ensure the pipeline from school into organiza-
tions is and/or remains strong, affinity networks and heritage month programming for cultural
support, mentorship and sponsorship, and talent development programs. While there are still some organizations not making any efforts toward advancing diversity, many organizations are
putting significant financial resources toward the 68
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with the investments made. Correcting the results in an organizational setting with a profit motive
is a complex and gargantuan task. With every passing year and each corporate initiative where
business leaders pledge their cause to diversity
without significant result, diversity fatigue can ensue. Diversity fatigue is a phenomenon where
mostly non-diverse leaders and organizations that invest significant time, energy and resources
into diversity initiatives quickly tire from those efforts. The irony of diversity fatigue, and critical
to the concept, is that diversity and bias are often on the minds of diverse people and orga-
nizations; however, non-diverse people are often overwhelmed from minimal exposure to diversi-
ty-related issues. Diversity fatigue is real, and in a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, espe-
cially in the next generation workforce, consumer
population, etc., it is critical that organizations find ways to persevere and engage with diversity in
a way that makes organizations relevant to their various constituencies.
THE PEOPLE ARE WEARY
for social identity diversity. In other words, many
immersed in conversations about diversity all
tire of diversity efforts quickly given the multitude
My experience is that diverse people are
the time. DuBois’ double consciousness is as real
today as it was in the 1900’s when he was the
leading race theorist and sociologist of his day. People with underrepresented social identities
constantly navigate two worlds: the world that exists as they understand it and the world of the
people without underrepresented social identities
of factors that ensure progress moves at a glacial pace. Diversity fatigue is real. And organizations are feeling that diversity fatigue acutely, even
as diversity initiatives are starting to be pushed forward by a broader population of individuals.
Despite the national political rhetoric, most
majority that they have to navigate as people with
large
that people with underrepresented social iden-
an authentic moral desire and/or for financial
underrepresented social identities. This means
tities tend to be much more comfortable talking about diversity than those in the majority who talk about diversity less often and less directly. Additionally, people without underrepresented social
identities haven’t learned language that allows them to engage in diversity discourse, and when they do engage, my experience is that they feel
they cannot do so without penalty or possible retribution. While more comfortable for many
people with underrepresented social identities, talking about diversity in a corporate setting is a
completely new world for many people without underrepresented social identities. They haven’t developed the muscle, language or desire to deal
with the constant psychological and sociological dissonance of having to traverse two worlds in the
organizations’
arcs
are
bent
toward
increased diversity, whether it is coming from
benefit. The recognition that corporate diversity
efforts aren’t going away combined with diversity fatigue leads to some creativity in approach, par-
adoxically expressed by an old adage: if you can’t beat them, join them. In other words, if efforts
and energy are going to go toward advancing
diversity, then people without underrepresented social identities should benefit too. And the best
way to do this without seemingly subverting the moral and business cases for diversity that so many organizations are bandwagoning, is to frame the effort in such a way that people without underrep-
resented social identities are now diverse. I posit that one significant way that this is being done is to advance cognitive diversity.
same way people with underrepresented social
A GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD?
where organizations are requiring leaders to think
different ways, but is generally characterized by
ments, promotions, development, investments,
information and/or approaches taken to solving
identities must to survive. Engaging in a world about diversity in all aspects (e.g., hiring, assign-
decision-making, leadership opportunities, and other interactions, etc.) feels overly exhausting to
those that haven’t developed the stamina to run that race. Further, other than direct engagement
from clients or other compelling constituents
requiring social identity diversity, there is very little that is tangible to people without underrepresent-
ed social identities that will keep them advocating
Cognitive diversity has been defined in many
differences in perspective, ways of processing problems. Many believe (including me) that cognitive diversity can be informed and achieved
by the inclusion of those with underrepresented
social identities; some have found that there is no correlation between cognitive diversity and underrepresented social identities.
Most would agree that every single individ-
ual has a unique perspective due to different D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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THANK YOU
FOR YOUR SUPPORT
THE MINORITY CORPORATE COUNSEL ASSOCIATION (MCCA) ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT of the following law departments and law firms whose financial contributions have helped our mission to advance the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse lawyers in the legal profession. MCCA 2019 STRATEGIC MEMBERS
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WHEN WE CONSIDER DIVERSITY AS A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE, WE
ARE CONSIDERING DIVERSITY IN A HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED WAY. IN MY VIEW, THIS IS VERY PALATABLE TO THE AMERICAN PSYCHE, WHICH IS, AT ITS CORE, ABOUT THE ESSENCE OF INDIVIDUALISM: THE ABILITY OF ANYONE TO SUCCEED IF THEY ARE DILIGENT AND WORK HARD.
social environments, education, media consumption, parenting, life experiences, etc. When we consider diversity as a matter of perspective, we are considering diversity in a highly individualized way. In my view, this is very palatable to the American psyche, which is, at its core, about the essence of individualism: the ability of anyone to succeed if they are diligent and work hard. For those with diversity fatigue or who need to demonstrate progress on diversity, a focus on cognitive diversity is appealing. Anyone can be cognitively diverse. A focus on cognitive diversity does not require those in power and/or that benefit from social identity privilege to wrestle with thorny issues that feel historical but are present and impact many facets of our daily lives. Taking cognitive diversity into account means that the focus can be on the group that has often been excluded from most traditional diversity efforts: heterosexual cisgender white able-bodied men (or more specifically, those who did not identify with any underrepresented social identity). Even the head of diversity of a major company has said that “12 white, blue-eyed, blonde men in a room” can be diverse. In that universe, given the number of people without underrepresented social identities, this theory is enough to advance diversity. Hands clean. Problem solved. THE FELONY IS STILL ON YOUR RECORD That head of diversity has rescinded her comments and apologized. In many envi-
ronments, including in American corporate environments, it’s simply not true. Even if every single one of those individuals had different experiences, none of them has presumably had the experience of being an underrepresented social identity in America, which is an experience that offers a perspective like none other. Regardless of other factors, social identity matters. If you don’t agree with that, then there is always the business case. In the legal diversity space, our clients are getting very granular, wanting specific social identity information of the individuals in the organizations that serve them, including who is working on their matters and what their roles are by hours and amounts. In our arena, we know that there are qualified diverse people that are capable of doing the work. Telling our clients we have 12 white, blue-eyed, blonde men working on their matters is no longer acceptable. They grade us against other service providers that work for them and they want to know, where is our underrepresented social identity diversity? In a world where visibility of diversity efforts is key, social identity diversity generally has that visibility while cognitive diversity is difficult to display. Columbia Business School Professor Kathy Phillips has done significant research about the real benefit of diversity, including diversity on the basis of social identity. People that are diverse on the basis of social identity not only have unique perspectives that make a meaningful, substantive difference if the environment is D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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Pearson Education, Inc.
Chen Malin LLP
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Cooley LLP
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Premier Media Inc.
Crowell & Moring LLP
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP
Prudential Financial, Inc.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
QBE North America
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ReSources USA, Inc. Salesforce.com, Inc. Sempra Energy Shell Oil Company State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company Summit Materials Inc. The Vanguard Group, Inc. Thermo Fisher Scientific Twitter, Inc. UnitedHealth Group United Services Automobile Association, Inc. Verizon Communications Visa Inc. VMware Inc. Walmart, Inc. Waste Management, Inc. Wells Fargo & Company Xerox Corporation
Dechert LLP Dentons US LLP Dorsey & Whitney LLP Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Duane Morris LLP Epstein, Becker & Green, PC Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP Faegre Baker Daniels LLP Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP Fish & Richardson P.C. Fisher & Phillips LLP Forman Watkins & Krutz, LLP Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP Groom Law Group Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel, LLP Harrity & Harrity, LLP Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. Hogan Lovells US LLP Husch Blackwell LLP
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Murphy & McGonigle, P.C. Nixon Peabody LLP Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP Nossaman LLP Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Paul Hastings LLP Pearne & Gordon LLP Pepper Hamilton, LLP Pirkey Barber PLLC Proskauer Rose LLP Quarles & Brady LLP Reed Smith LLP Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A. Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP Schiff Hardin, LLP Seyfarth Shaw LLP Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Stevens & Lee, P.C. Stinson LLP Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Thompson Coburn LLP Troutman Sanders, LLP Vinson & Elkins LLP Willenken LLP Williams & Connolly LLP WilmerHale Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP BECOME AN MCCA MEMBER TODAY. Take advantage of member bene-
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inclusive but they also spur people without under-
represented social identities to think differently and not rely on confirmation bias, groupthink, and intellectual laziness.
Aside from that, reliance on cognitive diversity
is an easy way to undermine traditional diversity
enough to ensure that everyone’s voices are heard and valued.
IN A WORLD OF LIMITED RESOURCES, SOCIAL DIVERSITY MATTERS
Both social identity diversity and cognitive
efforts. And there are some that argue that social
diversity matters, and ideally one should not
diversity at all. As a person that lives and works at
cy of the other. If we want to create inclusive
identity diversity has no impact on cognitive the margins of several social identities, in particu-
lar race, gender and sexual orientation and having
been in many elite and non-elite organizations, people that identify with underrepresented social identities don’t always think differently (because no group always does anything) but often does:
our organizational cultures have not yet developed
supplant or be used to undercut the legitimaenvironments with the best outcomes for our
organizations, we would ideally pay attention
to both social identity diversity and cognitive diversity. Unfortunately, cognitive diversity can take the air out of the room. It is more difficult
to identify and has no easily discernible benchmarks. It is easier to swallow, though. It generally D & B M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G I S S U E 2 0 1 8 | W W W. M C C A . C O M D&B MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE 2019 | W W W. M C C A . C O M
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doesn’t require the same tenor and level of hard
decision-making in terms of resource allocation, difficult conversations, examining systems and processes and introspection that social identity
diversity does. If you rely on cognitive diversity, and decide that is all the diversity you need, the
I identify as a Black bisexual woman, making me a member of three primary underrepresented social identities, and there is likely some margin of bias in my preference for advocating for social identity diversity. As a person
focus on social identity diversity could decrease to
whose primary vocation is to advance diversity
signal to underrepresented social identities that
achieve organizational objections, putting un-
an amount that is not meaningful, and worse, will
within organizations leveraging talent to best
their existence and contributions do not matter.
derrepresented social identities at the forefront
As people that understand unconscious, sub-
conscious, or implicit bias (or whatever you
choose to call it) and see the resulting population, investment and advancement inequities that are present in our organizations, we understand two
makes sense. Everything we do is inherently relational: how we assign work, how we develop business, how we offer meaningful advice, mentoring, sponsor-
things: (1) it is challenging work to advance social
ship, who we think of first for a new opportunity,
nizations don’t have the language, facility, comfort
rules. Implicit bias is in all of us, and it impacts
identity diversity and many personnel in our orga-
who we take to lunch, who we tell the unwritten
or knowledge to have meaningful conversations
all of the choices we make that impact the de-
about difference let alone the practical strategies to be able to make a difference, even when
they want to (which is why diversity professionals exist) and (2) a focus on cognitive diversity allows
velopment and advancement of talent in our organizations. Until we get to the point where we have developed systems that complete-
organizations to feel facially successful in their
ly eliminate the human element, which is nearly
versations and decisions that cut to the root of
identities will be critical.
diversity efforts, while avoiding the difficult conwho we all are.
In organizations that are in a business outside of
the realm of social justice, the time, commitment, energy, financial and other resources involved in
advancing diversity is often limited. We need to choose the best approach. We should choose
to advance social identity diversity, given (1) the corporate and public clamoring for diversity, (2)
the unique benefits of social identity diversity lead to better individual, team and organiza-
tional results, (3) the understanding that our
organizations have cultures and/or processes that lead to inequitable results, and (4) that we exist
in organizations with competing priorities without enough resources. 74
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impossible, a focus on underrepresented social
BENDITA CYNTHIA MALAKIA Hogan Lovells
bendita.malakia@hoganlovells.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/bendita Bendita Cynthia Malakia is Senior Inclusion Manager at Hogan Lovells. In her role, Bendita focuses on integrating diversity and inclusion into the architecture of the firm, investing in high potential diverse lawyers, creating a culture of inclusion, and advancing the business case for inclusion by engaging clients. Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, Bendita was a diversity and inclusion consultant, a private lending lawyer at Goldman Sachs Bank, a development finance lawyer at International Finance Corporation and Norton Rose Fulbright. A graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School, Bendita is Secretary of the Board of the National LGBT Bar Association.
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