Table of Contents

Structuring Internal DEI Advancement

Hiring & Promotion

Reviewing Performance and Determining Compensation

Encouraging Contributions to DEI

DEI-Related Training

Reporting Incidents of Bias

Allocating Opportunities

Promoting a Culture of Inclusion

Supporting Departing Lawyers and Non-Lawyer Staff

Structuring Internal DEI Advancement

Issue from Town Hall Report: Inadequate Representation / Micro- and Macro-Aggressions

Overall Goal: Ensure there are formal structures in place within the firm to advance the goals of promoting DEI and, as a result, the well-being of Underrepresented Lawyers and non-lawyer staff. Without such structures, no one within the firm is likely to specifically advance DEI as part of their core job responsibilities, and the issues of Inadequate Representation and Micro- and Macro-Aggressions are likely to persist.

Early Stage

• Hire a full-time internal Chief DEI Officer, and ensure that such officer (a) is a “Chief”-level member of the firm with authority to make decisions and execute strategies, (b) reports directly to the firm’s managing partner/managing committee, and (c) is not a subordinate function within the firm’s human resources department.

  • As a “Chief”-level position, ensure the Chief DEI Officer is invited to attend all meetings and participate in all decision-making processes in which other top-level officers participate. It is important to ensure the Chief DEI Officer has authority to weigh in on the firm’s key functions and processes, and to avoid a structure where the Chief DEI Officer operates in a silo.

• Clearly communicate with the entire firm regarding the role of the Chief DEI Officer, and how to productively engage with them and/or their team.

• Allocate sufficient budget to the Chief DEI Officer to ensure they can meet the goals and expectations they aspire to achieve, including by hiring a team of sufficient size, and provide sufficient support for the Chief DEI Officer and their team to receive ongoing training and professional development relating to their responsibilities.

iv) Ensure that the Chief DEI Officer and HR are involved in investigating and responding to any reported incidents of identity-based micro- or macro-aggressions, instead of only when issues rise to the level of formal claims of discrimination/harassment.

v) Adopt best practices to encourage the Chief DEI Officer to regularly communicate and collaborate with organizational well-being leaders (such as any Wellness Directors or Well-Being Mangers) and vice versa. When DEI fails, the well-being of lawyers and non-lawyer staff from affected populations suffers.

vi) Regularly remind the entire firm that it is the responsibility of every team member to aid in creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and that it is not solely the responsibility of the Chief DEI Officer and their team to do so.

b) Appoint a standing DEI committee with a clearly stated mission (e.g., helping the firm solve specific, identified, issues), role, and responsibilities (such as those noted in subsequent items in this list).

i) Ensure that a collaborative process is used in framing the role and responsibilities of such committee, where input from all levels of the firm is sought and incorporated.

ii) Ensure that such committee includes (a) the Chief DEI Officer, (b) members of firm leadership, (c) senior, mid-level, and junior lawyers (specifically including both partners and associates), and (d) non-lawyer staff (beyond DEI staff; specifically consider including HR staff).

iii) Ensure that such committee includes members from various underrepresented populations, as well as members from overrepresented populations.

iv) Ensure that members of such committee (and all firm leadership committees) receive at least annual training on equitable meeting practices, including with respect to non-hierarchical dialogue.

v) In addition to a firmwide committee, consider appointing office- or region-specific DEI committees to engage with issues that arise in the context of specific offices/regions.

c) Add DEI as a subject to the agenda of all, or at least certain regular, leadership/ committee meetings to ensure this topic is discussed regularly.

d) Establish identity-based affinity groups/employee resource groups with clearly stated missions, roles, and responsibilities, and require that such groups (a) be co-chaired by at least one equity partner and one associate, and (b) have regular opportunities to communicate with the firm’s leadership.

i) Consider establishing an affinity group for neurodivergent lawyers and non-lawyer staff and lawyers and non-lawyer staff with disabilities.

ii) Provide regular opportunities for the affinity groups to collaborate (such as an annual all-affinity group summit, and/or quarterly meetings of all affinity group leaders) and co-sponsor each other’s initiatives and events.

iii) Ensure that any time policies or programs are being developed by the firm that could specifically affect the members of certain affinity groups, such affinity groups have meaningful opportunities to participate in the development of such policies or programs.

iv) If certain affinity groups are large enough, consider establishing regional or office-specific sub-groups.

v) Allocate sufficient budget to each affinity group to ensure it can meet the goals and expectations it aspires to achieve.

e) Hire an external DEI consultant to perform a “360 degree” DEI audit of the firm and its policies, and request that the resulting audit report include recommended actions/next steps.

i) Invite the firm’s Chief DEI Officer, DEI committee, and affinity groups to participate in the selection of the consultant, or consider holding an open forum with the entire firm to engage in this topic.

ii) Commit to releasing as much of any materials generated by such consultant as possible to as much of the firm as possible, rather than having the report go solely to leadership and then sharing a minimized version with the entire firm. At the least, this information should be shared with leadership, the Chief DEI Officer and the DEI committee, and ideally, it should be shared with the entire firm. Collaborate with the consultant and HR to determine the appropriate scope of the released materials to promote transparency without exposing any individuals from underrepresented populations to unneeded vulnerability.

iii) Organize town hall meetings or other open meetings specifically to review the results of the audit report and what the firm plans to do to address the raised issues and incorporate the report’s recommendations.

iv) Collaborate with other similarly situated firms about the results of such consultant audits to promote sharing of best practices.