The current profusion of outside counsel DEI surveys that law firms receive from their clients has hit an all-time high. While well intended, these surveys haven’t moved the needle at a rate commensurate with the work involved. And, at their worst, they can actually work at cross-purposes with legal departments’ objective of fostering a culture of diversity and inclusivity by diverting valuable time from diversity leaders to repeatedly define the problem rather than working on solutions. This need not be the case.

Most legal departments have neither the resources nor the scientific expertise to craft and conduct an effective assessment of their outside counsel DEI that produces more inclusive teams. Many have told us they don’t know where to start other than perhaps the raft of firmwide data produced annually by dozens of reputable third-party organizations. And even then, it takes substantial time and ability to analyze the data and successfully operationalize the findings to align with organizational values.