Diversity

CMS sets out female promotions as key after report shows 22% partner representation

By Sofia Lind | October 19, 2011

CMS Cameron McKenna has followed Linklaters' lead and published staff diversity statistics ahead of a controversial new requirement from the Legal Services Board (LSB) that will make such reporting compulsory from December 2012. Results from the voluntary survey, which saw 50% of all UK lawyers and staff participating, indicate the firm needs to make ground with improving both racial and gender diversity in its partnership.

1 minute read

Eversheds becomes first law firm to sign up for Government gender equality scheme

By Simon Petersen | September 19, 2011

Eversheds has become the first law firm to sign up to a new voluntary gender reporting initiative launched by the Government. The top 10 UK law firm has joined Tesco and BT as the first members of the 'Think, Act, Report' initiative, which is aimed at improving transparency on gender equality issues in business.

1 minute read

McGrigors consults on overhaul of maternity and sickness policies

By Friederike Heine | September 16, 2011

McGrigors is considering a number of changes to its employee benefits system relating to the firm's maternity leave and sick pay policies. The firm is proposing the introduction of bonuses for mothers who return to work early, as well as a new policy which will allow the firm to reduce the pay of women who take a second period of maternity leave within 18 months of their last.

1 minute read

Freshfields in diversity drive across Germany and Austria offices

By Legal Week | August 31, 2011

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has rolled out a raft of new flexible working initiatives across its German and Austrian offices, alongside a renewed diversity push in the region. The 'Smart Balance' scheme, which officially went live at the end of May this year, has been launched in a bid to address individual development, flexible working and diversity and inclusion across the firm's seven offices in the region.

1 minute read

Linklaters publishes comprehensive workforce diversity statistics

By Sofia Lind | July 28, 2011

Linklaters has become one of the first major UK law firms to publish comprehensive diversity data on its website, just days after the Legal Services Board (LSB) announced that it will make such reporting compulsory as of December 2012. The statistics show that 38% of Linklaters' UK partnership were privately educated - a proportion broadly replicated across the firm's associate and trainee ranks - while a further 39% of partners went to a state or grammar school. The remainder were internationally educated, with 7% opting not to disclose.

1 minute read

Career Clinic: Has my career break made me less marketable?

By Legal Week | July 17, 2011

"I qualified in 2008 from a large regional practice in the northwest. Since then I have had a career break of three years as I had a baby. I am now trying to secure an NQ position in employment law. "Agencies refuse to take on my CV (I think because of my career break they don't see me as very marketable). I am therefore applying to firms speculatively but getting nowhere.

1 minute read

Ex-Bakers chair Lagarde becomes first-ever female IMF head

By Simon Petersen | June 29, 2011

Former Baker & McKenzie chair Christine Lagarde has been named as the first female head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Lagarde, who will begin a five-year term as IMF managing director on 5 July, spent over 20 years at Bakers, and held the role of chair between 1999 and 2004, after which she was succeeded by John Conroy.

1 minute read

Berrymans and Shoosmiths head up female-friendly partnership rankings

By Suzi Ring | June 22, 2011

Bird & Bird has emerged as the UK top 20 law firm with the largest percentage of female partners, with Hogan Lovells topping the rankings within the top 10. Legal Week research into female representation at partner level across the 50 largest UK law firms by revenue shows that, with women making up just under 23% of its partnership as at 1 May 2011, Bird & Bird is the highest placed firm within the top 20, closely followed by Berwin Leighton Paisner and Pinsent Masons.

1 minute read

Freshfields names new members to diversity committee

By Friederike Heine | June 15, 2011

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has revamped its global diversity team, appointing new members to the firmwide committee dealing with diversity and inclusion and giving a further three partners responsibility for diversity issues in London. The firm has named internal communications head Kate Laffar as leader of its global diversity and inclusion team, with London corporate head Mark Rawlinson and intellectual property partner Avril Martindale also appointed to the team from the beginning of the month (1 June).

1 minute read

Top of their game: senior female counsel talk about breaking through the glass ceiling

By Legal Week | June 1, 2011

McKinsey's recent study, 'Women Matter 2010', finds that companies with more women on their executive committees have a stronger financial performance. This is the third time McKinsey has reached this conclusion, beginning with initial research in 2007 on gender diversity at the top of corporations. In reading the study, I thought about the heavily male-dominated partnership ranks and management of law firms. I decided to poll a few high-level female corporate counsel in Europe, all of whom began their careers in law firms. I invited four women who I know well, yet who had not met each other, to lunch. They are from a diverse cultural and corporate spectrum.

1 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Canceling 'Cancel Culture'—How a Movement for Acceptance Lost Its Way

By Brian P. Seaman | October 13, 2021

Cancel culture is, however, not interested in rehabilitation or apology. Indeed, the mere act of retracting or deleting a tweet or issuing a seemingly heartfelt apology is almost never enough to stop the rising tide of condemnation.

8 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Allyship Must Be an Actionable Activity for Modern Law Firms to Thrive

By Curt Toll, Alex Scarola and Nikki Lewis Simon | October 13, 2021

Simply put, allyship, like success, does not occur in a vacuum, and its objectives are not the purview of one or two individuals, but rather requires a team approach—from hiring and integration to cultivation and advancement to social justice and civic investment decisions.

6 minute read

Law.com

How I Made It: 'A Successful DEI Leader Is a Good Listener Who Is Able to Understand Perspectives From Across the Spectrum of Job Titles and Demographics,' Says Tamika Walters, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Burr & Forman

By Tasha Norman | October 13, 2021

"Have the courage to do things differently and take a path that diverges from the leaders who came before you. You can chart your own course, staying true to your values and your intuition. You may very well become the paradigm that someone else wants to follow."

7 minute read

Texas Lawyer

Haynes and Boone Hires NY Lawyer as First Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys | October 13, 2021

Sharon Jones, a longtime diversity consultant for Haynes and Boone, will join the Am Law 100 firm as a partner and first-ever chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer.

3 minute read

The American Lawyer

Origination Credit Is Mysterious at Many Firms, and It's a Retention Problem

By Dylan Jackson | October 13, 2021

Despite the importance of origination credits to the advancement of women and minority attorneys, a 2019 study found that only 50% of firms have a written policy for origination credit.

4 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

2020: A Watershed Year for Women in Law?

By Lanique A. Roberts | October 12, 2021

The highly televised murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, sparked prolonged protests across the United States causing the country to reexamine the systematic racism embedded in our society and especially in the legal industry.

8 minute read

The Recorder

Loeb & Loeb Takes 'Fundamental Step Forward' With First Chief Diversity Officer

By Jessie Yount | October 12, 2021

Jennifer Davda was previously the West Coast diversity director at Sidley Austin.

4 minute read

New York Law Journal

GC Pay in New York Stays Strong Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

By Phillip Bantz | October 12, 2021

Gender diversity among the rankings faltered after gaining momentum the previous year while racial and ethnic diversity doubled year over year.

5 minute read

The American Lawyer

Legal Departments Have a New Scoring Tool to Assess Law Firms' DEI Efforts

By Jessica Mach | October 11, 2021

General counsel from Transunion, Microsoft, Tyson Foods and General Motors said they will ask outside counsel to complete the new MCCA scorecard.

2 minute read

Corporate Counsel

New Scoring Tool Assesses Outside Law Firms' DEI Efforts

By Jessica Mach | October 11, 2021

"I can't tell you how many times I've hoped for an industry standard to measure my outside counsels' diversity efforts. MCCA's Scorecard is that standard and meets the moment in this new era of investor focus on ESG goals," said Wanji Walcott, MCCA's chairwoman and Discover Financial Services' chief legal officer.

2 minute read