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LEGAL DEPARTMENT BEST PRACTICES: DELIVERING ON OUTSIDE COUNSEL DEI EFFORTS
LEGAL DEPARTMENTS
Legal Department Best Practices
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Delivering on Outside Counsel DEI Efforts
Four leading legal teams, 3M, Meta, Home Depot and Intel, are adopting a best-in-class approach to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with their firms. Here they share their top tips on progressive approaches to DEI in outside suppliers. Most of these ideas do not require huge amounts of investment – however, they do require legal departments to rethink existing practices with a more inclusive mindset. By Carolyn Brown
LINK BILLING AND DEI SO IT’S A ‘MUST HAVE’, NOT A ‘NICE TO HAVE’
According to Akshay Verma, Director, Head of Legal Operations at Meta, its Legal Department added diversity requirements into its Billing Guidelines in 2017. Every firm that works with Meta is required to execute and abide by these guidelines as a condition of retention, so they carry the force of a contractual obligation. Section I of Meta’s Billing Guidelines states that at least 50% of the attorneys staffed on matters must be ‘diverse’ under the ABA definition of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Secondly, this entire group of diverse lawyers must be given high value opportunities.
FOCUS ON THE QUALITY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES
The Meta legal team defines ‘high value’ opportunities as those that provide outside counsel the ability to engage more deeply with Meta’s clients, are high profile in nature and allow outside counsel to showcase their talents and further develop client relationships. Some examples include designation as the lead counsel on matters; opportunity to argue substantive motions in court; leading client meetings; and being identified as the relationship partner. Meta insists that firms are involved with the development of its diverse lawyers, which improves the retention and promotion of that diverse talent. It’s not just about diversity, but inclusion in significant ways.
FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS WHERE MOST NEEDED
Meta has concentrated on implementing its DEI criteria with its top 40 law firms by spend. These were the sup-
Akshay Verma
Director, Head of Legal Operations, Meta
pliers which needed more diversity and accounted for the majority of Meta’s legal spend.
MAKE DATA THE BASIS FOR CONVERSATION AND COLLABORATION
Many of Meta’s law firms reported that they were constantly providing data with no subsequent client follow up. The legal team made it a priority to sit down with each of the 40 law firms after the first year of data collection to discuss what was in the data with context around Meta’s efforts and goals. This provided opportunities for feedback and improvement and revealed some key learning lessons in the process. It also created opportunities to collaborate and work together to increase DEI. Examples include the creation of a program for diverse first year law students before they start law school and a 2L summer internship program.
The data collected for this process doesn’t have to be captured by your legal team. There are plenty of third-party organizations who capture law firm data. Meta suggests that you don’t exhaust your resources on the data capture unless you have that capability. It also thinks it’s important to focus on what the data tells you and what you will do with those insights.
TAKE FEEDBACK AND KEEP LEARNING
In the conversations with its outside law firms on diversity data and goals, Meta also took feedback on various topics, including when it did not live up to its own aims.
PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CORPORATE ATTORNEYS
Intel has always had a number of pipeline programs to provide the company with a larger pool of qualified candidates. This includes the Law & Policy Group’s summer associate program, which allows Intel attorneys to work with and mentor diverse students from various law schools. In 2020, Intel’s Law & Policy Group hosted virtually its inaugural Technology Law Summit for diverse law students. “The goal was to introduce students to opportunities and careers in tech law, and also hopefully provide some networking opportunities,” says Evangelina Almirantearena, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Antitrust and Commercial Litigation.
Also, as a part of its DEI efforts, Intel has committed $5 million over five years to a partnership with the law school at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), to create a new tech law and policy center. This will make NCCU the only HBCU and law school in the country with a Tech Law Center that focuses on technology disparities and social justice. The partnership also entails contributing legal and strategic expertise, training, summer internships and Intel mentors for both students and faculty members.
STRIVING FOR ABOVE AVERAGE DIVERSITY STANDARDS
In 2016, Intel launched an outside counsel program that focuses on ways to encourage and incentivize law firms doing work for Intel to support DEI initiatives and to increase the diversity and inclusion of the teams that represent Intel. “We set full representation goals and we collect quarterly data from the firms and provide incentives for improvement,” explains Almirantearena.
LEGAL DEPARTMENTS
Evangelina Almirantearena
Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Antitrust and Commercial Litigation, Intel
She adds: “The company added another component to the program that sets minimum diversity standards for the equity partnership of the firms Intel does business with.” Beginning January 1, 2021, Intel opted not to retain or use outside law firms in the U.S. that are average or below average on diversity. Under the ‘Intel Rule,’ law firms must meet two ‘above average’ diversity criteria: (1) at least 21% of the firm’s U.S. equity partners are women, and (2) at least 10% of the firm’s U.S. equity partners are underrepresented minorities, defined by race other than white/Caucasian, self-identified as LBGTQ+, disabled or veterans.
FOSTERING INCLUSIVE LEADERS AND COMPANY CULTURE
Intel’s global Diversity and Inclusion program provides a source of community for employees, empowering them to drive inclusive practices in their work environment. This unique platform provides sharing of best practices, videos, podcasts and scenario cards used to encourage critical conversations. To help foster leadership skills needed to build diverse and inclusive, high-performing teams, the Law & Policy Group rolled out a broader Intel-wide initiative – the Inclusive Leaders program. As a part of the six-part program, colleagues interested in inclusive leadership gather monthly for facilitated discussions. “The goal is for everyone to learn from each other about how to be a better inclusive leader and to have frank and open discussions about inclusion,” says Almirantearena.
Intel also has developed a set of best practices to mitigate the influence of unconscious bias in the hiring process. These practices include posting formal requisitions using impartial descriptions of qualifications for all open jobs and having diverse slates of candidates as well as diverse hiring panels.
RESPONDING TO THE URGENT NEEDS OF COMMUNITIES
The importance of 3M’s racial equity, social justice and workplace inclusion endeavors was thrust to the forefront by the events of 2020. The Legal Affairs Pro Bono Committee organized efforts to respond to the urgent needs of low-income neighbors, including housing eviction expungements. Pro bono volunteers contributed more than a thousand hours in partnership with local organizations such as the Neighborhood Justice Center and Twin Cities Diversity In Practice (TCDIP). In doing so, volunteers were able to help those who could not afford legal or other services to assert their rights and protect their homes.
WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE
The Maturity Model Subcommittee of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee measures the progress of 3M Legal Affairs in advancing diversity and inclusion. “What gets measured, gets done,” says Ivan Fong, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Policy Officer and Secretary. Since 2014, a Maturity Model Assessment has been conducted roughly every 18 months, where members of the Legal Affairs team are asked for their observations and recommendations.
In 2020, Legal Affairs expanded its reach to include international colleagues and to use more rigorous statistical methods to analyze and interpret the outcomes. Results of the Maturity Model are used to identify opportunities for improvement in areas such as recruitment, talent pipeline, training, development, promotions, leadership and community outreach. “It gives our D&I Committee a roadmap for where to prioritize and what to focus on the following year,” says Fong.
Ivan Fong
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Policy Officer and Secretary, 3M
In an effort to leverage transparency to help hold large law firms and legal departments in the Twin Cities accountable, in late 2020 a new organization was launched, called the Minnesota Coalition of Bar Associations of Color. Fong serves as an advisor to the group, which consists of leaders of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Minnesota American Indian Bar Association. With the aid of 3M data analytics, the organization sponsored a project that collected and published disaggregated DEI data from large law firms and corporate legal departments in Minnesota. The report revealed the representation of women and racial and ethnic groups in the legal market. “The benefit is that 3M’s Legal Department can see how it fares in comparison to other departments,” Fong says.
CREATING A CULTURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
A key part of 3M’s inclusion advocacy work is psychological safety programming, which has proven helpful to support the well-being of employees in Legal Affairs and across the company. “By making it psychologically safe for people to speak up and contribute, we help promote a workplace where people have a sense of belonging, where people enjoy coming into work,” says Fong. “We want everybody to feel welcomed, to have a sense of being appreciated for who they are, and to be included. We actively promote it. We talk about it. We measure it.” Workers are rated in their annual performance review on the extent to which they show inclusive behaviors.
BUILDING SUCCESS TOGETHER FOR DEI
Legal Department committees develop initiatives designed to support The Home Depot’s DEI efforts through various feedback channels including focus groups, ‘courageous conversations,’ seminars, webinars, benchmarking and surveys. The Building Success Together Committee, responsible for designing programs that promote cultural awareness and inclusion within the law department, has launched a series of DEI fireside chats.
“The goal is to create interactions and interviews that allow us to get to know each other better, to understand similarities and differences in our life experiences, and to have a safe forum for asking questions and talking about difficult issues,” says Teresa Wynn Roseborough, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. In 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic and social justice unrest, the company held a series of ‘caring conversations’ where leaders heard from people of different backgrounds within the department who shared their experiences.
DEVELOPING COMMUNITY IMPACT THROUGH PRO BONO SERVICES
The Legal Department’s Building Success Together Committee for Pro Bono works with a broad spectrum of organizations including Equal Justice Works, Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, Atlanta Legal Aid Society and the Pro Bono Partnership. Home Depot Legal associates provide pro bono services ranging from preparing wills to adoption papers to protective orders in domestic violence cases. Also, The Home Depot’s General Counsel hosts an annual awards program that recognizes associates’ commitment and leadership in supporting pro bono legal representation.
LEGAL DEPARTMENTS
Teresa Roseborough
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, The Home Depot
PUTTING DIVERSITY TOP OF MIND AT MAJORITY LAW FIRMS
The Legal Department has designed outside counsel guidelines to promote DEI and to ensure the department is intentional about how it partners with third-party legal service providers. The Legal Department measures its utilization of women- and minority-owned law firms as well as the level of diversity and inclusion within large law firms that do business with The Home Depot, notes Roseborough. In an annual survey sent to outside law firms doing work with The Home Depot, diversity demographics are requested. To the extent that these law firms are using local counsel, court reporters and other vendors, the Legal Department expects them to put diversity top of mind in recruiting and promoting talent.
CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
The company’s annual Voice of the Associate Survey helps determine what level of engagement associates have and how emotionally connected they are to their jobs, to leaders and to the company. Surveys have been conducted within the Legal Department to ask people how they’re feeling. “At the end of the day, it’s all about making everybody feel included,” says Roseborough. “So, if I tell you that 90% of the associates in the law departments feel included and that they can bring their authentic selves to work, it’s a problem that 10% don’t feel that same way. We have to work to get to the place where everybody feels comfortable at work, brings their authentic selves to work and contributes effectively to the success of the department.”
