Diversity Update

      Executive Summary
      Nowadays many corporate counsel are looking beyond the numbers to examine a law firm's commitment to diversity. They are not only interested in the progress of associate careers but also the diversity of a firm's practice group leaders and management. In this month's roundtable, which took place in July, our experts discuss the diversity director position at law firms, corporate counsel's expectations regarding diversity, preferred counsel lists, and advice for associates at law firms.
      The panelists are June Tai of Farella Braun + Martel and her guest Kim Rivera, associate general counsel of Clorox; Joan Haratani of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and her guest Priya Sanger, senior counsel of Wells Fargo; and Tyree Jones of Reed Smith and his guest Raymond Ramsey, corporate counsel of MV Transportation. The roundtable was moderated by Custom Publishing Editor Chuleenan Svetvilas and California Minority Counsel Program Executive Director Tania Shah and reported for Barkley Court Reporters by Krishanna DeRita.
     
      MODERATOR: More law firms now have diversity manager or directors. Is this making a difference at firms?
     
      JONES: Sixty-plus days into my position as director of diversity, I see several advantages to having a person dedicated to this role. The firm has a focal point of contact for all attorneys and staff to look to for leadership. And if it's set up correctly, that person has access to firm leaders who are the ones with whom the diversity and inclusion message starts. If it's not driven from the top down as ours is by our chairman, that program is destined to fail.
      I also report directly to the chairman and senior management team. That empowers me vis-ã-vis interacting with other offices, attorneys, and staff because they understand the importance of this initiative to firm leadership. Our objectives cannot be accomplished by one person though. With 1,500 lawyers in 21 offices throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, we need a team to administer our diversity program. I chair our diversity committee, comprised of partners and associates in each of our regions, that shares responsibility for implementing our various programs. It's just much more manageable to channel all of these efforts through one point person.
     
      TAI: Our diversity manager [at Farella] is a staff person rather than an attorney. The diversity manager position really makes a difference to the law firm. From my perspective, as a member of the diversity committee, the diversity manager has the resources and the ability to carry through on the diversity committee's suggestions. We propose a lot of ideas for programs, such as annual diversity workshops. Our diversity manager is able to implement these ideas. She's the one who researches and interviews speakers, gets input from the diversity committee, and organizes these programs. She also provides some continuity in terms of what we've done in previous years and what topics or activities we should consider in future programs.
     
      RIVERA: I don't think we're going to see an impact on the numbers yet, but it's early. I think it's too soon to judge the impact at firms. These positions are emerging. But I do think that the existence of these positions makes a difference because of how challenging and hard diversity work is; it requires people to give it focus, to roll up their sleeves and work to make it happen. Recruiting and retaining talented lawyers is very tough. Firms and corporations know that. And to do it with minority professionals is even harder. Having talented people dedicated to this work is part of that hard work. These positions give visibility to this effort, which is essential for progress. Progress won't happen without concerted effort and hard work. These positions are a key step in the right direction.
     
      JONES: The position has impact. Everyone in the firm who is committed to diversity and inclusion is charged with figuring out how we implement this notion of diversity and inclusion, which means by definition, how we get people more comfortable talking about an uncomfortable subject. That's the real challenge. How do we change structure? To really effect change in this area, firms have to do better managing their resources, their assets, and the attorneys they bring in the door, to maximize the chance of retaining them.
     
      HARATANI: It's not going to be one size fits all. It's going to be whatever communicates to the folks in your firm's culture that this is an important message and that the old way of doing things is no longer acceptable. So whether it be through a point person who's staff or an attorney or some other mechanism, it's important that the chair of the firm or whoever the firm looks to as its guidepost on culture and values is consistent and honest in the message of wanting to ensure that diversity is part of the firm's identity, from recruiting to retention to promotion.
      [At Morgan Lewis], we house MCCA [Minority Corporate Counsel Association] in our Washington, D.C., office, so we have a lot of visible key points of commitment to diversity. We have a very robust diversity committee. The attorney of color conference that we are having again next year was a huge communication tool for the message. Whether we embody that with a person who embraces the job like Tyree [Jones] or as a full-time staff person as June [Tai]'s firm does, remains to be seen. But I'm heartened by the fact that we have these conferences and that there are people like me on the diversity committee.
     
      SANGER: Three years ago, Wells Fargo started the Legal Group Diversity Council in its law department. With its impact, I now see more diversity in our entry-level internal hiring and outside counsel hiring. We still need to work on cultivating diverse leaders for middle and senior management.
     
      CMCP: What do you expect to see when a law firm says it's diverse?
     
      RAY: A critical mass is what I wish to have, not just one associate or one partner, but a high percentage of female attorneys, a high percentage of minority attorneys. I also look for a track record. One year you see zero African American attorneys when you look at the NALP [National Association for Law Placement] form, the next year there's one, and then two years from now it's zero again. I'm looking for continuity because that shows development. When I assign the matters out to a firm, I want to see that it is actively trying to develop these attorneys and that they actually have an opportunity to work meaningfully on a case.
      Sometimes I include a restriction that this is assigned to attorney X, I would like her to argue all the key motions in the case. A lot of this is driven by the clients. If you have clients who don't have a problem with the firm being all white and the firm is still making money, there's not much of a basis for them to implement that change. When you have a client saying, "I really want to see more diversity at the firm, otherwise, I'm going to move these cases in the future," you start to see change.
     
      RIVERA: I look at what they are saying on this issue and how transparent they are about what's going on. Then I look at what the data says about that effort. I also look for commitment to diversity in broad terms.
      I am interested in what's being done with associates, but I'm also looking for diverse and minority heads of practice groups and firm management. To the extent a firm is transparent about its equity partnerships; I'm looking to see who the equity partners are and whether the firm is focused on broadening attorney participation in those areas, which are the true power structures of the firms.
     
      SANGER: The first thing I want to know is the makeup of the team. When I get pitches from law firms saying, "I'd like to represent you," I ask who's on the team. I will make sure that the person who's the relationship manager is the female or minority associate in half of my representations that I've retained. Wells Fargo is all over the country and some parts of the country where we exist there isn't as much diversity as there is in San Francisco.
      When I'm dealing with firms in less diverse areas, I want to see their commitment. I want to see a firm that's trying to be successful even if they are not there yet. If they are still striving, I won't penalize that, but if it's a firm in San Francisco and there's no female, minority, or LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] attorney, I think that's a travesty. Sometimes a firm will not have a diverse attorney at all in a practice group, and I ask that they be brought in and mentored at a slightly lower attorney rate so they can learn. We can play a role in a firm's diversity succession planning.
     
      RAY: When I hand out work, if it goes to a young minority associate or a mid-level associate, that associate's stature has now been raised within the firm. So it's incumbent on in-house counsel to realize that not only are you giving out work to this firm, but you are also affecting the attorney's career. Certainly that attorney has to have experience and be able to handle the case, but given all that, if I have a choice of where I can send work, I definitely will take into account the diversity of that firm.
      I will ask minority associates, and "If you are the only minority associate at the firm, and if this work comes to you, will you get the origination credit? What does it look like for you for the bonus because it's going to be a substantial piece of work? How are you being received in the firm?"
     
      CMCP: Do you maintain a preferred counsel list and how much has diversity been a factor in developing that list?
     
      RAY: When I began working at MV Transport about two years ago, we had numerous firms that did work for the company. When I winnowed it down to the firms that have diversity, we now have five firms on the "A" list. I don't know if the list is going to expand any time soon, but the message has gotten out.
      There are three things that are most important to me that I look for in outside counsel. One is obviously cost. We are under heavy pressure when it comes to those monthly bills. The second one is diversity and the third is experience. What experience do you have handling these cases? I actually weigh all three equally.
     
      RIVERA: We have a group of firms that we typically use to handle our matters, including certain minority-owned firms. These firms aren't set in stone. We use many criteria, including diversity, but what we are looking for are lawyers and firms that provide excellent services in the areas that we need. It's a very competitive world. We are always looking at and evaluating the firms on key criteria including their diversity performance.
     
      SANGER: Wells Fargo does not maintain an official preferred counsel list, and that's by choice because we engage a lot of different firms. We want firms to improve their diversity efforts and we reward that. There are firms we go to frequently because of the people with whom we have very positive relationships. We tend to use certain types of big firms for large litigation matters.
      All of us get graded on our monthly retention of outside counsel. Every month we are reporting on it. At the end of the year, we have a component of our bonus that depends on whether we hired outside counsel who were diverse. It works. Those of us who would hire minority, women, and LGBT attorneys anyway have even more reason to do it. But it gets the people who wouldn't normally think about it to start thinking about it because it actually affects them.
     
      MODERATOR: What advice do you have for associates at law firms?
     
      TAI: You have outside clients and you need too build those relationships. But you also have partners who you work for and those are also your clients. From our discussion today, it sounds like partners really want to help, but perhaps associates don't really take advantage of or realize how much others can help?particularly if they don't know what the associate needs. So in some sense, you have to speak up and you have to express, "I want to do that deposition. I want to write that motion." You have to say, "Yes, I want to participate in that."
      The fact of the matter is that there aren't a lot of minority or women partners at any law firm. But this is an opportunity for you to learn from various people who have had a wealth of experience regardless of background.
     
      RAY: Many minority associates may miss the point that the first client really is the partner or senior attorney that he or she works for. If you don't impress that individual and turn in quality work, speak eloquently, and forcefully look people in the eye, they are not going to put you in front of the client. If you don't do well in front of them, you are not going to get an opportunity to speak in front of clients. Don't miss that opportunity. That partner who you are working for and that relationship will take you to the next one.
     
      HARATANI: The law firm environment is what it is, but we can try to influence and make change. The one entity that you have control over is yourself. I really believe in self-empowerment. I see a lot of young folks being afraid that they can't be who they are or to speak comfortably from their own personality. There's a tremendous amount of power in being who you are in a manner that maximizes the potential of success in your environment.
     
      SANGER: When you hear "no" and you are a diverse attorney, don't assume it's because you are diverse. Find out what they want for the position you would like to have and then ask, "What do you require? How can I get there?" Then they know you are interested and they will help you get the skills to get to that position even if it's not that position itself. People in power may not look like us, but we shouldn't assume that "no" means "no forever" because you don't look the part. That's not necessarily what's being said.
     
      RIVERA: You cannot be disheartened because you don't get a particular opportunity or because the path that you've been focused on doesn't turn out exactly the way you planned. I've been fortunate in my career to have many great opportunities and great mentors. I've also not gotten certain jobs, lost cases, had roadblocks. But I really learned a lot from them. You have to take the opportunity to learn from it, rather than focusing on what you didn't get.
      I didn't learn this entirely on my own. It took someone telling me, "Ask a broad set of people to give you feedback." As you mature you realize that your career path can be very long, but the important thing is to be open and to not have a preconceived notion about who can give you valuable feedback. The most pleasant surprise of my career is that 99.9 percent of the time, when I have said I need feedback, help, or advice, people have responded beautifully. But you have to ask.
     
      JONES: When I'm talking to a young associate who is upset about something, I say, "It's all right to be upset, but what are you going to do?" Some days you do go home discouraged. Everyone does. But you can't let a setback stop you. Be skilled and prepared. Make yourself available for opportunity so when it presents itself, you'll be ready. Take control of your career.
     
      June Tai is a litigation associate in Farella Braun + Martel's Intellectual Property & Technology Group and a member of the firm's Professional Development and Diversity Committees. Ms. Tai has represented clients in a broad spectrum of complex civil litigation. She focuses her practice on patent, trade secret, and trademark and copyright disputes affecting clients in software, semiconductor, consumer products, and various other industries.
      jtai@fbm.com
     
      Kim Rivera is Vice President & Associate General Counsel for The Clorox Company. She is responsible for Clorox's global compliance program and the delivery of legal services to its international businesses. Ms. Rivera also oversees employment matters and litigation. She is a member of the Clorox Management Committee and chairs the Clorox Latino Employee Resource Group and the Clorox Social Responsibility Advisory Committee. Before joining Clorox, Ms. Rivera served as Rockwell Automation's Vice President Law and Chief Litigation Counsel.
      kim.rivera@clorox.com
     
      Joan Haratani is a partner with Morgan Lewis. She is a Daily Journal "Top 75 Women Litigator" and the recipient of the 2007 ADL Distinguished Jurisprudence Award. Ms. Haratani is also the Recent Past President of BASF and its first woman of color president. She has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Asian Americans in America by Avenue Asia Magazine and was the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area's 2001 award recipient for Exceptional Legal Advocacy.
      jharatani@morganlewis.com
     
      Priya Sanger is Senior Counsel at Wells Fargo in the Strategy and Operational Risk Group. She focuses on domestic and international banking transactions, risk, strategy, and compliance. Ms. Sanger was involved in opening a Wells Fargo UK Branch in London, and Wells Fargo India Solutions in Hyderabad. Formerly President of the S.F. Bank Attorneys Association, Ms. Sanger serves on the Foundation Board of BASF. She was voted "Top 20 Lawyer Under 40" in the USA by NAPABA and sits on the NAMWOLF Advisory Council.
      priya.s.sanger@wellsfargo.com
     
      Tyree P. Jones, Jr. is the Director of Diversity for Reed Smith LLP responsible for implementing Reed Smith's global diversity and inclusion program in 21 offices throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. A twenty-year advocate for diversity in the Bay Area, he now is resident in Reed Smith's Washington, D.C., office, where he maintains a thriving national litigation practice emphasizing complex class action disputes involving commercial, employment, and civil rights claims.
      tpjones@reedsmith.com
     
      Raymond J. Ramsey is the Corporate Counsel at MV Transportation, Inc., the largest privately owned passenger transportation company in the United States, where he oversees labor and employment, and litigation matters. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Cecil Poole, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and as a Staff Attorney for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Ramsey is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Wiley Manuel Law Foundation, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials.
      rramsey@mvtransit.com
     
      California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) is a membership organization with the central mission of maximizing opportunities for attorneys of color. Membership consists of attorneys from majority- and minority-owned firms, corporations, and public agencies. Founded in 1989, CMCP is the most successful minority counsel program of its kind in the nation. CMCP promotes diversity in California's legal profession and increased opportunities for attorneys of color.
      cmcp.org
     
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