Compiled for the LCLD Board of Directors every Wednesday, this digest is designed to brief you on the latest headlines about LCLD Members and organizations, as well as thought-provoking articles on diversity in the legal profession, talent development, mentoring, and leadership. Past issues of the Digest are also archived on the LCLD web site.
If you have questions about the Digest, articles you'd like to share, of if you would like to subscribe, please email Communications Specialist Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com.
1. In Columbus, Creating an Ecosystem to Advance Diversity
LCLD, 7/20/17
“The networks we’re creating – whether national or local – that’s where the power is,” says LCLD Member Kurt Tunnell; his firm, Bricker & Eckler LLP, recently hosted two events for Fellows and Pathfinders focusing on diversity and leadership within the Ohio legal community.
2. How Four Firms Are Moving the Needle on Diversity
Law360, 7/23/17
In the last 13 years, LCLD Member firm FordHarrison LLP has greatly improved its gender diversity; today, two women sit on the firm’s seven-member executive committee and eight of 25 office managing partners are women, says Diversity and Inclusion Partner Dawn Siler-Nixon.
3. Legal Industry Leads in Transgender Policies for Employees
Bloomberg Big Law Business, 7/19/17
As the number of LGBT lawyers increases – 3.8 percent of associates at big law firms are openly LGBT – law firms are working to become more inclusive, says Anna Brown, North American Diversity & Inclusion Director at LCLD Member firm Baker & McKenzie LLP.
4. Seyfarth Shaw’s ‘Rooney Presumption’ Drives Sudden Surge in Minority Hiring
The National Law Journal, 7/21/17
After implementing a variation on the Rooney Rule, 44 percent of associates hired at LCLD Member firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP this year are women or minorities, says 2011 Fellow Laura Maechtlen.
5. Why Women Aren’t CEOs, According to Women Who Almost Were
The New York Times, 7/21/17
“Getting looked over is incredibly painful, particularly when you’re not sure why after all these years,” said Sally Blount, Dean of the Kellogg School of Management. “I used to love the word ‘gravitas.’ I now think it’s male code for ‘not like us’ at the highest levels.”
6. The Lawyer, the Addict
The New York Times, 7/15/17
“I firmly believe that law-firm culture, particularly at big firms, has to become more compassionate and more aware of the signs that one of their own is struggling,” writes Eilene Zimmerman, whose ex-husband, a lawyer, recently died from complications of drug addiction.
