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. The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity: Still Answering the Call
Savoy Magazine, 7/10/18
“Having groomed a new and more diverse generation of leaders, it’s imperative that we revisit old ways of recruiting, retaining, evaluating, assigning, incentivizing, and rewarding the diverse talent that comes to work in our law firms and legal departments,” writes LCLD President Robert Grey.
2. Women Partners, Law Firm Leaders Have Vastly Different Big Law Lives, Study Shows
The Recorder, 8/3/18
In a recent ABA survey, 79 percent of law firm leaders said gender diversity is a priority at their firm, but just 54 percent of women agreed. Women and men also had vastly different experiences in other areas—for example, 54 percent of women said they had been denied a salary increase or bonus, compared to just 1 percent of men.
3. How the Legal Industry Lets Down Lawyers with Disabilities
Law360, 8/13/18
Just 22 of the 100 largest law firms in the U.S. say they explicitly include people with disabilities in their diversity statements, and only 13 have initiatives dedicated to attorneys with disabilities, according to a recent survey by Law360. Additionally, in 2018, LCLD Member Steptoe & Johnson LLP was the sole law firm recognized on the Disability Equality Index.
4. What It Takes to Be a Trial Lawyer if You’re Not a Man
The Atlantic, September 2018
“The problem isn’t merely that women are outnumbered in the courtroom. It’s that men occupy the positions of power in staggering proportions,” writes law professor Lara Bazelon of the sexism female litigators face in the courtroom.
5. To Bring Big Law Into the Future, Professionalize Legal Ops
LinkedIn, 8/10/18
LCLD Member Kimberly Johnson, Chair of Quarles & Brady, details how innovations like the addition of legal operations officers can improve the law firm-client relationship and make the practice of law more efficient.
6. The Bamboo Glass Ceiling
Slate, 8/8/18
Asian American women in the workplace face a unique set of challenges, particularly in dispelling the “model minority” myth and combating stereotypes that Asian women are either too submissive or too aggressive.
