Compiled for LCLD Members and the 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, or if you would like to subscribe, please email Communications Manager Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com.
1. #TalentRising: LCLD Fellow Named Office Managing Shareholder
2013 LCLD Fellow Lori Baggett has been named Managing Shareholder of the Tampa office of Carlton Fields. In addition to her engagement with LCLD, she is Co-Chair of the Carlton Fields Women’s Alliance and last year established a law school scholarship for African American students. Tampa Bay Business Journal
2. Big Law Backs Report Flagging Lack of Diversity in Blockchain
LCLD Member firms Crowell & Moring, Linklaters, and Norton Rose Fulbright sponsored and/or assisted in creating a report on the underrepresentation of women and people of color in the blockchain industry. One goal of the report is to build inclusion into the ndustry while it's still in its early stages. Bloomberg Law
3. Google to Reveal 2,000-Person Diversity and Inclusion Product Team
Inclusion Champions at LCLD Member organization Google test prototypes of new devices and services to ensure that they are inclusive—this includes everything from accurate rendering of skin tones to more affordable products. ABC News
4. Lateral Partner Survey Casts Doubt on Compensation as King
- On a survey from Major, Lindsey & Africa, partners making lateral moves listed anticipated compensation as the sixth most important factor in choosing a firm, and did not report any measurable increase in satisfaction when offered a compensation guarantee. The American Lawyer
- “The single most reliable predictor of lateral partner satisfaction is integration into the partnership, which can take a variety of forms and is intrinsically connected to firm culture.” Additionally, female, younger, and minority partners were influenced by a firm’s diversity or lack thereof. The American Lawyer
5. Revisiting the Rooney Rule
- The Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to interview at least one nonwhite person for head coaching positions, is a popular strategy in the corporate and law firm world. Yet NFL coaches remain overwhelmingly white. Bloomberg
- Two reasons the Rooney Rule alone isn’t enough: (1) nonwhite coaches are either being interviewed but not hired, or hired for less successful teams, where there's less potential for growth; and (2) the Rooney Rule doesn’t apply to hiring for offensive and defensive coordinator positions, which are often stepping stones to head coach positions. Bloomberg
6. 5 Strategies for Creating an Inclusive Workplace
Based on 15 years of research on gender and racial dynamics in the workplace, the Center for Talent Innovation shared the most effective ways organizations can promote inclusion: practice inclusive leadership, provide sponsorship programs, and hold leaders accountable. Harvard Business Review
7. How the Best Managers Identify and Develop Talent
“No matter how skilled your employees may be, you still need to help them grow in new ways. No matter how much an employee is struggling, you are responsible for attempting to help them find their footing,” write talent development experts Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Jonathan Kirschner. Harvard Business Review
8. OpEd: Names That Are Unfamiliar to You Aren’t “Hard,” They’re “Unpracticed”
“As a person who was taught to respect and say Tchaikovsky, Brecht, Chekhov, Stanislavi, and Hammerstein, I know my name can be learned too,” writes Gambian-American artist N’Jameh Camara in an essay on the importance of names and pronunciation. “What matters most is that we see ourselves as people whose vulnerability and mistake-making hold the potential to bring us closer.” Vogue
