Exciting new series on “Voice, Body and Movement for Lawyers – How to connect with the jury and find Justice Through Dramatic Technique!”
Click here to find out moreCorporations are selecting law firms that have active diversity and inclusion initiatives, and are working less with law firms that do not have verifiable programs enhancing the diversity of their law firms. In fact, Hewlett Packard (HP) states that they may withhold up to 10 percent of invoiced fees for failure to meet HPs diversity standards. Specifically, HP requires firms to “field (i) at least one diverse firm relationship partner, regularly engaged with HP on billing and staffing issues; or (ii) at least one woman and one racially/ethnically diverse attorney, each performing or managing at least 10% of the billable hours worked on HP matters. In order to obtain work from larger companies that support increased diversity, many law firms have created diversity initiatives in order to meet the diversity requirements of these major corporations. Thus, a law firm, which doing good, must be aware of the risks associated with enhancing the diversity of their law firm. For example, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has “established substantive area priorities and set forth strategies to integrate all components of EEOC's private, public, and federal sector enforcement to have a sustainable impact in advancing equal opportunity and freedom from discrimination in the workplace. The EEOC often performs systemic discrimination investigations and law firms must study their recruitment and hiring practices to minimize risks and determine whether there are any issues that may be a red flag for the EEOC. In addition, law firms must be aware that any documents such as a diversity audit generated to “minimize risks may be evidence in an EEOC action or litigation. Likewise, there are legal risks associated with diversity training programs, and law firms must carefully scrutinize any trainers that are brought in to avoid a potential lawsuit. This program will highlight the proper way to perform a diversity audit to potentially protect the law firms documents from the EEOC and Plaintiffs lawyers. In addition, this program will review case law where companies have been exposed to lawsuits as a result of the actions of outside consultants hired to perform diversity training. The program will also provide strategies to avoid risk, while at the same time promoting diversity and reducing exposure should a law firm face litigation.
