Achieving Sustainable Diversity – Colorado’s New Approach

The Diversity “Dilemma”

Nationally, the legal profession is at the bottom of the list for all professions in terms of diversity, with minorities comprising only 9.7% of all attorneys (compared to physicians at over 24%).  Here in Colorado, that number is worse -- only 6.9% of attorneys are racial and ethnic minorities.  But these statistics tell just a part of the story.  When taken in context, there is cause for even greater concern, especially for law firms.  Increased client demand for greater diversity, troubling minority associate attrition rates, and declining law school applications by minority students are leading many to conclude that current diversity efforts are not working and dramatic change is required. 

Since 2004, over one hundred Fortune 500 companies have signed the Call to Action initiative, which requires law firms to increase their diversity or risk losing signatory corporations as clients (www.clocalltoaction.com).  The momentum behind the Call to Action continues to build as corporate legal counsel such as Miguel Rivera, Associate General Counsel at Wal-Mart, become more vocal about the issue (see his remarks during a speech in Denver in March 2008 at www.colegaldiversity.org).

The Call to Action was initiated and is driven in large part by the alarming statistics on law firm attrition.  A decade of research by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) reveals that “[m]inority associates depart their law firm employers at higher annual rates than do non-minority associates.”  The percentages of attrition grow alarmingly high as associates approach partnership.  For example, by the eighth year of employment, when partnership often comes into play, more than 86% of female attorneys of color have left their firms, according to a 2006 American Bar Association study.  This leaves very few minorities, and especially female attorneys of color, available for partnership in law firms.

While high attrition rates among diverse attorneys are capturing the lion’s share of the attention right now, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that law school applications among minority students are in decline and not expected to increase anytime soon, according to the Law School Admission Council.  Without an adequate “pipeline” of diverse students into the profession, issues of increased client demand and high attrition rates may become even more acute.

Colorado’s Legal Community Comes Together to Address Diversity

Recognizing that diversity efforts in Colorado needed a stronger focal point to address these pressing issues, the two law school deans in Colorado – David Getches, University of Colorado (CU) Law School, and Beto Juárez, University of Denver (DU) Sturm College of Law – decided in 2006 that the entire legal community needed to take action.  To that end, they formed the Deans’ Diversity Council (DDC), a group of the top leaders from all sectors of the Colorado legal community (education, private practice, public sector, corporate, bar associations, and the judiciary).

At the DDC’s first meeting in November 2006, the deans were joined by forty-five leaders of the profession, including the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Attorney General, the managing partners of 25 law firms, the Denver District Attorney, and the Colorado Bar Association President.  The group generated ideas for the inaugural Rocky Mountain Legal Diversity Summit, a major diversity conference held in Denver in September 2007.  A number of Council members also made long-term commitments to volunteer for working groups which have researched best practices and developed strategies in the areas of Pipeline (supply of diverse students), Recruiting, and Retention.

The Deans’ Diversity Council has proven to be a tremendous catalyst of energy and enthusiasm in the Denver legal community to find meaningful solutions to the diversity dilemma.  Since the first DDC meeting, the Council joined with other legal diversity groups in Denver to conduct a major diversity survey of Colorado’s legal community.  The survey was sent to over 5000 Denver-area attorneys and provided baseline data on a variety of issues impacting pipeline issues as well as the recruiting and retention of diverse attorneys.

The Council also developed a Vision Statement that calls for the creation of cultures of inclusion by the year 2016:

Diversity in the legal profession fosters both legal excellence and social equality.  The Council is committed to transformation of the legal profession with the following results:  By the year 2016, all Denver metro law firms and corporate legal departments will have successfully developed and implemented initiatives that create cultures of inclusion where attorneys of all backgrounds succeed without regard to gender, race, religion, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation.

To achieve this Vision, the Council recently created a new nonprofit – Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence (CCIE) – that will provide the resources to help legal organizations create cultures of inclusion (www.colegaldiversity.org).

Inclusive Excellence – The Key to Real Success

The term “Inclusive Excellence” is a new paradigm for the legal profession (see www.aacu.org  for more on this term, coined by the American Association of Colleges and Universities).  It moves beyond numbers, and involves embedding practices and philosophies that encourage diversity in every aspect of an organization.  Demographics are a critical component of any diversity initiative but as long as diversity in the legal profession is viewed, as it largely has been, as an outcome—a number, a strategy or a phase—progress will be elusive.

The 2008 Rocky Mountain Legal Diversity Summit, sponsored by CCIE, introduced the Denver legal community to the practical steps for creating inclusiveness environments.  It featured Vernā Myers, a nationally recognized expert in legal diversity and inclusiveness as well as Mr. Rivera who spoke about the compelling business case for diversity (see related story at www.colegaldiversity.org).

According to Wal-Mart’s Miguel Rivera, "If firms build an inclusive environment ..., the 'diversity problem' will take care of itself -- [diverse attorneys] will come ... and will flourish."  Until now, most legal organizations have been at a loss as to how to transform their cultures.  CCIE has developed a unique educational program to help legal employers create inclusive workplaces where all attorneys, including those who are diverse, want to stay and feel deeply connected and valued.  A key part of the program is a manual (adapted from a similar workbook by the Denver Foundation, see www.denverfoundation.org) that helps legal organizations work through the process of transforming their cultures with a six-step process.   A working draft of the manual was circulated for the first time at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Legal Diversity Conference at DU Law School on March 19, 2008.  Qwest Communication’s Legal Department is piloting the manual and documenting its progress in creating an inclusive culture.  Two law firms in Denver and the Denver City Attorney’s Office are also expected to pilot the program.

Benefits of Inclusiveness

Taking diversity efforts to the next level by building cultures of inclusion will prove to be the key to making genuine change in the legal profession.  Discrete diversity initiatives, such as recruiting or mentoring programs, while important, will never have a significant impact if they merely overlay a culture that continues to exclude diverse attorneys in many ways.  CCIE’s step-by-step process requires legal organizations to re-examine all aspects of their internal fabric, including procedures, policies, physical environment, compensation, work-assignment systems, professional development, marketing, promotions, budgeting, as well as diversity programs involving recruiting and mentoring.

Investing the time and resources to create a culture of inclusion provides many benefits to both the organization and its employees, including diverse attorneys and staff.  Improved recruitment and retention exist in a symbiotic relationship with improved collaboration, productivity, and innovation.  In turn, these increase an organization’s competitiveness, paying the organization back through enhanced client development and reputation as well as retention.  Some of these benefits include:

Employee recruitment and retention

• Environment often matters to newer attorneys more than money when they consider offers.
• An inclusive environment builds momentum for recruiting additional diverse attorneys, thereby increasing the pool of applicants.
• Employees generally stay in an environment where they feel valued, have a chance to succeed, and have opportunities for professional development.  In turn, this reduces the turnover costs of recruitment and training, as well as opportunity costs, which may be as high as $350,000 for a third-year law firm associate, according to NALP.
• Inclusive legal organizations exhibit high morale and loyalty because they provide resources to employees that may have been previously unavailable, including flexible work arrangements, on-site day care, child or senior care benefits.

Increased productivity

• Research shows that diversity increases organizational creativity, innovation, and problem solving capacity.  These characteristics necessarily contribute to productivity and enhanced competitiveness

 
Client development and retention

• Inclusive organizations are more competitive in client development and retention.  Clients (like Wal-Mart) value legal advice from a team that truly understands their business and their increasingly diverse customers.

Overall reputation

• Inclusiveness enhances an organization’s reputation.  Many attorneys and especially newer, diverse attorneys talk with each other about firm cultures and diversity.  A poor reputation can often takes years to overcome in terms of recruiting.
• Inclusive organizations feel more welcoming and inviting to vendors, visitors, and potential clients.

Generational Diversity – A New Wrinkle

The newest generation of attorneys, the Millennials, who are just beginning to graduate from law schools, provide one more reason to create cultures of inclusion.  They not only accept diversity, they expect it.  Millennials, born between 1981 and 1999, are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in history -- one out of three is a person of color.  These young people are very different from Gen X, Baby Boomers, and the War Generation.  They have grown up seeing the world differently.  For them, diversity has many dimensions.  Diversity means Korean, Latvian, Guatemalan, Peruvian, Nigerian, Russian, Norwegian, etc.  They aren’t color-blind—they see color.  But they embrace and value differences.  Millennials also see diversity as including thinking style, educational background, geographic location, generation, avocation, lifestyle, sexual orientation, gender, disability, work experience, and more.

Millennial law students are also proactive in their interest to reform the profession.  In the past year, a group of students at Stanford Law School formed a grassroots organization that ranked law firms across the country based on diversity.  The group, called Building a Better Legal Profession (BBLP, see www.buildingabetterlegalprofession.org), encourages people picking law firms—whether it is students being recruited, clients seeking legal help, or law schools deciding which firms to invite to recruit on campus—to exercise their market power and pick only firms that are genuinely committed to diversity.  Started by two white male law students, the group has already reported instances where white male members declined offers from low-ranking law firms.  New chapters of BBLP have recently been formed by students at Yale and New York University Law Schools.

In Colorado, law students at CU Law School recently created a new organization called “Diversity Awareness Now” (DAN).  This group was formed by current minority and white first year law students who determined that there was a need to aid in the recruitment of a more diverse student body and faculty, as well as to develop formal and informal learning opportunities focusing on both substantive law and policy issues surrounding diversity and the law.

The Intersection – Why Colorado’s Campaign for Change is Succeeding

The circumstances supporting such significant efforts in Colorado to increase diversity in the legal profession have been remarkable.  The legal community has rarely come together in such a momentous way to address such an important, and difficult, issue.  There have been several factors leading to the success of this effort.

The first was the formation of the DDC by Deans Juárez and Getches.  All diversity “best practices” lists start with commitment by top leadership in legal organizations.  The systemic change needed will never occur without the direct involvement and genuine commitment to diversity by an organization’s leadership.  Denver’s legal leaders responded to the law deans’ own call to action and continue to actively support the initiative.

The second factor was the formation of the Core Strategy Group of the Deans’ Diversity Council.  This executive group directed the operations of the DDC in the first year.  This group included managing partners, the law deans, a professional facilitator who was a former law partner, and diversity experts.  The combination of people on this committee and their passion for creating a sustainable diversity effort was a catalyst for major progress.

In The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson theorizes that all brilliant ideas happen when different people come together at “the intersection,” a place where creativity and innovation happen.  Here in Colorado, the “intersection” that led to the creation of CCIE happened in a short period of time and has generated a great deal of excitement and momentum.  But there were already a number of organizations working on diversity issues in Denver and it was these organizations that created the environment that allowed key players to come together at the “intersection.” 

The process began in 1993 when 23 law firms signed the “Pledge to Diversity,” vowing to do better in terms of increasing the numbers of diverse attorneys.  In 2000, the Pledge Group created a summer 1L hiring program that received an award of distinction from NALP in April 2007.  Dozens of diverse first year law students from CU and DU law schools have been employed by member law firms during their first summers and many are now associates in those firms.  The Pledge Group also awards scholarships to diverse law students and sponsors networking receptions for attorneys and students.

In addition, the Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee of the Denver and Colorado Bar Associations (DILP) has been active for many years promoting legal diversity.  One of its primary initiatives is a mentoring program that matches diverse law students at the two law schools with diverse attorneys from the minority bar associations.  Each of these organizations, in turn, organizes various events for its members to promote diversity.

These groups created an atmosphere of cooperation and communication involving all sectors of the Denver legal community around diversity issues that allowed the next phase – the DDC and CCIE -- to take hold and flourish.

The Deans’ Diversity Council continues as an advisory group to CCIE and its efforts to take legal diversity efforts in Colorado to the next level.  Regular discussions among the leaders in the legal community is vital to raising awareness of issues and solutions.  CCIE’s Board of Directors brings stakeholders from all of the legal diversity organizations to the same table, including the Pledge Group, DILP, and the diverse bar associations.  This structure provides greater organization and communication between existing legal diversity groups to avoid duplication of efforts and to move the entire community toward the new paradigm of inclusive excellence.  Also, to enhance communication throughout the legal community, CCIE has begun publishing a monthly e-newsletter.

Another major factor in the success of Colorado’s new legal diversity efforts is the deliberate adoption of a “campaign” approach to bringing inclusiveness to the Denver legal community as a sustainable solution to lack of diversity.  This approach, which favors action over endless discussion, has worked well to create tremendous momentum and excitement within the legal community.  An expectation is created that forward movement will happen.  The approach requires the following elements:

• Development of a plan that mobilizes people and doesn’t sit on a shelf.
• Energy goes into actions to maintain momentum.
• Commitment to forward movement, even without agreement of all.
• Creation of an expectation where you act your way into new thinking.
• Ideas are given life – the culture supports the notion of trying things; not everything will work but testing ideas and learning from them is more important that not trying them.

At the end of the day, one of the biggest reasons for the recent developments in Denver is the commitment of hundreds of hours of volunteer time by attorneys who are passionate about increasing diversity in the profession.  This group of attorneys is very diverse but, interestingly, key players include a number of white males.  Although white men constitute the majority of lawyers, they have largely been absent from efforts to increase diversity in the profession.  Yet, in Colorado, the opposite has been true – many of the leaders in the effort are white men – the current CCIE Board Chair, Board Treasurer, Campaign Coordinator, and Pledge Chair (all managing partners of law firms in Denver), along with one of the law deans.  They are true diversity champions; they are invested in the issue and see themselves as key players in creating cultures of inclusion.  This is a unique situation and could well be an important factor in the ultimate success of the effort.

We are genuinely hopeful in the Denver legal community that we have found the key to real and sustainable success in transforming the legal profession and increasing diversity.  The key lies in the practical step-by-step process that CCIE has created and which any legal organization can use to create the change required to increase diversity in the profession. 

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