Each law firm or legal department has its own culture, politics, resources available for diversity and
inclusion, etc., and these requirements should be
considered when developing the substantive work
assessment.
Selecting the right person to develop the assessment, if conducted internally, is also important. Do they
have sufficient seniority such that attorneys will be
responsive or is it important to downplay any issues or
errant queries by having mid-level human resources or
business development personnel manage the assessment? If confidentiality is an issue or a detailed report
is required by management, it may be important to
hire an external consultant to develop, implement and
analyze the assessment. Having an influential partner
or the general counsel involved may provide the gravity
required to obtain responses and for responding parties
to take the assessment seriously.
If the results are neutral or favorable for diverse
attorneys, the legal organization’s work is not yet
complete. A substantive work assessment, whether
formal or informal, should be conducted periodically
to ensure that all attorneys maintain equitable access
to substantive work. Knowledge that substantive work
assessments may be conducted from time to time may
help preempt or remedy any potential bias issues that
could arise.
In my work with individual attorneys and law firms
on diversity and inclusion, one of the most challenging
issues across the board is retaining diverse attorneys.
Ensuring that diverse attorneys have equitable access
to the substantive keys to a lawyer’s success is a strong
argument for retaining that talent. Given the potential
considerations involved to develop, implement, analyze
and execute findings in connection with a substantive
work assessment, it may be beneficial to work with an
experienced diversity and inclusion professional. ■
BENDITA CYNTHIA Malakia (
malakiamovement@gmail.com)
is the founder of Malakia Movement LLC, a coaching and
diversity consultancy for lawyers. She is a Harvard-trained
lawyer with large law firm, in-house counsel and professional
coaching experience.
