Redwood Analytics

Today's post is guest authored by Grace Lee.  Grace is the Product Manager for Lexis Diversity Insight.

I was just at Martindale-Hubbell's Counsel to Counsel Summit in LA last week, and it was an energetic and thought-provoking event.  The overall theme was maximizing inside/outside counsel relationships, and I had the opportunity to moderate a panel on diversity with a great group of thought leaders: Hossein Nowbar from Microsoft, Richard Tom from Southern California Edison, Jim Pinto from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and Kathleen Nalty from the Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence (CCIE). 

Our topic was on managing diversity expectations between corporate counsel and their outside counsel.  Not surprisingly, whenever there's an effort that requires involvement from multiple parties, it's critical that everybody is on the same page when it comes to definitions, expectations, etc.  We started off the panel discussing what "diversity" meant in the context of these business relationships.  It was also pointed out that it's no longer just about diversity, it's also about inclusion.  Many use them interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings.

To paraphrase from CCIE here, diversity typically refers to "compositional" information about the organization (i.e. how many people are from diverse backgrounds or communities).  Inclusion includes "the numbers" and more - it's a shift towards adjusting things like policies, communications, recruiting and retention programs, etc and aligning them all to provide an environment where differences are valued throughout the organization.  The key is that an inclusive organization shifts the responsibility of diversity to everyone rather than just one person or team.

CCIE has put together some great resources on how to build an inclusive organization.  Check it out here.

At the end of the day, diversity and inclusion are about valuing people and their perspectives and contributions.  It's not a topic only relevant to AmLaw 100 firms or firms with dedicated diversity staffs.  It's a topic relevant to firms of all shapes and sizes because at the end of the day, every firm is only as good as its people.

More to come on other areas that were discussed...