“We think we can help if we can be clear and unambiguous and hold firms financially accountable.”
HP now requires its outside law firms to have at least one diverse so-called relationship partner or at least one “woman
and one racially/ethnically diverse attorney each performing at least 10 percent of the billable hours worked on HP matters.” (A woman who is also a minority will cover the requirements as long as she bills the requisite 10 percent.)
“Law is the least diverse white-collar profession,” said Jean Lee, the chief executive of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, an organization
that focuses on the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse lawyers.
“A lot of companies made a concerted effort to increase diversity internally, and now they are demanding diversity at the firms they use.”
“One of the challenges in the legal profession is that, despite all of the focus, the lack of diversity is a stubborn
and persistent problem,” said Kim Rivera, HP’s general counsel.
Morgan Stanley’s chief legal officer, Eric Grossman, in addition to encouraging diverse teams, also annually
names one of its outside law firms as the recipient of a leadership award in diversity and inclusion.
“We put a lot of weight not just on the diverse and female attorneys who work on Morgan Stanley matters,
but also on how many diverse lawyers they have in the firm and the depth of their sponsorship programs they have to promote overall diversity.
“Companies are now using a carrot and stick approach
because the carrot approach alone didn’t work,” said Ms. Lee of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.