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St. Lewis, who as a professor works with students every day, says the idea of "fit" is a systemic problem. "I still find it really hard when students twist themselves in the most bizarre ways so that they can make that other person so comfortable, when it has nothing to do with their legal capacity, and their capacity to handle a file," she says. "We should be well past that in 2009." In terms of mentoring, Walwyn, a partner at WeirFoulds LLP, says it's key to retaining talented lawyers but many visible- minority and disabled lawyers don't get the kind of mentoring they need to transition from associates to partners. "The reality is my firm did it right. I got training, and I got mentoring, and I got access to partners. I was invited into every meeting that the partner had with his or her clients. And you interact with the client, and clients eventually call you. So I'm lucky that way." Not everyone is and young associates will leave big firms and go solo, move into smaller firms, or in-house if they feel they don't have good opportunities. Walwyn says he's heard countless sto- ries of black lawyers who get disillusioned and feel they have no future in a firm. They move in-house to clients and "eventually they become the lawyers who are responsible for directing work to firms. So I can tell you, I've heard from some lawyers who've gone through this that they will never give their former firm any new work because of their experiences that they've had in that firm. They direct new files . . . to their contemporaries in other firms, but it is a wake-up call when you get that comment com- ing from an associate who has jumped to a client." Retaining and promoting diverse lawyers is also good for business. As clients move toward more formal processes for choosing service providers, they are more frequently asking about diversity in requests for proposals from law firms. The practice is widespread in the United States and becoming increasingly so in Canada. "We saw a spike in the requests for diversity information and RFPs go from two per cent in the 12-month period preceding mid-2007, to about 11 per cent in the period between mid-2007 and mid-2008," says FMC's Broer. The corporate world is embracing diversity more and more and company policies often need to be reflected in the services and products used by those corporations. In the U.S., for instance, there is a movement called A Call to Action. Hundreds of corporate counsel have signed on to the declaration to improve diversity in the legal profes- sion, which includes the following pledge: "We intend to look for opportunities for firms we regularly use which positively distinguish themselves in this area. We further intend to end or limit our relationships with firms whose performance con- sistently evidences a lack of meaningful interest in being diverse." The movement is nascent in Canada, with the effort launched at a small con- ference for in-house counsel in April. Another, bringing law firms and corporate clients More diversity report online together is scheduled for November. Insurance company Aon Inc. is one of those clients starting to ask for demographic information from its legal suppliers. "We just completed an RFP for legal services in Canada and our questionnaire included questions regarding law firms' commit- ment to diversity and examples of this commitment in action," says Terrie-Lynne Devonish, chief counsel for Aon Canada. The issue is gaining prominence and it behooves law firms to change in order to serve their clients better. "Given the legal profes- sion's unique place in society, it is important that we represent, understand, and support the ever-growing diversity in our communities," says Devonish. "It may sound like a cliché but the benefits are real and one only needs to look outside of the legal profession in other areas where there are ever-increasing examples [of] these benefits." At the April Call to Action meeting, Jeffery Hewitt, general counsel for the Chippewas of Rama First Nation in Ontario and president of the Indigenous Bar Association, says when he took on his position at Rama, he fired all the law firms on its roster because, essentially, they were not really responsive to the band's needs. It was unconscionable to him that large law firms were charging the client to "learn" about them. He said if the client was a well-known hotel chain, law firms wouldn't be charging them full hourly rates to learn the legislation pertinent to providing proper service. "I, as the client, wanted to run the show," he said. "I, as a native person am telling you as a big firm what I need. One of those things was working with firms that are open and adept at working with us." Rama runs one of the largest casinos in Ontario and is a big client with a host of legal needs, as are many First Nations in Canada, says Hewitt, but big firms are not vying for our business. "We don't see them at big aboriginal gatherings, but I do see them at other trade shows because they understand those markets." Having lawyers with varied backgrounds reflects the clien- Videos: • Voices of the profession • Diversity issue cover shoot Exclusive web articles coming in October: • The myth of meritocracy • Mentoring • What the law societies are doing • Guidelines for federal legal agents • Links to diversity research www.canadianlawyermag.com/diversity tele and can be instrumental in building a firm's client base. "If from a purely business point of view, if you're looking to provide service to clients, again there's a need for diversity and this is an example which probably impacts me directly," says Choudhury. "Most law firms, including mine here, have started or are in the middle of . . . trying to get business from India. When you have such initiatives, it makes a lot of sense if you can have a few lawyers in your firm that are of Indian origin that you can use to further your initiatives." Knowing and understanding your clients' culture can provide the edge necessary to bring in and retain new business, especially in a globalized economy. "[I]f you have a culturally diverse team of lawyers, I think that it's more likely that you're going to have lawyers who will be able to understand and relate to any given cultural group. And as we all know, if you understand people and you relate to them, you are probably bet- ter equipped to be able to help them www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com OC T O BER 2009 33