Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50885
Indeed, Ken Fredeen, general counsel at Deloitte & Touche LLP and co-founder of Legal Leaders for Diversity, explains that as senior people within the general counsel community, the founders of the initiative are able to offer help and sup- port along the way to other corporate legal departments who may be starting diversity policies from scratch, and per- haps don't know where to begin. For example, Legal Leaders for Diversity has developed a list of 17 best practices, which signatories can benchmark against their current efforts, find the gaps, and take steps to address areas where they might not have been as strong. One of the benefits of the group, says Derbyshire, is that it involves prac- tical steps that corporate counsel can take to implement and advance diversity and inclusiveness actions within their companies. "To the extent you've got people who may not have, for one reason or another, thought about diversity a lot but want to sort of start into it, it gives you a very good list of best practices. You're not going to be able to take on all 17, you take some subset of that and begin the process," says David Allgood, execu- tive vice president and general counsel at RBC, and one of the co-founders of Legal Leaders for Diversity. From the American perspective, Lori Garrett, vice president and managing director, southeast region for the Minor- ity Corporate Counsel Association, says these programs allow corporate counsel the opportunity to be active, without requiring the same resources or cost associated with undertaking a program solely in-house. In the United States, for example, the MCCA runs the KAN-Do initia- tive, a program adopted by a number of corporations that encourage their in-house lawyers to sign up as mentors and connect with diverse lawyers across the country. In the view of several corporate counsel, recent Canadian initiatives have been designed specifically for the needs of in-house departments, rather than run by human resources or exter- nal law firms. "For those of us who have been in the in-house game longer than we were in the private practice game, or cer- tainly our careers have developed in the in-house realm, having an in-house-led initiative is exciting, because it really does take into account the type of business we do, the type of practice we have, which I think is important," says Devonish. Sanjeev Dhawan, president of the Ontario chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and senior legal coun- sel at Hydro One, also highlights the importance of a "made in Canada" solu- tion like Legal Leaders for Diversity, given the differences in history between Can- ada and the United States, and in ways of doing things in both countries. While he says Legal Leaders for Diversity and A Call to Action Canada have the right idea, Dhawan adds that his department hasn't signed on. He explains that Hydro One's own diversity policy is working well, and each organization has its own approach. "It's not to say that if you haven't signed on, you don't embrace the spirit of what they're advocating," he says. "But I think as a principle, we as an organization — our corporate diversity policy overlaps with a lot of the intent of the policy." Whether as a signatory to a corpor- ate counsel-led diversity initiative or not, many in-house counsel acknowledge and hope to exercise their role as leaders in this area within the profession."We do have a certain influence on the private legal community and one element of our thinking was to essentially provide leadership and show a good example to the outside law firms. Not to say that they weren't doing some diversity things, but we thought that they perhaps could do more," says Allgood. "When a company can turn to its legal service providers or potential legal service providers and say as part of the pitch, 'you need to tell me what you're doing within your organization, within your law firm on diversity and inclusion in terms of initiatives, but also tell me what your numbers are, tell me what your plans are for this upcoming year', that can have a real impact," says Bhasin. At the same time, the issue of how best to handle relationships with firms that may not put diversity at the top of their agenda can be a challenge. For example, for several in-house counsel, the part of the A Call to Action Canada statement where signatories "intend to end or limit our relationships with firms whose performance consist- ently evidences a lack of meaningful interest in being diverse" has been a point of resistance to joining the initiative, says Casey. However, she says the possibility of consequences for outside law firms that do not place a high priority on diversity is fundamental to the success of inclusive- ness initiatives."There has to be an eco- nomic reason because the moral suasion just isn't good enough. For better for worse, it's not good enough. And what will make a difference is the economic driver," she says. "Firms that have done this and have taken it on with passion in the States, they don't easily terminate law firms. If they see that a law firm is sort of falling back, they talk with them, they sit down with them, they try and find out what's going wrong." Daniel Desjardins, senior vice president and general counsel at Bombar- dier Inc. and Quebec regional chair for Legal Leaders for Diversity, says keeping firms engaged is key. "To change their view, the only way you can do that is through an active dialogue. Close the door on them, as I said, and you go nowhere and so if you want to have change, you're best to continue this rela- tionship," he says. But Paul Saguil from the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers says there is also a question of enforceability. "How is it that you're going to hold law firms' feet to the fire if they don't do this and it's easy to talk about it when everyone's views are sort of aligned, but it might be more difficult when the client's needs go one way, and their demands may go one way, and these principles that we're trying to uphold are sort of pulling them in a different direction. That's, I think, where the rub- ber hits the road," he says. While the FACL supports the initia- tives, Saguil says the organization is hoping to see measurable and tangible progress within a reasonable timeline, which might be more qualitative in nature rather than strict numbers and quotas. IH INHOUSE OCTOBER 2011 • 33