Canadian Lawyer InHouse

ROunDup ��� A roundup of legal department news and trends Why there are so few Asian lawyers at the top T he general counsel for Xerox Corp. says there are too few Asian Don Liu, lawyers in positions of power in general counsel the legal profession and more should and secretary for be putting themselves forward for leadXerox. ership positions both in-house and at law firms. ���My sense is that at the top of the pyramid in Canada, certainly in Toronto, there are very few Asians at the top ��� it���s certainly the case in the U.S.,��� said Don Liu, general counsel and secretary for Xerox. Speaking to the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers in Toronto recently, Liu talked about breaking down the stereotypes of being ���academic��� and ���reserved��� that can actually impair Asian lawyers from moving to the top. ���There���s a stereotype that only has a kernel of truth. Yes, we do well academically but we���re not viewed as risk takers,��� he said. ���We are assumed to not have aspirations and not have proper leadership skills and I think the stereotype really hurts us. I go out of my way to make sure I don���t fit into that so-called stereotype. The stereotype needs to be eliminated and you have to work at it.��� The Westport, Conn., lawyer told the group of about 200 lawyers that ���success in life comes after college.��� He promoted the benefits of public speaking and other networking activities that push people beyond their comfort zone. ���I didn���t grow up in a typical Asian family. I went to a lot of parties. They never pushed me academically or pushed me to a particular profession but they did say study hard and you���ll get ahead,��� said Liu as he spoke about what he sees as an important distinction between ���tiger moms��� and how he describes himself as a ���pussycat dad��� who encourages his kids to do well both academically and socially. ���Studying music may help develop your IQ but it doesn���t develop EQ ��� the ability to relate to people, group activities, and things around you. Those activities and skills are what matter in the workplace.��� Liu presented statistics on the number of Asian Americans in positions of power in the legal profession. ���Twelve years ago I had the odd position of being the only Asian American in the Fortune 500 who was a general counsel. I couldn���t understand why,��� he said. He decided to do some research and found that in the top 200 largest law firms in the U.S., the odds of an Asian American becoming a partner at a top firm was 6-1 ��� of every six Asians, only one became partner. That compared to 4-1 odds for non-minorities, 5-1 for African Americans, and 3-1 if Hispanic. ���When I started publishing those stats people said, ���It���s just a tiny issue ��� we���re so new in the profession these odds will become better.������ But they haven���t. The 6-1 odds that existed more than a decade ago are now more like 8-1 odds. By comparison, the numbers for the other ethnic groups stayed the same. And in the recent recession, between 2008 and 2009, roughly 5,800 lawyers ��� or six per cent ��� at the top 250 law firms lost their jobs and nine per cent were Asian Americans. When it comes to addressing the problem, Liu said Asian Canadian lawyers should build on their networking, communication, leadership, and people skills to help them rise to the top. Top 5 technology gaps in law departments I n an increasingly complex work environment, corporate law departments often lack automated tools that can make managing many critical tasks more co-ordinated and less complicated, according to a recent survey by Thomson Reuters. The survey identified the top five critical law department tasks most often not managed with automated tools. It found while law departments are frequently using technology to help manage certain tasks such as legal research and matter management, at the same time, only about 8 ��� one in five are currently using automated solutions on tasks such as legal holds, complex transactions, and compliance. More than 500 law department leaders, lawyers, and staff were surveyed. The survey questions focused on tasks that were deemed critical by survey respondents, and were also carried out by the majority of law departments. The top five critical tasks that have the least use of automated solutions are: ��� legal holds (20 per cent) ��� complex transactions (21 per cent) ��� compliance (22 per cent) De c em b er 2 012/ January 2013 INHOUSE ��� entity management (28 per cent) ��� contract management (40 per cent) Some respondents described their current work environment as being: ���Sheer and utter chaos,��� or ���I spend most of the day facing two computer screens. Some days I will go through the whole day and won���t even see the other side of my office.��� ���Expectations for legal departments are rising and the demands of global operations place new strains on departments,��� said Eric Laughlin, managing director of the corporate counsel segment at Thomson Reuters. ���The finding that

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