An article, from InsideCounsel, Oct. 2006 at 56, urges law departments to create “formal, written policies and set clear goals for improving internal demographics, time frames for achieving those goals and uniform methods through which to pursue those objectives.” Admirable, impossible to object to, but the same kind of desiderata…
The tone of a recent article about diversity efforts in law departments is harsh. According to InsideCounsel, Oct. 2006 at 56 et seq, departments lack enough formal policies (See my post of Oct. 10, 2006.), offer too few mentoring programs, fail to look beyond recruitment, ignore standards for diversity among…
The three steps are hiring, retaining, and advancing minorities, according to InsideCounsel, Oct. 2006 at 56. It isn’t enough to rely on “recruiting or hiring” minorities, and then leave them to their own devices. Though common, that approach fails. The article takes law departments to task, since 44 percent of…
Most US law departments suffer few voluntary departures of lawyers. Lawyers leave because spouses move, a spin-off or merger closes (See my post of Sept. 13, 2005 on Honeywell and Oracle’s experiences.), or at retirement, but otherwise there is 2-3 percent turnover. What follows from low levels of lawyer departures?…
An article, Fin. Times, Aug. 11, 2006 at 5, discusses employee motivation, and specifically engagement (See my posts of June 28, 2005 on disengagement levels among general counsel; April 3, 2005 on the engagement index of Stanton Marris; and Nov. 19, 2005 on the difference between engagement and satisfaction.). It…
A company’s most fundamental expression of its values is its Code of Conduct. That document needs not only to lay out what proper behavior is expected of employees but also to guide enforcement. The general counsel has much to say about the content, format, and phrasing of the Code of…
Perhaps the only peer of “strategy” in terms of an outpouring of books, articles, and conferences is “leadership.” Everyone professes to want it but there’s no consensus as to what it is or how to foster it. In truth, the opportunities for dramatic leadership in law departments are rare and…
The rank and file in a law department look to the general counsel to be their advocate and spokesperson (See my post of Oct. 6, 2006 about leadership in law departments.). Overt forms of being on point include when the general counsel goes to the mat for in-house counsel on…
It is hard enough to find and lure legal talent; it is harder to do so if the process takes months to complete. I know of one company that has lawyer candidates complete a long psychological exam and spend 45 minutes on the phone with a psychologist (See my post…
The Fin. Times, July 11, 2006 at 10 refers to Prof. Richard Sennett, a professor the London School of Economics. Sennet argues that many professional people in corporations are judged according to their position in an occupational hierarchy, not by the quality of their craft. You are assessed as a…