(Reuters) – There’s a depressing familiarity to writing about the lack of diversity in the legal profession. For years, it has been identified as a problem, and for years, little has changed.
Not for lack of good intentions — I believe legal industry leaders would like to see more attorney diversity at all levels. They just don’t seem inclined to upend business as usual to make it happen.
But the Black General Counsel 2025 Initiative, which aims for 10% of the Fortune 1000 companies to have Black GCs by 2025, may have found a lever to force meaningful change.
The group recently reached a milestone ahead of schedule — 5% of the GCs at Fortune 1000 companies are now Black. That’s a 33% increase in three years.
Such progress puts law firms to shame. According to the National Association for Law Placement, 1.97% of law firm equity partners in 2019 were Black, a lower proportion than any other minority group. Ten years ago, the number was 1.71%.
To belabor the math, this is an increase of one-quarter of one percent in a decade. Which is just plain sad.
But what if clients demand better? Not just a token minority at a pitch, but truly diverse legal teams?
That’s where the Black General Counsel Initiative could make a difference.
“The client holds a lot of power,” said Beveridge & Diamond Chairman Benjamin Wilson, a member of the Black GC advisory council. If a law firm doesn’t provide any diversity in its legal representation, a Black GC is likely to notice, he said—and not in a good way.
Companies with Black GCs or chief legal officers include Ford Motor Co, Abbott Laboratories, Hershey, Aflac, Duke Energy, Union Pacific, U.S. Steel, Cigna, Kraft Heinz, Jet Blue, Home Depot, Discover Financial Services and Uber.
“I believe we are at an inflection point,” Wilson said. “I want transformative change, and this initiative, the Black GC 2025, promises transformative change.”
Co-founded in 2017 by Ernest Tuckett, a longtime GC who is now senior counsel at Thomson Hine, and April Miller Boise, general counsel of Eaton Corp., the initiative relies on Wilson along with 21 other advisory council members, all prominent Black GCs or lawyers.
The council created the “Ideal Core Criteria” for large company GCs, as well as a profile form for Black lawyers to self-identify as “ready now” to fill such a role.
In early 2019, the council picked 34 candidates for mentoring, training, coaching and networking.
The council also teamed up with executive recruiting firms Heidrick & Struggles; Major Lindsey & Africa; Korn Ferry; Spencer Stuart; Crossdale Paul; Gojo Partners; Protegee Search and Bridge Partners to provide the candidates with insight and advice on landing a top in-house positions —everything from resume writing to mock interviews.
Until now, I didn’t appreciate the role that recruiters could play in promoting — or hampering — diversity.
“Executive recruiters are the gatekeepers,” said Ryan Whitacre of Bridge Partners, who has placed several Black candidates in GC positions.
His colleague Debbie Tang agreed, but noted that top headhunting agencies are “much like law firms. There’s not a lot of diversity.”
It’s easy for a recruiter searching for a candidate to think “I golf with this guy and he’s great” without bothering to look further afield, she said.
But that’s changing. “More and more clients are actively seeking out diversity in the executive ranks,” she said.
Indeed, in the past two weeks Wilson said he’s gotten five calls from recruiters looking for diverse candidates to fill top legal jobs.
He rejects old excuses like “We can’t find anyone” and “There’s no one out there” for failing to fill top positions with diverse applicants.
“Not true,” Wilson said. “There are many [qualified Black lawyers] out there. They just need a chance.”
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