Let the Buyer Beware: Law Firm Needs to Check Sexism Accusations

There is a trend in industry toward retaining legal counsel that is committed to inclusion and diversity. I recently wrote about how Facebook now requires its outside legal representatives to include women and minorities in 33 percent of their legal teams. Facebook isn’t alone in this—HP and MetLife have created similar rules. Perhaps legal powerhouse Norton Rose Fullbright should take this into consideration before acquiring the law firm of Chadbourne & Parke. Kerrie L. Campbell, the single remaining female partner at Chadbourne & Parke has just been voted out of the firm, which she says in retaliation for her lawsuit alleging that female partners are paid less and given fewer opportunities.

It certainly seems curious that of the five female partners from among 70, two have left the firm and the two remaining female partners have joined Campbell’s law suit. In my opinion, this is a red flag for Norton Rose Fullbright who should have done their due diligence before the merger.

In order to advance the cause of equality, workplace equity activists could take a lesson from the advertisers who left The O’Reilly Factor. By reaching out to clients like Facebook and HP and asking them to make their position on gender discrimination and pay inequity known to both firms, they may be able to hold the law firms accountable for fair practice. 

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Facebook Takes a Stand for Inclusion

It’s one thing to talk about diversity; it’s something entirely different to change policy to make the core culture of a business embrace inclusion. Facebook has been criticized for favoring white males as employees and board members. However, they have clearly recognized the problem and are now making diversity a priority.  The company has just added to last year’s initiative to increase diversity in hiring and retention to include a new policy requiring that 33 percent of its law firm teams include women and ethnic minorities, according to the New York Times.  For this reason, we are applauding Facebook as our Revolutionist of the Week.

As I discuss in my book From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire, I believe that systemic change is the only way to tackle the problem of increasing diversity. No amount of awareness seminars or momentary hiring spurts will change a corporate culture. However, by restructuring the company’s hiring and retention policies from the ground up, lasting change can be implemented.

It’s true that Facebook has a way to go in this regard—as of June 2016 new senior leadership hires improved slightly: women from 27 to 29 percent; African-Americans from 3 to 9 percent; and Latinos from 3 to 5 percent. To move this along further, Facebook is focusing on recruiting talent as well as creating programs to help students at all levels who are interested in coding and engineering.

Since this may take some time, I applaud the fact that Facebook is pushing ahead by applying this to legal counsel, since law firms are willing to go out of their way to please clients, especially major clients. By using this opportunity to promote truly inclusive workplaces, Facebook joins other enlightened corporations such as MetLife and HP in building psychologically healthy, fair and inclusive workplaces.

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How Will Facebook's New Workplace Platform Affect Work-Life Balance?

Today’s workplaces are in a constant state of evolution in terms of technology. I’m not breaking new ground by declaring that the Internet is changing everything, but it truly is. Facebook’s new Workplace platform sounds modern, efficient and maybe even a little fun for employees used to spending a lot of time on social media. However, I have one question about this and other work communication apps like Slack: how will they affect work-life balance? Work-life balance can be a buzz-phrase for human resources types, but there’s obviously a lot to be said for having time away from work. People today spend so much time on their various social media profiles that I can foresee potential issues with an app designed to be similar – or nearly identical to – to the ones most people use just for fun. Anna Wiener discusses in this article in The New Yorker: Workplace by Facebook, or A Party in the Office.

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