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American
Corporate Counsel Association | Minority Corporate Counsel
Association | Bank of America | BellSouth
Corporation Legal Department | Diversity in the Workplace:
A Statement of Principle | Dupont Company | Freddie
Mac Legal Department and Legal Services of Northern Virginia | General
Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company | International Paper
Company | International Paper Legal Department | Lucent
Technologies | Merck & Co., Inc. | Wells
Fargo Bank
American
Corporate Counsel Association
As an organization committed to the success of the principles espoused by Lawyers
For One America, ACCA commits to the following aspirational and concrete goals:
1. ACCA will increase the diversity of and the diversity leadership opportunities
available to our staff, leadership, and membership. Our mission is to create an
institutionalized structure, an ongoing educational commitment, and a welcoming
working environment that will help to encourage and instill diversity as a core
value throughout ACCA. Examples of this commitment at work include:
- Filling the pipelines of our leadership, and our governing board specifically,
with more diverse candidates (e.g., of our 10 new board members, 40% are women
and 50% are minority, resulting in a 2001 board of 39, 28% women and 26 people
of color);
- Encouraging the development of more diverse chapter and committee leadership,
especially in localities where there are significant communities of color (e.g.,
ACCA's Leadership Development Institute), Chapter operation manuals, and staff
support all encourage local chapter leaders to focus on diversity leadership recruitment
and promotion;
- Helping current leaders cultivate minority participation and leadership in
their volunteer events (e.g., we are creating local bar of color contact lists
and will distribute them, along with ideas for joint activities, to our local
chapter leaders);
- Creating high visibility opportunities for participation of corporate counsel
of color (as faculty, project leaders, authors, etc. Over 20% of the speakers
for ACCA's 2000 Annual Meeting-which has over 200 speakers-will be lawyers of
color); H Organizing leadership training seminars that will be held jointly with
the volunteer leadership of peers from minority bar associations (e.g., we will
open future Leadership Development Institutes to the leadership of the local bars
of color); and
- Training, hiring, retaining, and promoting a diverse staff and encouraging
inclusive office business policies (e.g., ACCA seeks out diverse candidates from
non-traditional sources, and requires inclusion of at least one minority-owned
business in any bid for outsourced work of more than $5,000, etc.).
2. ACCA will assist our corporate counsel members to retain more diverse outside
counsel, and hire more diverse in-house counsel to fill positions in their own
organizations. This includes a push to encourage hiring and retention at the highest
levels of authority, and not simply at the entry level. Examples of this commitment
at work include:
- Expanding ACCA's In-house JobLine, our most popular web resource, to include
an automatic "feed" of available in-house jobs listed to minority job banks operated
by the bars of color on their own LISTSERV®/websites (these lists of available
jobs average about 180 new positions each month forwarded to communities of color);
- Developing our Outside Counsel of Color Locator System, designed to help
ACCA members locate outside counsel of color suitable for specific projects, by
accessing ACCA's website and using this searchable online database where outside
counsel of color can self-post information about themselves, their firms and their
practices (e.g., launch is scheduled for Fall of 2000, and each bar of color has
agreed to encourage its members to post);
- Supporting BellSouth's Statement of Principle on Diversity.
3. ACCA will strengthen and expand its ties to the bar associations of color,
to cultivate better communications and interrelations among our members and their
activities. Examples of this commitment at work include specific agreements with
the major bars of color to pursue the following initiatives:
- Increasing interaction between ACCA chapters and local branches of the bars
of color, including networking, educational, and leadership activities;
- Creating joint membership campaigns which will pair an ACCA membership with
a membership in a bar of color at a lowered combined price, to increase each bar's
inclusion of corporate counsel of color in its activities;
- Increasing visibility of bars of color activities and resources in each others'
websites and magazine/communications vehicles, as well as more substantive links
among resources featured on respective webpages; and
- Holding annual meeting "swaps", which feature ACCA-sponsored educational
programs for corporate counsel at the bars of color meetings, and bars of color-sponsored
programs at ACCA's annual meeting.
4.
ACCA will create and collect the best substantive/educational information, resources
and networks on diversity and pro bono services as they relate to law department
practice, and deliver these resources to corporate counsel and their corporate
clients. Examples of this commitment at work include:
- Creating CorporateProBono.Org (CPBO), a comprehensive project in partnership
with the Pro Bono Institute, to exponentially increase the amount of pro bono
work done by corporate counsel, featuring outstanding libraries of information
and best practices specifically targeted to the needs of corporate counsel pro
bono volunteers;
- Furthering ACCA's partnership with the Minority Corporate Counsel Association,
to support its General Counsel diversity discussion series, and publicize the
best practices that flow from those sessions;
- Creating comprehensive, streamlined, and inter-related databases of information
on pro bono and diversity issues and best practices on ACCA Online, and in our
information resources libraries;
- Continuing educational sessions and clinics at ACCA's chapter and national
meetings on both pro bono service and diversity implementation topics;
- Creating corporate counsel peer networks ("member knowledge networks") around
pro bono and diversity topics, so that novices in the field can find support,
ideas and mentorship from experienced corporate counsel (e.g., as provided in
our CPBO system for pro bono, and in our Member-To-Member system on both pro bono
and diversity);
- Using our "bully pulpit" at speaking engagements and in our internal communications
to help us drive home this commitment to our members, and to help outside counsel
communities understand that in-house counsel and their clients value these goals.
5. ACCA will seek to help our members overcome the impediments to increasing
their pro bono legal services, and will commit to initiatives which will exponentially
increase the amount of pro bono legal services undertaken by corporate counsel
volunteers. Examples of this commitment at work include:
CorporateProBono.Org (CPBO), a partnership between ACCA and the Pro Bono Institute,
to create a comprehensive web-based service, supplemented by specially-trained
staff, and populated by corporate counsel and the legal services community, whose
goal is to create the resources, networks, knowledge banks, momentum and other
resources which will push corporate counsel pro bono commitment and volunteerism
forward;
ACCA's Annual Meeting Pro Bono Clinics, held in conjunction with local legal
services intake providers, which offer members an educational session on representing
specific types of pro bono clients (e.g., preparing wills for the elderly), followed
by clinics where clients (screened and transported by the local legal services
group) meet with ACCA member volunteers for up to 3 hours to resolve clients'
legal problems;
Partnerships with organizations that provide pro bono services or leadership
to the larger community, especially those that work to pair corporate counsel
and law firm pro bono programs, and those that operate projects which specialize
in placing pro bono work with attorneys whose skill sets are not litigation-oriented;
Work to help our overseas members "import" the American pro bono tradition
and commitment into local communities where the bar does not independently pursue
such goals.
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Minority
Corporate Counsel Association
MCCA Program Highlights
1999
- MCCA and Sears Roebuck & Company launched a Job Bank to allow employers,
recruiters and job seekers to post resumes and/or open positions. The job bank
contains over 250 jobs and was financed by a $50,000 grant from Sears Roebuck
& Company.
- MCCA conducted three surveys: The 3rd Annual Survey of Diversity in Corporate
Law Departments, the 1st Annual Survey of Women General Counsel in the Fortune
500, and the 1st Annual Survey of Minority General Counsel in the Fortune 500.
Survey results were published in Diversity & The Bar magazine and are available
online at MCCA.
- MCCA conducted six roundtable discussions involving over 100 general counsel.
- Diversity & The Bar magazine was distributed quarterly to 30,000 law departments,
individual attorneys and law firms nationwide.
- MCCA was recognized by the American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA)
for outstanding leadership on the issue of diversity.
- MCCA recognized 13 corporate law departments and six law firms that demonstrated
successful diversity initiatives.
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"There are some who believe that diversity
is a place we will somehow 'discover' if we could just find the right road map.
I believe that diversity is embodied in the people you open yourself to meet on
your journey, in the aspirations you share with your fellow travelers, in the
knowledge you gain from the bumps in the road, and in the compassion you learn
as you help others join you on your path."
Susan Hackett
American Corporate Counsel Association
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MCCA Program Highlights
2000
- The Diversity Team Leader Panel Discussions will create a forum to talk about
the challenges and solutions related to diversity efforts in corporate law departments
- The Pathways to Creating Diversity Project will detail what successful, diverse
legal departments are doing to hire, retain, manage and promote minority attorneys,
both in corporate law departments and the law firms that serve them. In addition,
MCCA will outline metrics for advancing diversity initiatives in corporate law
departments.
- The MCCA/American Lawyer Media 1st Annual Conference will focus on the application
of metrics established in the Pathways to Creating Diversity Project.
- Results of the MCCA/Heidrick & Struggles Survey of CEOs Re: Expectations
of General Counsel will inform the Heidrick & Struggles/ MCCA Breakfast Briefing
Series.
- The MCCA 4th Annual Survey of Diversity in Corporate Law Departments (w/Arthur
Andersen LLP) will take place online and feature an instantaneous benchmarking
report that compares respondents' answers to data obtained in last year's survey:
www.mcca.net.
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Bank of America
Diversity and Inclusion
Vision Statement
The Bank of America Legal Department strives to create a diverse and inclusive
meritocracy where opportunities are available to all associates to realize their
full potential and to be recognized and rewarded commensurate with their performance
in an environment that respects and builds on their differences.
Legal
Department Diversity Business Council
The Bank of America Legal Department has established a Diversity Business Council
to promote within the Department the values critical in achieving the Department's
overall diversity objectives. The Diversity Business Council is composed of geographically,
racially and ethnically diverse members of the Department and includes attorneys,
paralegals, and legal secretaries. Subcommittees of the Diversity Business Council
initiate and monitor departmental efforts related to diversity issues in recruiting,
outside counsel retention, associate development and retention, measurement and
accountability, teamwork and communication.
Recruitment
Guidelines
The Bank of America Legal Department is committed to an inclusive meritocracy.
Increasing efforts in recruiting and fully utilizing qualified minority lawyers
will add to perspective, heighten the quality of thinking and enrich discussions
as a community of professionals dedicated to providing the most valuable counsel
to clients on complex and sensitive legal issues. As a result, the Legal Department
is better able to serve clients, shareholders, customers and associates. For these
reasons, the Department has implemented the following recruiting guidelines designed
to increase lawyer diversity:
- Hiring Procedure.
Managers within the Department should work directly with in-house corporate recruiters,
who are instructed to source qualified minority candidates for each pool of applicants
for open positions. If no qualified minority candidates are readily identifiable,
corporate recruiters are authorized to use other sourcing methods, as appropriate,
such as the use of outside search firms, including those that specialize in the
recruitment of minority candidates. No position will be filled unless a qualified
minority candidate has been considered in the slate of candidates, unless, after
a diligent search, no qualified minority candidate can be found.
- Job Postings.
All positions, whether newly created or vacated, are posted on the Legal Department
internal Web site, except as authorized by the General Counsel, so that all lawyers
can use their contacts to suggest minority candidates for these positions.
- Incentives.
If any departmental associate suggests an outside minority candidate for an open
lawyer position and that minority candidate is hired, then the referring associate
will be granted an incentive payment of $1,000.00 after the newly-employed lawyer
completes 90 days of employment. This incentive is not applicable if the minority
candidate is at the time of the referral already employed by another unit of Bank
of America.
- Hiring Flexibility.
Hiring managers are encouraged to take into consideration the practicality of
whether an experienced candidate, including a minority candidate, can be retrained
to practice in a substantive area outside his/her customary expertise and whether
geographical or other accommodations are possible.
- Entry Level Positions.
In order to identify diverse pools of candidates, the Department will create internships
and entry-level legal positions for minority lawyers in areas where time, training,
and budget opportunities exist and as resources are available for adequate training
and monitoring. The Legal Department Diversity Business Council will work with
corporate recruiters and the General Counsel and his direct reports to develop
internship programs and entry-level programs for recent graduates and lawyers
with three years or less of experience.
- Measurement of
Progress. The Recruiting Subcommittee of the Legal Department Diversity
Business Council meets regularly with the corporate recruiters to review applicant
pools for each open position and evaluate annually the corporate recruiters' efforts
in identifying qualified minority candidates. The evaluation is furnished to the
corporate recruiters, to the Diversity Council of the Department and to the General
Counsel. Progress is assessed annually by measuring (1) adherence with the hiring
procedure described in these guidelines, (2) the extent of outreach efforts made
to source qualified minority candidates, and (3) the numbers of qualified minority
candidates presented for each hiring opportunity.
Outside Counsel Retention
Guidelines
Bank of America desires to encourage and expand the inclusion of women, ethnic
and other minorities within and among all law firms providing legal services to
it. The diversity program at Bank of America is designed to promote the use of
outside counsel reflecting the diversity of Bank of America's customers and associates.
To this end, Bank of America provides its associates with a list of minority and
women-owned firms and encourages its attorneys and its clients to use them. Bank
of America sponsors both the ABA Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in
the Outside Counsel Program and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and
participates in regional and local programs designed to identify ethnic minorities
having the relevant legal experience. Bank of America expects its outside counsel
to have women and minority partners and associates who will work on Company matters.
Periodically, the Bank requires confirmation from its outside counsel regarding
such use. Outside counsel is also encouraged to engage minority law firms to assist
on engagements assigned to it under these procedures.
Other Efforts
Diversity in the Workplace: A Statement of Principle.
Bank of America was the first signatory of the BellSouth Corporation initiative.
Informal Outreach
Programs.
The Bank of America Legal Department has encouraged minority lawyers and law school
students to consider opportunities in the Legal Department through participation
in minority bar associations, through participating in law school programs, by
hosting receptions for law school students, and by forging relationships with
minority-owned law firms and with minority attorneys working in majority-owned
law firms.
Pro Bono Legal Services
Guidelines.
Bank of America associates are committed to being involved in their communities.
As members of the legal profession, Bank of America lawyers have an interest in
assuring that quality legal services are available to all, regardless of their
ability to pay. Accordingly, the Legal Department has established a pro bono work
program to encourage and support pro bono work by its lawyers, particularly work
that benefits needy individuals. This may take the form of advising or representing
such persons directly, or advising or representing non-profit organizations that
help them.
Reasonable amounts of pro bono work approved and performed in accordance with
this program are taken into consideration in overall attorney performance assessments.
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"Everyone says the same thing about
diversifying their organizations: ÔOh, it's just so hard to do! We just can't
find any good candidates.' Would you tell BellSouth in litigation, 'Oh, they're
so tough! We just can't find any good cases?' Get over it."
Charles Morgan
BellSouth Corporation
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BellSouth
Corporation Legal Department
Diversity Committee
Mission Statement
The goals of the Law Department's Diversity Mission are to ensure that each member
of the Law Department advances within the Department based on her or his merit,
without regard to extraneous characteristics and to ensure that the Law Department
continues to provide the best legal services to BellSouth.
To that end, the Law Department has created a committee composed of lawyers
from a variety of disciplines within the department. The Diversity Committee is
being called upon to evaluate the Law Department's responsiveness to our increasingly
diverse work force and to the increasingly competitive marketplace. The Diversity
Committee is chartered to understand diversity and its role, to recommend steps
to capitalize on diversity and to assist in implementing those steps.
As the Law Department implements our Diversity Mission and the Diversity Committee's
recommendations, the Committee and Department should aspire to guide other organizations
by way of example as they develop and implement their diversity policies.
In carrying out its charter to date, the Committee has focused primarily on
sharing the message of diversity to the legal community at large in these ways:
- Diversity Training
Exercise for Committee Members and the Legal Policy Council: A two-day
training seminar that included a thought-provoking review of stereotypes and perceptions,
allowed committee members to discuss personal experiences and thoughts, and considered
ways in which we can break some of the barriers that exist between individuals.
After the training seminar, members of the Legal Policy Committee took part in
an abbreviated training seminar.
- Diversity in the
Workplace: A Statement of Principle: One of the primary tasks of the Diversity
Committee was obtaining signatories and support for the "Diversity in the Workplace:
A Statement of Principle". Our goal was 200 signatories by the year 2000. Committee
members engaged in an extensive letter campaign seeking signatories. To date,
approximately 293 companies have signed the Statement of Principle.
- Diversity in the
Legal Workplace Conference: A historic event that brought together senior
in-house lawyers from a wide variety of Fortune 500 companies to address issues
and challenges related to implementing and maintaining diversity initiatives in
the legal profession. The focus of the conference was to exchange practical ideas
on how to promote diversity in corporate legal departments, as well as in law
firms retained by legal departments. The substantive portion of the conference
revolved around four panels: (1) The Corporate Legal Department Implementation
of a Diversity Initiative; (2) Establishing and Maintaining Internal Momentum;
(3) Diversity and Outside Counsel; and (4) Measuring and Benchmarking. The Committee
intends to work with other legal departments in the future to ensure that the
conference becomes an annual event.
- Summer Law Clerk
Diversity Program: BellSouth has committed to hiring two law student interns
from disadvantaged backgrounds per summer, to rotate through various parts of
the BellSouth Legal Department.
- Presentation to
Holland & Knight: One of BellSouth's strategic law firm partners, Holland
& Knight, invited BellSouth to speak to its partners about our expectations regarding
diversity.
- A Presidential
Call to Action to the American Legal Community: General Counsel Charles
Morgan attended and spoke at President Clinton's Call to Action. BellSouth's Statement
of Principle was recognized as a significant in-house commitment to diversity.
- Meeting with Major
Outside Law Firm: A meeting between selected corporate chief legal officers
and the Chicago law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt, one of the largest law firms in
the world. The purpose of the meeting was to explain to Mayer, Brown & Platt's
senior partners the Statement of Principle and the result expected by the Signatories
from law firms that provide legal services to corporations. Other participating
companies included Comerica, Illinois Tool Works, Northern Trust Corporation,
United Airlines, and Walgreens. Future meetings are scheduled with major firms
in Florida and New York.
- Participation in
President's Initiative for One America Event: Chairman Duane Ackerman attended
and spoke at President Clinton's Initiative for One America Event. President Clinton
invited corporate executives to the White House to seek their assistance in promoting
diversity in the corporate workplace. Only two companies, BellSouth and Kodak,
were invited to speak on the issue with the President.
- Participation in
External Diversity Activities: These include co-chairing the Corporate
Section of the ABA's Initiative on Diversity, which developed an action plan that
will serve as a blueprint for ABA diversity efforts in corporations, law firms,
bar associations and academia. BellSouth also co-chaired the corporate section
of the ABA Symposium in Aspen, Colorado. And BellSouth lawyers made keynote addresses
or presentations at numerous diversity conferences throughout the country.
Future Diversity
Committee Initiatives for Review and Decision In the Year 2000:
- Review outside counsel staffing to implement hiring consistent with the goals
set forth in the Statement of Principle, e.g., firms that handle litigation for
BellSouth should be reflective of the entire community in which the case will
be tried.
- Determine whether diversity training for the Legal Department is feasible,
and if so, implement that training initiative.
- Appoint an individual who will be the Department's "Diversity Advocate" and
report directly to the General Counsel. This individual would work with the General
Counsel's direct reports on any questions about diversity concerns and ideas.
- Facilitate a process by which individuals within the Department can seek
diversity- related changes in overall policy matters. [Note: this mechanism would
not be an appropriate vehicle for discussion of individual issues; that is, issues
relating to specific promotional or compensation decisions.]
- Assist in coordinating the year 2000 Corporate Counsel Conference on Diversity
in the Legal Workplace.
- Obtain Fortune 200 companies as signatories to the Statement of Principle.
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Diversity
in the Workplace: A Statement of Principle
We, the undersigned companies, wish to express to the law firms which represent
us our strong commitment to the goal of diversity in the workplace. Our companies
conduct business throughout the United States and around the world, and we value
highly the perspectives and varied experiences which are found only in a diverse
workplace. Our companies recognize that diversity makes for a broader, richer
environment which produces more creative thinking and solutions. Thus, we believe
that promoting diversity is essential to the success of our respective businesses.
It is also the right thing to do.
We expect the law firms which represent our companies to work actively to promote
diversity within their workplace. In making our respective decisions concerning
selection of outside counsel, we will give significant weight to a firm's commitment
and progress in this area.
Signed:
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Abbott Laboratories
Adidas America
Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc.
Aetna US Health Care
AFC Enterprises, Inc.
AGL Resources, Inc.
Allegheny Teledyne Incorporated
American Airlines
American Electric Power
American Express Company
American Lawyer Media, Inc.
American Standard Companies, Inc.
Anheuser-Busch Companies
Archer Daniels Midland Company
Asbury Automotive Group
Ashland Inc.
AT&T
AT&T Wireless
Atlanta Life Insurance Company
Atlantic Richfield Company
AutoNation, Inc.
Bank of America Corporation
Bank One Corporation
BankBoston, N.A.
BASF Corporation
Battelle Baxter International Inc.
Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc.
Bell Atlantic Corporation
BellSouth Corporation
Bestfoods
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
The Boeing Company
Boise Cascade Corporation
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Brown-Forman Corporation
Burlington Northern Sate Fe Railway
Cardinal Health, Inc.
Caremark Rx, Inc.
Carnival Cruise Lines
Case Corporation
Caterpillar Inc.
CBS Corporation
Cendant Corporation
Central and South West Corporation
Ceridian Corporation
Champion International Corporation
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
The Chase Manhattan Company
ChemRex, Inc.
Chevron Corporation
ChoicePoint Inc.
Cincinnati Bell Inc.
Citigroup Inc.
The Clark Construction Group, Inc.
Clark USA, Inc.
CMS Energy Corporation
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Comcast Corporation
Comdisco, Inc.
Comerica Incorporated
Commonwealth Edison Co.
Compaq Computer Sciences Corporation
Conoco Inc.
Consolidated Stores Corporation
Coors Brewing Company
Cordant Technologies Inc.
Cox Communications, Inc.
Credit Suisse First Boston Corp.
Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.
CVS Corporation
CVS/Pharmacy, Inc.
Daewoo Motor America, Inc.
Dana Corporation
Darden Restaurants
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Discovery Communications Incorporated
Dominion Homes
The Dow Chemical Company
Dow Corning Corporation
Duke Energy Corporation
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
EarthLink, Inc.
Eastman Chemical Company
Eastman Kodak Company
Eaton Corporation
Eli Lilly and Company
Emerson Electric Co.
Energizer Battery Company
Enron Corporation
Ensign-Bickford Industries, Inc.
Entergy Corporation
Equifax Inc.
Ernst & Young LLP
Farmland Industries, Inc.
Federal Express Corporation
Federated Department Stores, Inc.
Ferro Corporation
Fifth Third Bank
First Data Corporation
First Union Corporation
Fleet Financial Group, Inc.
Fluor Corporation
FMC Corporation
Ford Motor Company
Foster Wheeler Corporation
Freddie Mac
General Dynamics
General Mills
General Motors Corporation
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Graybar Electric Company, Inc.
GST Telecommunications, Inc.
Halliburton Company
Hannaford Bros. Co.
Hartford Life, Inc.
The Hartz Mountain Corporation
Hewlett-Packard Company
The Home Depot, Inc.
Honeywell Inc.
Host Marriott Corporation
Howmet International Inc.
HSBC USA Inc.
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Ingersoll-Rand Company
Ingram Micro, Inc.
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Insurance Services Corporation
Interface, Inc.
International Paper Company
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc.
JC Penney Company, Inc.
John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company
Johnson Controls, Inc.
Kanematsu USA, Inc.
Kellogg Company
KeyCorp
KeySpan Energy
KPMG International
The Kroger Co.
Leggett & Platt, Incorporated
Let's Talk Cellular & Wireless
Levi Strauss & Co.
LG&E Energy Corp.
Life Technologies
The Limited, Inc.
Lincoln National Corporation
The LTV Corporation
Lucent Technologies Inc.
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.
Maytag Corporation
MCI WorldCom, Inc.
McKesson HBOC, Inc.
The Mead Corporation
MedCare Financial, Inc.
Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc.
Methodist Health System Foundation, Inc.
Minerals Technologies Inc.
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc.
Modis Professional Services
Monsanto Company
The MONY Group
Mothers Against Drunk Driving "MADD"
Motorola Inc.
Nalco Chemical Company
National Basketball Association
National Football League
Navistar International Corporation
The New York Times Company
Nike, Inc.
Northeast Utilities Service Co.
Northern Trust Corporation
Norwegian Cruise Line
Office Depot
Ohio Education Association
Ohio State Medical Association
Oracle Corporation
Orbcomm
Payless ShoeSource, Inc.
PECO Energy Company
Peoples Energy Corporation
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pet Products Group
Philip Morris Companies Inc.
Pitney Bowes Inc.
The Pittston Company
Powertel, Inc.
Premark International, Inc.
Procter & Gamble
The Prudential Insurance Company of America
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Ralston Purina Company
Randstad North America
RARE Hospitality International, Inc.
Reebok International Ltd.
Reliance Group Holdings, Inc.
Rohm and Haas Company
Rolls-Royce North America Inc.
Ryder System, Inc.
The Ryland Group, Inc.
Safeway, Inc.
The St. Paul Companies, Inc.
Sara Lee Corporation
SBC Communications Inc.
Scientific Atlanta, Inc.
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Shell Oil Company
Sodexho Marriott Services, Inc.
Sony Electronics Inc.
Southern Company
Sprint State Street Bank & Trust Company
Stateside Associates
The Stop & Shop Companies, Inc.
Summit Bancorp Sunoco, Inc.
Temple-Inland Inc.
Terra Industries Inc.
Texaco Inc.
3M
TIA-CREF
Tidewater, Inc.
Time Warner Inc.
Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.
Toys "R" Us, Inc.
Tribune Company
Tyco International (US) Inc.
Ultramar Diamond Shamrock
Union Bank of California, N.A.
Union Carbide Corporation
UNISYS Corporation
United Air Lines
United Parcel Service
United States Filter Corporation
United States Postal Service
Unocal Corporation
US Office Products Company
US West, Inc.
USX Corporation
Viacom, Inc.
Walgreen Co.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
The Washington Post Company
Wells Fargo Bank
Wendy's International Inc.
Weyerhaeuser
Whirlpool Corporation
The Williams Companies
World Kitchen, Inc.
Xerox
Zale Corporation
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DuPont Company
In corporate law department circles, DuPont has been recognized as a leader in
creating new models for the retention of legal services. The highly regarded DuPont
legal model helped to establish that the convergence of legal service providers
could be successfully accomplished in a way that also promotes DuPont's diversity
commitment. Making performance in the diversity area one of the critical elements
used to evaluate the law firms it retains, DuPont has created an ongoing economic
incentive to expand opportunities for minority and women lawyers. In addition,
the DuPont minority job fairs have become an important source of minority candidates
for the company, as well as for its primary law firms and service providers which
are seeking to boost their minority recruitment efforts. Many successful placements
of summer associates and permanent hires have resulted from these job fairs. Building
upon its success, in 1999 DuPont sponsored four job fairs in Wilmington, Houston,
Los Angeles, and Chicago, opening more doors for minority advancement.
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Freddie
Mac Legal Department and Legal Services of Northern Virginia
In 1991, Freddie Mac formed a working relationship with Legal Services of Northern
Virginia (LSNV). Through this pro bono program, Freddie Mac lawyers deliver critical
legal services, including client intake, advice and counseling, litigation representation,
volunteer training, and community outreach that make a profound and lasting difference
in the lives of countless under-served Northern Virginians. Freddie Mac has hosted
legal clinics and volunteer recognition events, assisted LSNV clients in their
job searches, hired unemployed clients, provided training facilities, donated
computers, assisted LSNV staff with computer training, and helped to publish community
education brochures. A substantial grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation enabled
LSNV to open the Law Center for Children in 1995. Recently, the Freddie Mac Foundation
made a two-year, $405,000 grant to the American Bar Association Center on Children
and the Law to improve the quality of the court process for foster children.
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General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company
General Motors' pro bono activities are focused on the Detroit Legal Services
Clinic (DLSC). GM, along with Ford Motor Company and the Detroit Metropolitan
Bar Association, founded the DLSC in late 1997 as a new way for Detroit-area lawyers
to meet the legal services needs of large numbers of underrepresented members
of the community. Funded by GM, Ford, other area companies, and the Michigan State
Bar Foundation, the DLSC opens its offices to clients approximately twice a month,
and assigns cases screened by local legal service providers. DLSC lawyers handled
more than 800 cases in the first eighteen months of its existence.
The commitment of GM's legal department to promoting diversity, both within
its own ranks and those of the law firms it retains, is longstanding. Ten years
ago, GM sent letters to over 700 of its outside law firms, directing them to include
women and lawyers of color on GM legal projects. Today, GM's strategy for recruiting,
advancing and retaining outstanding women lawyers and lawyers of color includes
casting a wide recruiting net, enlisting the aid of specialized recruiters, focusing
on diversity by its own in-house staff, and enlisting its counsel to attract talent.
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International
Paper Company
Dear ____________________:
International Paper Company ("IP") is committed to increasing diversity in
the workplace. We consider this to be an important goal and have taken significant
steps at IP to increase employment opportunities for women and minorities, including
within our Legal Department. However, we recognize that promoting diversity internally
can only go so far. We also expect our outside counsel to share this commitment.
IP's Counsel Retention Policy, which governs our relationship, calls for your
assistance in increasing opportunities for women and minorities in the legal profession.
In addition, I recently signed the enclosed "Statement of Principle" on Diversity
in the Workplace, which reaffirms the commitment of several major corporations
to this issue and our expectation of your role in actively promoting diversity.
The Statement of Principle makes it clear that our selection of outside counsel
will depend in part on your commitment to, and progress toward, these goals.
I ask your assistance in our diversity initiatives as follows:
- Provide me with a copy of your firm's policy concerning diversity;
- Complete and return to me the enclosed questionnaire; and
- Update me on your future progress toward increasing diversity and how these
efforts may affect IP.
With your valuable cooperation, I believe that we can make significant progress
toward the goal of increasing diversity in the legal profession. If you would
find it helpful, IP would be happy to send you a video on promoting law firm diversity.
I look forward to receiving your responses and working with you on this important
goal.
Very truly yours,
William B. Lytton
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
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International
Paper Legal Department
Diversity Questionnaire
Firm Name:
Address:
Completed By:
(If possible, please cover all firm locations with one questionnaire)
Directions: Please take a few moments to answer the questions below and return
the completed questionnaire to William B. Lytton at International Paper. Feel
free to use additional page(s) to supplement your responses to this questionnaire.
Your responses to these questions are for International Paper use only and will
remain strictly confidential.
1. How many attorneys (partners and associates) are in your firm?
2. How many attorneys in your firm are:
Women?
African American?
Hispanic?
Native American?
Asian Pacific?
Asian Indian?
3. Please describe your recent actions to increase diversity within your firm,
including your efforts to actively recruit women and minorities.
4. Please identify any women and minority partners/shareholders within your firm,
and describe whether they have recently worked or are currently working on International
Paper matters, or would be qualified and available to work on matters involving
International Paper.
5. Please identify any women and minority associates within your firm, and describe
whether they have recently worked or are currently working on International Paper
matters, or would be qualified and available to work on matters involving International
Paper.
6. Please state whether your firm has participated in programs sponsored by any
of the organizations listed below that were designed to increase diversity in
the legal profession. If so, please briefly describe:
American Bar Association:
National Bar Association:
Hispanic National Bar Association:
Other organizations (please describe):
7. Has your firm recently participated in any Minority Job Fairs?
If so, please describe:

Return completed form to:
William B. Lytton
International Paper Company
Two Manhattanville Road
Purchase, New York 10577
Fax: (914) 397-1909
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|
"Diversity is not limited to race, gender
or physical or cultural differences. We also need diversity of ideas. And diversity
of ideas comes from diversity of experience, and often diversity of experience
comes from diversity of culture."
Don Peterson
Lucent Technologies
|
Lucent
Technologies
To achieve business excellence, decisions must be based on the widest range of
individual perspectives and contributions. Diversity of people and ideas is vital
to our culture, vital to our success as a global business, and vital to our ability
to attract and retain the talented individuals we need to achieve our aspirations
for Lucent. In short, "all people, different ideas, world-class, market-based
results."
The purpose of Lucent Law's diversity plan is to take the necessarily general
statement of a policy and its underlying objectives, and to create specific goals
and steps for the achievement of those goals. For Lucent Law, there are eight
elements to our diversity plan:
- Fostering an Open, Supportive and Diverse Environment
- Encouraging Learning on Diversity Issues H Sustaining a Dialogue on Diversity
- Enhancing Our Diversity
- Participating in Employee Business Partner Groups
- Providing a Focus on Minority and Women's Business Enterprise Resources
- Helping to Create a More Diverse Legal Profession
- Creating Personal Accountability for Results
These elements are not intended as the pursuit of an abstract idea. We believe
strongly that diversity of background, experience and ideas in the people of Lucent
Law helps us achieve our mission-to provide a competitive advantage for Lucent
through high-quality, cost-effective law services. A diverse environment also
provides a more stimulating and attractive workplace, one which increases our
ability to recruit and retain highly-motivated, creative colleagues.
Partnering with Law
Schools and the Legal Community
At a time when programs supporting increased opportunities for all are under attack
in many places, Lucent Technologies is making a statement that our company and
the legal profession benefit directly from increased diversity.
- In 1997, Lucent established a $25,000 annual scholarship fund for minority
and economically disadvantaged law students at Rutgers and Seton Hall law schools,
both located in Newark, New Jersey. To date, nine students at the two schools
have been selected as "Lucent Scholars" and have received scholarship grants during
their second and third years of law school. Lucent also sponsors the Minority
Student Program at Rutgers Law School.
- Lucent's Law Division also operates a summer internship program focused on
women, minority and economically disadvantaged law students. The program is currently
in its fourth year and, to date, has provided summer internships for 30 law students.
- In 1999, the General Counsel contacted and met with managing attorneys from
eight of our top-billing outside counsel firms. The purpose of the meetings was
to establish an on-going dialogue that confirmed Lucent's commitment to diversity
and to determine the level of commitment of the firms visited.
- Lucent is a strong supporter of traditionally minority bar associations,
including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the Garden State Bar Association,
and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Another element of Lucent's
diversity strategy is to work closely with national and local bar associations,
with other companies and with outside counsel to identify, share and implement
best diversity practices.
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Merck &
Co., Inc.
The Legal Department of Merck & Co., Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in New
Jersey, has established a unique in-house pro bono program for providing direct
legal services to the poor and disadvantaged in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Merck's pro bono program has grown from a handful of attorneys participating
in 1994 to half of its 125 attorneys, including administrative staff in its legal
and tax departments, at four separate sites in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In
1994, the department challenged itself to devise an effective way to meet its
obligation to provide pro bono legal services and expand equal justice to the
disadvantaged. Later that year, Merck and Legal Services of New Jersey formed
an alliance to provide direct legal assistance to low income individuals.
For the most part, the Merck pro bono model is based on a "small law firm"
concept. At each Merck office, a managing counsel assigns cases to attorneys in
that office based on the attorney's workload. Merck has pro bono groups in Rahway,
Whitehouse Station and Montvale, New Jersey; and the department provides case
intake assistance in West Point, Pennsylvania. Each site's program is tailored
to the needs of a local legal services office and its program's participants.
Legal Services of New Jersey and the local legal services office train the volunteer
attorneys and provide ongoing support and guidance for each accepted case. The
local legal services office is also responsible for screening prospective clients
to determine their eligibility to receive pro bono legal services prior to referring
the case to the Merck attorneys.
Merck's pro bono attorneys practice in unconventional areas of law for corporate
attorneys, including matrimonial, guardianship, child custody, bankruptcy, and
tenancy. Most attorneys spend approximately 15 to 20 hours on a case. Cases can
last anywhere from two weeks to two months and, on average, attorneys spend one
or two hours a week on a case. During the past six years, Merck attorneys have
handled nearly 200 cases. Those attorneys providing case intake assistance or
representing tenants spend a few hours a month assisting clients.
Attorneys participating in the pro bono program have found their experiences
to be rewarding, enjoyable and enlightening. The Merck program has allowed its
attorneys the opportunity to experience the challenge of representing clients
in a courtroom setting, while improving their oral and written advocacy skills.
The program has further emphasized team building by encouraging the lawyers and
administrative associates to work together to provide legal services to the disadvantaged.
In addition, the program has allowed its attorneys the opportunity to fulfill
their professional obligations to provide direct legal assistance to low-income
individuals.
In addition to providing direct services, Merck's Legal Department has sponsored
seminars for companies throughout the state of New Jersey to assist them in establishing
their own in-house pro bono programs. Attorneys from Merck have also been actively
involved with the New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association and the American Bar
Association, to encourage other corporate attorneys to provide pro bono legal
services.
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Wells Fargo
Bank
Wells Fargo Bank's legal department was an initial founder of the California Minority
Counsel Program (CMCP). It remains one of the strongest corporate supporters of
CMCP, which is the largest and most successful state minority counsel program
in the nation.
Wells Fargo retains approximately thirty minority-owned law firms each year
for its legal work. It requests that the majority firms it retains become CMCP
members. Wells Fargo also requires that its outside counsel regularly report their
overall minority lawyer statistics, and mandates monthly reports indicating the
dollar amount of the bill attributable to the work of minority partners and/or
associates on each matter.
In California, Wells Fargo's law department has achieved a 31% minority lawyer
work force. It is a signatory of the Bar Association of San Francisco's 2000-2010
Bay Area Goals and Timetables for Minority Hiring and Advancement. And, in June
of 2000, Wells Fargo cosponsored the Bay Area Summit On Minority Advancement In
the Profession. The Summit featured speakers including US Deputy Attorney General
Eric Holder, Jr., California Chief Justice Ronald George, BellSouth General Counsel
Charles Morgan, American Bar Association President William Paul, and Bar Association
of San Francisco President Fred Alvarez. It concluded with a panel discussion
by 13 General Counsels, managing partners, and law firm chairmen on minority recruitment
and retention, moderated by television host Belva Davis. The event drew several
hundred of the Bay Area's top lawyers.
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