Women
in the Legal Profession Committee
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Women
in the Legal Profession Committee
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2005-06
Minutes The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
The Minnesota State Bar Association Committee on Women in the Profession met on Monday, September 10, 2007 in the offices of the Bar Association. The following were in attendance: Dana Bartocci Committee Chair Terri Krivosha began the meeting by asking committee members what they thought the Committee’s next step should be. Should the Committee host roundtable discussions or focus on something else? A discussion was held regarding the purpose of roundtables, who to invite and how to ensure that the decision makers attend. The committee also brainstormed on possible topics and speakers. Several people mentioned Deloitte & Touche LLP as a leader in Diversity Issues and specifically mentioned their Retention and Advancement of Women Initiative. Kathleen Marron will forward information on a possible speaker from Deloitte & Touche to Terri Krivosha. During the course of the discussion, members of the MSBA’s Implementation Task Force informed the group that as part of its work to develop a diversity toolkit for legal employers, the Task Force was reviewing the Best Practices and updating them to include best practices on Race and Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Disability, and Religion. Judge Kathy Sanberg stressed that as committee members talk to legal employers about signing-on to the Best Practices, it is important to make them aware that the Best Practices are being updated and that they will be expanding. Terri Krivosha requested that the Committee be given the opportunity to review the updated Best Practices prior to their becoming final. In the end, the Committee decided that in order to reach the right people, it will need to go to the workplace of the legal employer rather than the employer coming to the MSBA. Lisa Montpetit Brabbit suggested that in the process of contacting legal employers to sign on to the Best Practices, the Committee could also use the conversations to ask:
Sue Bores will resend the employer list to the Committee and ask for volunteers to help with follow-up. Terri Krivosha requested that committee members follow-up with their own employers, if they have not already done so. Also, Sue will put information in the MSBA’s weekly Legal News Digest regarding the Best Practices, how employers can sign-up and information on the annual SAGE Best Practices Recognition award. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 8 at Noon at the MSBA offices. The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
The Minnesota State Bar Association Committee on Women in the Profession met on Monday, August 13, 2007 in the offices of the Bar Association. The meeting was brought to order at approximately 12:05 p.m. by Terri Krivosha, Chairperson of the Committee. The following were in attendance: Leslie Altman The Committee first discussed one concern raised during the meeting with the Roundtable for Managing Partners of medium-size firms. Certain firms have expressed a concern that endorsement of the Sage Best Practices will create an enforceable contract, resulting in liability for failure to perform on the part of the firm. For this reason, the letters requesting firm endorsement were revised to confirm that the Best Practices are guidelines. Copies of those revised letters were previously sent to all Committee members. Terri Krivosha next circulated a list of legal employers who had not yet endorsed the Best Practices and another list of legal employers who had not renewed their endorsement. Members of the committee were asked to indicate those employers for whom they would be willing to contact a leader (or a person willing to speak with leadership) to encourage endorsement or renewal. The Committee agreed that certain tools would be helpful for making those contacts. Terri Krivosha agreed to provide all members with (a) a short bullet point summary of the Best Practices' history, significance and importance; (b) a copy of the letter requesting endorsement or renewal; and (c) a copy of the Best Practices. The Committee discussed various ways to solicit endorsement and renewal. One suggested format was an initial email contact with attached copies of materials and a follow-up telephone conversation. Terri will provide all members with the final list of responsibilities for these contacts. The Committee next reviewed the text for an ad prepared by Stacey Sorensen to be placed in Bench & Bar commending those employers who have committed to the Best Practices. The Committee next discussed the Best Practices Recognition Award, including the means of obtaining nominations (including direct nominations from employees), determination as to meritorious activity, use to continue repeated outreach for Sage generally, using personal stories as part of the nomination process, and timing of the award. The Committee determined that the Award will be postponed until after the Committee's current work on additional commitments to the Best Practices. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 12:55 p.m. The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met at Noon on Monday, March 12, 2007 at the MSBA offices. The following were in attendance:
Everyone present at the meeting agreed on the recommendation to set a specific goal of increasing the number of legal employers signed-on to the Best Practices to 75 and on the recommendation that the Committee needs to work on recruiting employers outside of the Twin Cities area to participate. It was noted that the district bar associations may provide the best opportunity to reach the non-metro area employers. Susan Holden, based on her experience as the MSBA President last year, made recommendations to focus on District 11 which includes Duluth, District 3 which includes Rochester, District 7 which includes St. Cloud and Moorhead, District 15 which includes Bemidji and Brainerd, and the Range District. It was noted that the district bar associations are in the process of scheduling their annual meetings which members of the MSBA Executive Council try to attend and that several Committee members are also on the Executive Council. The Committee spent time discussing whether or not members of the Committee need to attend these meetings to talk about SAGE or whether members of the Executive Council can effectively promote the program. The schedule for the meetings has not yet been finalized and the Committee decided that it will need that information so that it can figure out how to proceed. Sue Bores will forward that information to the Committee when it is available along with the schedule of Council members that will be attending the meetings. In the meantime, Phyllis Karasov and Anne Johnson volunteered to draft a short promotional piece on the Best Practices that can be distributed at the meetings. The Committee also agreed on the recommendation to develop a CLE program that can be done in-house at the offices of legal employers and also taken on the road to the district bar association meetings. The CLE will be designed to meet the 2 hours of Bias requirements with the first hour providing an overview of the SAGE data and the second hour in a format that engages the employees in a discussion on what is and is not working within their workplace and how the Best Practices can be implemented. A concern was raised about the level of participation in these discussions and whether or not employees will feel comfortable talking about their workplace in front of other employees and, specifically, in front of law firm partners. The Committee spent time discussing this and talked about different methods of engaging people in a discussion. Anne Johnson, Marlene Garvis and Judge Sanberg volunteered to work on developing the CLE program. The Subcommittee also recommended that the Committee consider sponsoring either a program or an event at the Bar Convention in June. Sue Bores reported that the programming for the convention has already been completed and that the promotional brochure was ready to go to the printer. Rebecca Bernhard, Debra Page and Dana Bartocci volunteered to take a look at the convention schedule and see if there are any promotional opportunities for the Committee. Sue Bores will e-mail the convention schedule to the Subcommittee members. A recommendation was also made to host employer round tables broken down into smaller groups that are more targeted such as a round table for small firms, a round table for medium firms and a round table for large firms; a round table for corporate employers and a round table for both public or non-firm employers that are not corporations such as the law school employers. The Committee decided to table this until the fall because it felt that this could not be implemented until there are a larger number of employers signed-on to the Best Practices. Meeting schedule:
Dana Bartocci gave an update on the status of the five legal employers who did not renew their commitment to the Best Practices in 2006:
Committee members present at the meeting received a copy of the Job Description for Employer Liaisons that Phyllis Karasov had drafted. A few comments were received and Sue Bores will incorporate those into a new draft and then it will be e-mailed to the committee for review. The final version will be posted on the Committee’s webpage. A question was asked regarding how the Committee can make sure that the job description reaches the right person within an organization. The Committee discussed this and decided that employers will be asked to provide the name of the Best Practices liaison during the renewal process. Also, the MSBA has a contact list of the people who filled out the Diversity Task Force survey and the Committee can use this to develop a Best Practices contact list. Catherine Ahlin-Halverson gave an overview of the SAGE Best Practices checklist that Haley Schaffer and herself tried to develop. In the process of working on it, they came to the conclusion that a single checklist may not be useful to employers in identifying and prioritizing the areas that they need to focus on. They recommend that the Committee consider developing six checklists, one for each of the Best Practices. They also wondered if small firms, large firms, government employers, corporate legal departments, and law schools will each need different checklists. The Committee discussed this recommendation and decided that a checklist for each Best Practice was a good idea but that they can be applicable to every type of legal employer. It was suggested that sample surveys be included with each checklist to help employers identify the areas that they need to focus on. Also, it was noted that it is important for employers to see their progress. A survey instrument, similar to the Attitudinal Survey, could be developed to help employers measure their progress and to measure management’s perceptions of how things are going versus the employee’s perceptions. Catherine also reported on the San Francisco Bar Association’s No Glass Ceiling Initiative, which sought compliance with the goal of at least 25% women in management positions by January 1, 2005. Sue Bores has additional information on this program and will forward it to the Committee via e-mail. Before the meeting ended, Terri Krivosha asked for volunteers to form a subcommittee that will begin to develop an action plan for the Committee. Jennifer Benowitz, Rebecca Bernhard, Kathy Sanberg, Dana Bartocci, Priscilla McNulty and Marlene Garvis volunteered and will make a recommendation at the Committee’s next meeting. Meeting schedule: The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met at Noon on Monday, January 8, 2007 at the MSBA offices. The following were in attendance: Catherine Ahlin-Halverson Terri Krivosha began the meeting by explaining to the Committee that at the December 11 meeting, several subcommittees had been formed to work on publicity, outreach, CLE and compliance. However, after the meeting, Terri and Sue Bores thought a more efficient way to proceed was to focus on a Best Practices implementation checklist first and after its completion work on the other initiatives. Terri asked a subcommittee consisting of Jennifer Forbes, Haley Schaffer, Mary Stumo, Cynthia Bremer and Debra Page to meet prior to this meeting and develop some preliminary guidelines as a discussion item for the Committee to review. Each committee member present at the meeting received a copy of the notes from the subcommittee’s meeting. Cynthia Bremer and Debra Page were the participants and Cynthia gave an overview of the meeting. She explained that Debra and she had concluded that rather than focusing solely on an implementation checklist, they recommend that the Committee focus on addressing why law firms should sign-on to the SAGE Best Practices, how the Committee contacts law firms and gets them to sign-on, and how the Committee rewards or recognizes those employers that do sign-on. The Committee spent time discussing this and made the following comments: A Best Practices implementation checklist could be useful to the employers as a benchmark tool with which they can measure their progress. The Committee should think about developing a “welcome kit” that includes an implementation checklist as well as other information that better communicates to the employer what is expected of them when they sign-on to the Best Practices. It was noted that the Committee has never solicited the feedback of the 27 employers that are currently signed-on to the Best Practices. The Committee has no idea if these employers are actually implementing the Best Practices, what steps they have taken, if they have been successful or if they have experienced obstacles. The feedback of these employers would be valuable to the Committee. One of the main concerns of employers is figuring out how they can be more competitive. In order to get employers to sign-on to the Best Practices, the Committee could develop, as part of a marketing strategy, a “business case” that communicates to employers the importance of addressing diversity in their workplace, how it helps in the retention of employees and how it makes the employer more competitive. The Committee needs to make it easy for employers to renew their commitment annually and should develop an easy way to remind employers to do this. A checklist should include an item that addresses the need for meeting schedules that are sensitive to women’s schedules. Early morning and late afternoon/early evening meetings may not be convenient for someone who is trying to get kids to school or needs to pick them up after school. Marketing events should include women. Does it always have to be golf or some other sporting event? What about theatre or some other type of arts/culture event? The Committee could identify the top 10 things that an employer can do to implement the Best Practices and also establish a timeline for doing so. Employers need to communicate to its employees that they have signed-on to the Best Practices and outline the steps that they will be taking to implement them. Encourage employers to designate a liaison to the Women in the Legal Profession Committee. At the very least, ask employers to provide the Committee with the name of the person responsible for implementing the Best Practices in their workplace. The Committee can raise awareness of the Best Practices among newer attorneys by inserting a flyer/brochure in the new admittee’s welcome packets that they receive at the swearing in ceremony. The employer should provide “sensitivity training” that addresses gender and diversity issues. Employers should annually review the rosters of their committees to make sure that the membership of each includes diversity. The employer should establish an annual audit that reviews such items as the employer’s discrimination policy, leave policy, and flex-time policy. The Committee can develop a “business case” to law firms that outlines the reasons why addressing diversity in the firm helps increase employee retention and helps the firm stay competitive. Ask each legal employer to identify four items that it plans to focus on within the next twelve months and provide the Committee with a contact person so that we can check on their progress. The Committee should sponsor an annual luncheon/social event for legal employers to come together and share their Best Practice successes. The Committee needs to increase promotion (example: articles in Bench & Bar, MWL newsletter, Minnesota Lawyer, etc.). The Committee needs to address the fact that the Best Practices implementation is not a “one size fits all” program. What works in a larger size employer may not work in a smaller size employer. From the comments above, the Committee decided to: 1). Follow-up with the five employers that did not renew their commitment to the Best Practices in 2006. Dana Bartocci and Susan Holden volunteered to do this. 2). Ask employers to provide a liaison to the Committee. Phyllis Karasov volunteered to draft a job description for this and the Committee will review it at its February meeting. 3). Work on getting more employers to sign-on to the Best Practices and ask the employers to establish a goal for the next year. 4). Develop a marketing plan. 5). Sponsor periodic meetings (CLE or social event) with employers so that the Committee can get feedback on their Best Practices implementation and hear their success stories. 6). Establish itself as a resource for employers who may have questions on how to implement. Perhaps create a resource list of people who can provide assistance on a specific topic. 7). Develop a CLE road show. After the meeting, Anne Johnson volunteered to begin work on writing an article about the Best Practices. Meeting schedule: The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met at Noon on Monday, December 11 2006 at the MSBA offices. The following were in attendance: Leslie Altman Overview of the SAGE Best Practices and the SAGE Surveys: The Hon. Kathleen Sanberg and Anne Johnson gave the Committee an overview of the history of the Committee, the surveys and the Best Practices:
Campaign ideas to promote and publicize the Best Practices:
The following comments were made by committee members: More education is needed to raise awareness that everyone has inherent biases and preferences and that these impact a person’s judgments and decision making processes. Perhaps a CLE program can be developed on this topic. The law schools can be more involved in educating the students on gender equity and diversity issues. One example is to ask the law schools to train law students to ask potential employers about their Best Practice initiatives. Another example is to get the law schools to require that legal employers recruiting on campus sign a statement indicating that they will fully disclose their diversity and gender equity policies. Lisa Montpetit Brabbit said that St. Thomas requires students to take a diversity class and that she has incorporated the SAGE Best Practices into the curriculum for her diversity class. Several committee members expressed their opinion that the focus should be educating the law students on gender and diversity issues but that the pressure to implement the Best Practices should be put primarily on the legal employers. An observation was made that the committee needs to improve its communication to legal employers on the value of signing on to the Best Practices. And, the committee needs to work on raising awareness of the Best Practices with employees. A suggestion was made that perhaps the Best Practices could be e-mailed to every MSBA member. An article could also be placed in the MSBA’s weekly Legal News Digest (LND). The Committee discussed forming subcommittees to work on the five recommendations. However, after the meeting, Terri Krivosha and Sue Bores on reflection thought a more efficient way to proceed is to focus on the Best Practices implementation checklist first and after its completion focus on publicity, outreach, CLE and compliance. Terri has asked a subcommittee consisting of Jennifer Forbes, Haley Schaffer, Mary Stumo, Cynthia Bremer and Debra Page to develop some preliminary guidelines before the next meeting as a discussion item for the group to review. Meeting schedule:
Review of the purpose of the Committee and the SAGE Best Practices: Leslie Altman, Co-Chair of the Diversity Task Force, gave a brief overview of the 2005 Self-Audit for Gender and Minority Equity Report which surveyed legal employers and individual attorneys on gender, race, sexual orientation, disability and religion. Leslie noted that the data gathered in the report indicated that there has not been much improvement in the area of gender equity since the last SAGE survey. Brainstorm on projects for the bar year: • CLE programming that incorporates the Diversity Task Force Report; perhaps developing a “roadshow” that can be presented at law firms • Develop more direction for legal employers on how they can implement the Best Practices in their workplace • Develop a standard that will help measure the progress of legal employers that are implementing the Best Practices • Recognition award to a legal employer that is making significant progress in gender equity or to an individual who is making a contribution towards eliminating diversity • Roundtable discussions for legal employers • Develop a program that specifically targets newer women attorneys • Develop a relationship with the law school associations; figure out how to raise awareness of the Best Practices among the students and get them to ask potential legal employers what they are doing to implement them Susan Burns, Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, June Pineda and Terri Krivosha volunteered to form a subcommittee that will review these ideas and make a recommendation at the next WLP Committee meeting as to which projects the committee should concentrate on this bar year. Suggestions on who else to invite to join the Committee: Meeting schedule: The Women in the Legal Profession
Committee Participating: Dana Bartocci, Jessica Clay, Anne Johnson, June Pineda, Danielle Shelton (co-chair), Sue Bores (MSBA staff). Committee's 3-Year Budget Plan: Annual Renewal of Participating Legal Employers to the SAGE Best
Practices: A suggestion was made that perhaps each roundtable should focus on a single topic. After a brief discussion, it was decided that the February roundtable will focus on the issues of hiring, promotion and retention of women lawyers. Recruitment of New Legal Employers to Sign-On To the SAGE Best Practices: SAGE Best Practices Recognition Award: Speaking Opportunities at the Law Schools: Next Meeting: The Women in the Legal Profession
Committee Participating: Rebecca Bernhard, Kirsten Hansen, Anne Johnson, Suzette Kusnierek, Kristen Ludgate, Danielle Shelton (co-chair), Sue Bores (MSBA staff). Task Force on Diversity in the Profession: Speaking Opportunities/CLE Programming: Also, the committee decided that it would like to continue seeking speaking opportunities at the law schools and several people volunteered to initiate contacts with the schools. It was suggested that in order to increase attendance at these programs that they be scheduled in early 2006 rather than later in the spring. Recruitment of current and new legal employers for the SAGE Best
Practices:
It was noted that the committee needs to start being more proactive by offering incentives to the employers that do sign-on to the Best Practices. The committee decided to offer recognition by maintaining a list of the current Best Practices participants on the WLP Committee's webpage with a link to the employer's website. The committee will also invite participants to a series of roundtables so that they can discuss the Best Practices with other legal employers. Danielle has volunteered to draft a letter that will be sent to the
25 legal employers who initially signed-on to the Best Practices and
invite them to re-sign for the 2005/06 bar year. Rebecca Bernhard has
volunteered to draft a marketing letter that will be sent to legal employers
that have never signed-on to the Best Practices. Next Meeting: -
Last Updated 1/12/07 -
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