LCLD’s Role in Transformational Change in the Legal Industry

When my firm’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion approached our management committee to recommend that we become a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity ( LCLD), it took two minutes (or less) of research to understand the impact that LCLD has had and will have on sponsorship and promotion of diversity in the legal profession. Composed of more than 400 corporate and law firm leaders, LCLD’s goal is to focus on thoughtful planning, extensive opportunities for education and promotion, and the establishment of ambitious and historic tangible objectives for the member institutions and the legal practice as a whole. The answer was easy.

It is hard to summarize all that LCLD does. With an objective as important as improving diversity in the legal industry and opportunities for the under-represented, there is no room for pause and every reason to press the accelerator in many different directions. It has been approximately a year since my firm joined LCLD. Actually, firms cannot just “join” LCLD.  Membership involves three mandatory components that are designed to achieve LCLD’s goal of building a “more perfect union”: (1) the “pledge”; (2) education and action; and (3) accountability. Each component provides a collaborative platform for success.  READ MORE