Inclusion in Law Firms Should Be About Everyone—Not Just Lawyers — from law.com by Jennifer Johnson
Too many firms leave nearly half of their employees out of diversity and inclusion efforts, only partially delivering on the the full commitment that clients expect.
Excerpt:
Unfortunately, most of these firms are focusing only on their lawyer population, leaving a major component of the diversity and inclusion (D&I) equation without consideration: the contributions of law firms’ business services professionals. These are professionals who are working within the business of a law firm that are not fee earners.
This is no small issue. Among larger firms, it is quite common for so-called “nonlawyers” to comprise as much as 50% of total head count. These business services professionals—members of legal operations, human resources, finance, information technology, marketing and administration functions—are critical to a law firm’s success, but far too often are not treated as valuable members of the larger team.