Dion Bregman recently participated in a panel discussion, “How Top Practice Group Leaders Leverage Their Power & Influence to Create Inclusive Cultures,” hosted by the Diversity Lab in connection with its Inclusion Blueprint Initiative. As deputy leader of the intellectual property (IP) practice, Dion joined practice representatives from three other law firms, all of whom were recognized as 2022 Inclusion Champions. In a candid conversation, panelists discussed how practice leaders can play an influential role for all lawyers, including historically under-represented lawyers, in promoting equal access to opportunities through client access, sponsorships, succession planning, and business-generation credit.
YOU WEAR A NUMBER OF LEADERSHIP HATS WITHIN THE FIRM. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS THAT YOU ARE ENCOURAGING EQUAL ACCESS TO SPONSORSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND ACTIVITIES? HOW ARE YOU MAKING SURE EVERYONE IN YOUR PRACTICE HAS THE ABILITY AND THE NECESSARY SENSE OF BELONGING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES? HOW IS THIS BEING TRACKED TO ENSURE THAT IT IS HAPPENING AT AN EQUAL LEVEL?
Beyond our formal Associate Mentoring Program, in 2021, the firm launched extensive Diverse Associate Sponsorship Programs that exist on two tracks: the firmwide level and the practice level.
The firmwide initiative is available to high-performing diverse associates at the fifth year and above, and it pairs these individuals with cross-practice sponsors at the Advisory Board level.
Within the IP practice specifically, we launched the Diversity Career Progression Initiative (CPI) with two main objectives. The first is to verify ongoing and active attention by providing diverse associates with enhanced resources and opportunities to succeed here at Morgan Lewis. Our second objective is to ensure that diverse associates feel—and in fact are—supported, and that they have equal opportunities for career success. While the program has an opt-in format, I’m proud to report that almost everyone who qualified is participating.
As this is a relatively new program, we knew internal awareness would be critical. The IP practice hosted two presentations on the program—one for partner participants and one for associate participants—that highlighted expectations and goals. Each associate participant is assigned a team consisting of a mentor partner, a sponsor partner, and a practice area leader who create a career progression plan with the participant. The associate, in return, prepares a business plan. The team and participant meet periodically throughout the year to focus on goal setting, feedback (formal and informal), personal proactivity, and business and client development; to confirm that assignments are wide ranging and at an appropriate skill level; and to create a list of action items.
What sets Morgan Lewis apart is that our business plans are active, and that we have not only mentors but sponsors too. I personally am working with two associates within CPI. While it can be time-consuming, more importantly, it is incredibly rewarding and we’re witnessing tangible results. These results can particularly be seen with respect to business development. Through CPI, we are installing methods to get associates at this early stage of their careers to start thinking about and building their business-development skill set—an often-overlooked area for diverse lawyers.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES?
Maintaining and/or expanding involvement is always a challenge with any program or initiative. For us, the tone is set at the top, as leadership has expressed that this is a firm priority. Having that support has been extremely beneficial in getting buy-in, so to speak, from all participants—not just the partners, but from the associates themselves. Another concern is accountability. Recognizing this, we installed a reporting structure into CPI where accountability is held at every level.
HOW DO YOU TAKE ALL OF THE HARD WORK THAT IS BEING DONE AND TURN IT INTO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL? HOW ARE YOU MAKING CERTAIN THAT DIVERSE LAWYERS ARE GETTING CONSISTENT CLIENT ACCESS AND HANDLING CLIENT WORK?
Sponsorship. It truly requires a team to stand behind our associates and work to provide them quality opportunities and interactions that will lead to meaningful relationships. Relationships are built over time, but it is important for me, my peers, and other firm leaders to provide those opportunities—and monitor them. Part of our job is to help associates understand that personal brand-building is extremely important. I’ve said this to our associates, but everyone is a potential client—whether it’s co-counsel, foreign counsel, someone sitting across the table, or, more simply, someone from another practice area. We have to place priority not only on interactions with existing clients, but interactions across the board.
As practice leaders, sponsors, and mentors, we have a responsibility to set an example and provide our associates with purposeful, direct opportunities. These singular occurrences all add up and help associates build confidence and gain hands-on experience. Most of the training that law firms offer their associates focuses on developing legal skills, but there is so much that can be learned through observation. Our role is to identify moments when we can involve associates. For example, we strive to involve associates in the client pitch process, but it can’t stop there. We also invite our associates to join important pitch and related client meetings.
Playing an integral role in all parts of the process and having the opportunity to interface with clients helps associates to develop essential skills and to become better integrated into the teams with which they work. We believe that a team of lawyers with a variety of viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds is exponentially more creative, more apt to approach challenges from multiple perspectives, and more powerful than a group of equally high-caliber but homogenous lawyers. This strategic focus on diversity not only enhances our ability to deliver optimal results for a company but, more broadly, serves the entire legal community.
Mentorship and sponsorship are key facets of our culture at Morgan Lewis. Every Morgan Lewis associate is paired with an associate mentor as well as a partner mentor who provides career and practice guidance. While associate mentors focus on early integration into the firm, partner mentors actively engage and work with our associates to help them identify their career goals and objectives as well as achieve them. Beyond our formal Associate Mentoring Program, our Diverse Associate Sponsorship Programs pair diverse associates with a high-level sponsor and a member of the firm’s practice area management in addition to a partner mentor and associate mentor. This holistic team approach allows us to best support our associates and set them up for continued success at the firm. Learn more about our culture.
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