Brought to you by the CLOC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council

Join us for an engaging webinar where leading in-house counsel and law firm partners delve into the future of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives, moving beyond mere metrics and data. This session will explore how to create meaningful and impactful DEIB partnerships between in-house departments and law firms in 2025. Our panel will discuss innovative strategies, including the benefits of secondments, supporting affinity groups, and other forward-thinking approaches.

Topics:

Beyond Metrics and Data: Discover how to move past traditional metrics to foster genuine partnerships between your law department and external counsel.

Secondments: Learn how secondments can enhance DEIB efforts and build stronger partnerships between clients and law firms.

Affinity Group Support: Explore effective ways to support and empower affinity groups between your organizations’ DEIB affinity groups.

Speakers: Leading in-house counsel and law firm partners with extensive experience in DEIB initiatives between law firms and their clients.

Brought to you by the CLOC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council 

In 2020, the Cruise Chief Legal Officer, Jeff Bleich, tasked Cruise’s Legal Operations team with building an industry-leading DEI program. Fast forward to 2023 and most of 2024, Cruise Legal was recognized by two legal industry awards for its role in DEI leadership and innovation, and is Mansfield Legal Department Certified.   

Rob Kwant, former Managing Lead for Cruise’s Legal Operations for 6.5 years (currently Head of Legal Operations at Snap), will share step-by-step how he approached this massive project from drafting a strong mission statement that laid out the department’s vision and goals, to building a multifaceted DEI framework, addressing each of the department’s goals in a manner where progress could be measured and tracked.      

Topics include:  

• Summarize the industry standard DEI resources and frameworks Cruise used to build its legal DEI program.  

• Discuss how to draft a DEI program charter and how to get stakeholder buy-in and engagement.  

• Explain how to measure representation in legal department hiring, and then how to take action within the legal department with hiring managers to achieve results in each stage of the hiring funnel.   

• How to build a framework to measure law firm DEI progress, then how to implement a law firm scoring program within the legal department to drive actual change with retained firms.   

• Show Cruise’s outside counsel DEI scoring framework. 

• Practical examples of how our DEI program led to operational excellence and attorney buy-in for broader law firm and matter management processes. For example, requiring Cruise attorneys to consider the DEI scoring of outside counsel prior to engagement and showing the impact of their outside counsel spend on DEI efforts within the legal industry as a whole. 

Note: This presentation was approved for public distribution by Cruise Legal. July 2024, Rob started a new role at Snap, and will not be sharing any information about Snap.

On behalf of the CLOC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council, we invite our LGBTQ+ Members and Allies to grab a beverage and join us in a celebration of Pride Month! Let’s come together to celebrate our vibrant community and embrace the diverse identities that make us strong. This is a great opportunity for community members to connect virtually and share what pride means to you. Your stories, experiences, and voices are invaluable, and we look forward to connecting and celebrating with you. Happy Pride!

Associated with LGBTQ+ Group

Brought to you by the CLOC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council 

Fewer in-house legal departments are making law firm diversity information a high priority when deciding to hire outside counsel.  17% in 2023 reported it as a high priority versus 23% in 2022, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute Law Department Operations. In addition, 39% reported in 2023 that their in-house functions had a diversity initiative in place compared to 47% in 2022. This apparent reduction in priority has more to do with a fast-changing and dynamic risk landscape and regulatory framework and less to do with D&I lessening as a priority. Indeed, the importance of D&I as a main source of talent attraction is not going away soon. So, how can legal departments provide ongoing efficiency in the operations of legal functions as the scope of their responsibilities expands, while at the same time continue to drive efficiency in outside counsel D&I metrics and reporting?  What tools are the most useful?  In this session, you will hear from two legal ops professionals on the innovative practices and tools they are using to ensure their D&I initiatives remain a high priority amongst an ever-increasing workload.