Law Times

Law Times • OctOber 6, 2014 Page 3 www.lawtimesnews.com Some law firms still lagging on diversity efforts By Jennifer Brown Law Times hile some of the largest organiza- tions in Canada have established the business case for embracing diversity in the legal profession, some law firms still aren't buy- ing into the importance of di- versity and inclusion. On Sept. 30, the Bank of Montreal hosted a panel dis- cussion featuring Canadian legal and business leaders from Dentons Canada LLP, Deloitte Canada, Xerox Corp., and NEI Investments. The discussion highlighted tools and insight to increase workplace diversity and inclusion. In 2013, BMO began asking the law firms it works with to collect and disclose their diver- sity metrics. That year, 34 per cent of the firms collected and disclosed their numbers. This year, 97 per cent have collected and disclosed diversity metrics to the bank. BMO general counsel and executive vice president Simon Fish said that in the future, the metrics would inf luence who the bank chooses to do busi- ness with. He added that the TD Bank Group has also commit- ted to requesting metrics from the firms it deals with. The bank hopes its diver- sity efforts will give law firms another reason to ensure their teams include people from dif- ferent ethnic groups, members of the lesbian and gay commu- nity, those with different physi- cal abilities, and a balance of men and women. Dorothy Quann, vice presi- dent and general counsel at Xerox Canada, told law firm lawyers in the audience it's im- portant they make sure all of their lawyers understand that if they're members of the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Network, they know it and un- derstand what it represents. "When you look at what is happening with in-house de- partments, you will start notic- ing there is a lot of diversity and we're the buyers of the services," said Quann, who's also president of Legal Leaders for Diversity. "They are going to start noticing the requirements the banks have and you would hope that would start driving some meaningful engagement with the firms. Make sure the folks in your firm — associates and partners and managing part- ners — are aware of what [Legal Leaders for Diversity] is asking for and that you are all signato- ries to [the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Network]." Dentons partner Kate Broer talked about the firm's diversity boot camp, something it created five years ago. "People understood there were organizations like BMO asking us for diversity metrics, but in order for that to resonate and connect the dots internally, we started this boot camp. It was designed to be a booster shot for anyone in the organization with hiring and firing and promo- tion responsibilities," says Broer, who's also the firm's Canada region co-chairwoman of diver- sity and inclusion. Every partner at Dentons has now been through the boot camp that addresses issues such as unconscious bias. "For a period of time, we ac- tually banned the word 'fit' in the organization when we were talking about recruitment be- cause we realized it had no tan- gible meaning. We have worked to redefine this concept of 'fit' at Dentons. In some respects, it can mean 'unfit,' understanding we are now trying to look for differ- ences because we know it brings things like creativity and innova- tion and different perspectives are what we really need," she said. Even the most progressive organizations should be chal- lenging their own notions of diversity and inclusion to make sure they're on track, said Sonya Kunkel, chief diversity officer and vice president for talent strategies at BMO. "We had long been a pioneer in diversity and inclusion ef- forts, but there was a general sense we had plateaued a bit and perhaps even stalled in terms of our overall efforts," said Kun- kel, adding it led to a concerted effort to revamp its governance structure around diversity and inclusion and establish goals around workforce representa- tion, such as the proportion of women it wanted to see in senior leadership roles and an overhaul of its reporting system. LT NEWS Draft your own customized documents with O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms, Eleventh Edition, Ontario – Court Forms, Division VIII. This service provides, both in looseleaf and electronic formats, a comprehensive collection of documents that can be easily adapted to suit your clients' needs. Get convenient access to: • Expert commentary – providing context to the proceedings and assisting with the preparation of documents, including references to the relevant Rules of Civil Procedure • Checklists – guiding you through the proceedings • Table of Cases – providing case citations referenced in the commentary Save time with O'Brien's Online With O'Brien's Online, you can quickly search thousands of documents, pinpoint the right one, and download and edit it to suit your situation. Preparing court documents has never been easier O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms, Eleventh Edition Ontario – Court Forms, Division VIII Editors: W. Bruce Drake and Christopher Wirth Includes online access Order # L91124-65203 $579 4 volume looseleaf supplemented book + online access Anticipated upkeep cost – $208 per supplement 1-3 supplements per year Supplements invoiced separately L91124 Also available in online only or print only formats Master Subject Index also available Shipping and handling are extra. Prices subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00218EB-A43205 CANADA LAW BOOK ® Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com/obriens Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 W Lawyers concerned about lack of judicial stats By KaBeer Sethi For Law Times W ith diversity on the bench a growing concern this year, Canada still doesn't do enough to track statis- tics on the issue, lawyers heard last week. "Canada doesn't maintain any statistics with respect to diversity of the bench," says Sandra Nishikawa, vice president of external affairs for the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers. "We actually don't know how many minorities are on the bench for Canada, and that's a problem." Nishikawa's comments follow last week's northeast regional con- ference hosted by the organization along with the National Asian Pa- cific American Bar Association in Toronto. Along with tracking judicial statistics, Nishikawa suggests mak- ing an effort to diversify the judicial appointment advisory committees that nominate judges would also help in improving the system. "We at FACL see it as an issue of justice, and that's why we think that a judiciary that makes im- portant decisions affecting the population of Canada should re- flect the population of Canada." is was the first conference the U.S. association has held outside of the United States. A panel discussion held in the af- ternoon explored the differences between the American and Canadian legal systems when tracking diversity. e United States has detailed reviews in regards to diversity on the bench with statistics published annually about the num- ber of judges from minority groups across the country. However, speaker Ernest Tuckett said the U.S. numbers show the need for more improvement across the legal profession. "In 20 years, essentially nothing has changed. e numbers, in terms of percentages, of Hispanics and blacks as partners in a firm, was around 1.4 to 1.6 per cent in 1995," said Tuckett. "It's around 1.9 today in 2014. It's only up by around 0.3 per cent." Tuckett, general counsel at DuPont Canada, said that despite the disappointing results, there's value in these numbers. "Tracking is needed to show you where you are as a community. e point of the metrics is to see what kind of experience people are having in the law firms and that helps with making changes." Av Maharaj, counsel for Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and a fellow panellist, also agreed with the importance of having accurate numbers. "What gets measured gets done," said Maharaj. "We don't have the metrics here in Canada. Obviously, they don't solve all the problems but they are a base, a starting point and, and we have to go from there." e Sept. 27 event also included an annual awards ceremony to honour lawyers for excellent work in their field while showing a strong commitment to community service. e honourees in- cluded Gary Yee, recipient of the Daniel Mark public sector award. Yee, chairman of the Licence Appeal Tribunal, says a culturally competent judiciary is important for making better decisions. "Being able to deal with cultural and other diversities is essen- tial for being a good decision-maker," says Yee. LT 'The point of the metrics is to see what kind of experience people are having in the law firms and that helps with mak- ing changes,' says Ernest Tuckett. Photo: Kabeer Sethi

• Cover