Insights

For years, many law firms have featured a statement on their website pledging commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. And the intensifying racial justice movement last summer seems to have prompted the remaining holdouts to abandon illusions of neutrality and post some version a statement like this: “Our firm is committed to recruiting, developing, retaining and promoting lawyers from diverse backgrounds.”

DEI statements have always been an important tool for building...

Ayanna Alexander’s

We’ve been hearing from some law leaders who have been surprised to learn that not all the employees of their firms are on the same page about when in-office work can and should safely resume. While many partners are champing at the bit to get back to normal, others continue to face challenges at home that make “normal” impossible. A third cohort reports having found a new rhythm and efficiency in working from home and does not relish going back to normal.

Last week, we, like many of our clients, paused our external communications. In the early days of what has become a national and sustained movement for change, it felt essential to ensure that the most important voices — Black voices — were heard loud and clear without interference.

Internal communications went on, of course, and the best statements to employees directly acknowledged the systemic injustices in this...

Pivot should be at the center square of your COVID cliché bingo card. The prevailing wisdom is that the businesses likely to survive and thrive in the disruption that is the new normal are those with the agility to move to a Plan B. (Bingo!) And while, yes, it is extremely awesome that craft distilleries are making hand sanitizer instead of whiskey right now, it’s less than clear what...