Diversity & Inclusion Report - Faegre Baker Daniels Report 2012.pdf · DIVERSITY & INCLUSION REPORT 2 TABLE ... met in person and utilized strategic planning techniques to ... Foundation

Diversity & Inclusion Report

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION REPORT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 3 Letter from Kathy Noecker, Executive Committee

and Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group Member

PAGE 4 Diversity & Inclusion at Faegre Baker Daniels

PAGE 5 Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group

PAGE 8 Developing the Diversity Pipeline

PAGE 9 Law Student Recruitment

PAGE 10 Retention & Advancement

PAGE 12 External Partnerships

PAGE 13 Results & Recognitions


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IN 2012, FAEGRE BAKER DANIELS IS BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION TO ACHIEVE GREATER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Dear Colleagues: This first year as a combined firm has provided Faegre Baker Daniels with a unique opportunity to challenge ourselves to find new and better ways of providing greater breadth and depth of legal services and expertise to clients, and of attracting top talent. One way we have done that is through our approach to diversity and inclusion. As a member of FaegreBD’s Executive Committee, I am proud to lead these diversity and inclusion efforts and am excited about the participation and enthusiasm I have seen and heard from many individuals within the firm. While both legacy firms had strong reputations as diversity leaders, we have raised the bar as Faegre Baker Daniels, hearing moving stories to mark our MLK Celebration and LGBT Pride events, receiving national recognition through the coveted Women in Law Empowerment Forum Gold Standard Certification, and partnering with numerous clients on diversity endeavors. While I am proud of these accomplishments, achieving authentic diversity and inclusion takes more than events and awards – it requires constant attention to our culture and values and how they play out daily firmwide. Through the combination, we’ve seen that the hard work of inclusion (trusting and valuing different perspectives and opinions) opens doors to new – and often better – ways of operating. That is why this year we have taken the time to have deep and sometimes difficult conversations, during which we intentionally have considered different perspectives and identified systemic challenges to address our diversity goals. In May, Director of Diversity & Inclusion Kristine McKinney and I facilitated meetings with the Faegre Baker Daniels Management Board, identifying challenges to achieving a more diverse and inclusive firm and beginning a dialogue regarding solutions. Shortly after, our Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group was launched as a “think-tank” to explore concrete solutions and recommend steps for success to firm leadership. Every member is passionate about our goals, and I have been grateful for their honesty, creative ideas and probing questions. We began with foundational matters - reading, researching and discussing the “systems” of our firm including work allocation, evaluations, competencies, compensation, core values and environment. While much of this work has been behind the scenes, it is essential for our long-term success. Faegre Baker Daniels’ leadership is committed to achieving greater diversity and inclusion. This is a business imperative and it will make us a better firm, as well as improve our ability to understand and serve clients in their businesses. I look forward to guiding our continued work as we seek to be a national leader in diversity and inclusion. Kathy Noecker, Faegre Baker Daniels Executive Committee

Kathy Noecker +1 612 766 8604 [email protected]


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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION AT FAEGRE BAKER DANIELS A New Firm On January 1, 2012, Faegre & Benson and Baker & Daniels combined to form Faegre Baker Daniels and expanded our capabilities to serve the legal needs of local, national and international businesses. Bringing together two firms with roots and reputations dating back more than one hundred years is an ambitious and exhilarating opportunity. Guided by firm leadership, instead of simply adopting the legacy practices of either firm, the combined firm has sought to develop a “third way” that focuses on and brings together best practices for talent development and client results. With this framework in place, the opportunities to meaningfully impact diversity and inclusion have been tremendous. As a result of the work of our Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group and three full-time diversity professionals, Faegre Baker Daniels has begun to make systemic changes within the firm and is working purposefully to increase diverse talent and create an inclusive culture. A Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion Faegre Baker Daniels’ commitment to diversity begins with our firm’s core values. We understand that diversity and inclusion are among the key attributes that allow us to attract the best talent and foster a vibrant and collaborative environment. The result is a distinct, strategic advantage for our clients and endless professional and practice development potential for our lawyers and professional staff. Everyone who joins our firm has a role to play in advancing diversity and inclusion. Our broad representation of people with diverse backgrounds makes us a better firm and better members of the communities we serve.


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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION ADVISORY GROUP Strategic efforts to embed diversity and inclusion throughout the firm’s processes, policies, practices, departments and programming are overseen by our Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Group and full-time diversity professional staff. The advisory group is composed of influential thought leaders from various offices who stay current on diversity and inclusion benchmarks, trends and practices throughout the legal industry and are personally committed to embedding the firm's diversity and inclusion values into all aspects of our firm. Over the past year, advisory group members have read the Verna Myers book, Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go From Well-Meaning to Well-Doing, implemented sections of the Inclusiveness Manual from the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, and stayed current on diversity trends in the legal industry and beyond. During a recent, full-day facilitated strategy session, advisory group members met in person and utilized strategic planning techniques to identify areas in which they could materially advance diversity and inclusion as individuals, as a group and within the firm more broadly. The outcomes of this meeting have formed the basis of 2013 priorities.

Peggy Steif Abram Partner Corporate

Daniel L. Boeglin Partner Health & Life Sciences

Jacob D. Bylund Partner Product Liability & Environmental

Stephen A. Claffey Partner Finance & Restructuring

Gregory N. Dale Partner Labor & Employment

Charles S. Ferrell Partner Real Estate

Michael B. Fisco Partner Finance & Restructuring

Melanie S. Green Chief Client Development Officer Business Development & Marketing


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Brita A. Horvath Manager of Diversity & Inclusion Talent Services

Kristen L. Hunter Diversity/Inclusion Coordinator Talent Services

Debra R. Lappin Principal Government Advocacy & Consulting

Calvin L. Litsey Partner Intellectual Property

Kristine L. McKinney Director of Diversity & Inclusion Talent Services

Kathlyn E. Noecker Partner Labor & Employment

Michael A. Ponto Partner Construction & Real Estate Litigation

Ann Rainhart Chief Talent Officer Talent Services

Regina M. Rodriguez Partner Product Liability & Environmental

Christopher G. Scanlon Partner Business Litigation

Joseph L. Smith Partner Government Advocacy & Consulting

Christopher J. Spataro Partner Business Litigation


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Ernest Summers Partner Business Litigation


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DEVELOPING THE DIVERSITY PIPELINE Developing a diverse pipeline of legal professionals is of paramount importance. We contribute to organizations and participate in programs that have expertise in expanding the legal diversity pipeline. These efforts expose high school students to various legal careers, provide mentoring opportunities, offer workshops to assist with college applications and career fairs, deliver instruction on substantive legal topics, and connect diverse high school students to lawyers who live and work in their communities. Our pipeline efforts begin with middle school and high school students and continue through college and beyond. Programs include: Urban Debate League: We financially support Urban Debate League, an organization with a proven track record

of improving reading and analytical skills among inner-city middle school and high school students. Street Law Corporate Diversity Pipeline Program: We financially support and participate in Street Law’s

Corporate Diversity Pipeline Program, in which our lawyers co-teach a semester-long course on civil law to high school students who attend an inner-city public school focused on law and public policy.

Cristo Rey Hire 4Ed: Through the Cristo Rey Hire 4Ed program, we provide job experience and financial support for urban students pursuing a college preparatory education.

College Scholarships: We sponsor the Matthew Shepard Foundation to provide college scholarships to LGBT youth.

LSAT Preparation Stipends: We, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, provide scholarships to students to take an LSAT preparation course.

Law School Prep Scholarships: We work in partnership with firm client Target Corporation to provide diversity scholarships for students to attend Law Preview, a boot camp designed to help maximize student preparedness for law school.

Additional Collaborations: We financially support and host learning opportunities for students through the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO), Just the Beginning Foundation and the Philip G. Hubbard Iowa Law School Preparation Program.


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LAW STUDENT RECRUITMENT Our commitment to diversity and inclusion continues with our outreach to law school students. Programs include:

• Diversity Fellowships to 2Ls: We currently offer four $10,000 Diversity & Inclusion Fellowships to 2Ls enrolled in accredited U.S. law schools. Applicants must demonstrate commitment to contribute meaningfully to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Fellowship recipients join our firm’s summer program and are provided mentoring and networking opportunities with our lawyers and within the broader legal communities in which we work. In the past six years, 80 percent of the fellowship recipients received an offer to join the firm as an attorney upon graduation from law school.

• Scholarship at Denver University Sturm College of Law: We fund the DU Joe Montano Scholarship at Denver University, which provides funds to help defray the cost of college education for students from historically underrepresented groups.

• 1L Diversity Efforts: As part of our law school outreach efforts, we hire 1L students through three prominent diversity organizations, including the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), the Colorado Pledge to Diversity and Twin Cities Diversity in Practice. Each of these organizations has programs that offer various opportunities to diverse law students, including the chance to spend a portion of their summer working alongside a firm client (current client partners include 3M, Target and Cargill), to participate in national professional development conferences and trainings in Chicago, to attend local networking events, and to build lasting mentoring relationships. In the past six years, more than 30 1L summer associates have participated in these diversity programs. More than 90 percent of them have received offers to return to the firm as 2L summer associates.

• Diversity Job Fairs: We participate in numerous diversity job fairs, including Lavender Law, ICLEO Gateway to Diversity, Minnesota Minority Recruitment Conference, IndyBar Diversity Job Fair, Cook County Diversity Job Fair, and the Rocky Mountain Diversity Job Fair, as additional ways to recruit and attract top talent to the firm's summer associate program.


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RETENTION & ADVANCEMENT Firm Programming to Support Retention & Advancement Faegre Baker Daniels understands that success is measured not only in the recruitment of attorneys and professionals with diverse backgrounds, but in their development, advancement and retention. We invest in our people to ensure that they thrive and that our workplace is one in which they wish to stay. The Faegre Baker Daniels Women’s Forum for Achievement enhances the firm’s talent development strategy by

growing our intellectual capital and developing the leadership capabilities of our women attorneys and consultants; providing dynamic opportunities that enhance and foster internal and external networking; and offering unique business and professional development programming. Programs offered by the Women's Forum for Achievement are intended to connect all lawyers of the firm around common topics of interest. In addition to providing an internal platform for our lawyers and consultants to learn from and network with one another, the Women's Forum for Achievement also provides occasions to convene with our clients and community leaders. Beyond activities and events, the Women's Forum for Achievement provides insight and guidance with respect to policies and practices that impact our women professionals. Programs have included:

o Tactical leadership strategies and tools at all stages of your career o Communication skills for a multigenerational workplace that serves multigenerational clients o Rankings, ratings and certifications o Practice- and business-related ancillary services to support your practice o Tips and tools for preparing self-evaluations o Creating your personal board of directors o Developing sponsors o Designing a blueprint for building your business o Essential tools for your business toolkit: Elevator speeches and how to work a room o Multilevel speed-mentoring o Workshop/clinic to revamp your professional biography o Self-promotion strategies o Community involvement: Where to go and how to take action o Client entertainment opportunities and best practices o Building your personal brand

We are a member of the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, an organization we have housed in our Denver office

since its inception in 2008. Through this membership, we have expanded our diversity efforts to include a deep awareness of inclusiveness. We understand that an inclusive environment which actively and intentionally engages individuals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives will advance our diversity efforts beyond a traditional emphasis on recruiting to a more balanced emphasis on recruiting, retention and advancement.

We provide our lawyers opportunities to attend national external leadership development coaching programs such as Charting Your Own Course, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows, Rainmakers Roundtable and the Minnesota Women Lawyers Leadership Project. We also support individualized development coaching opportunities that are customized based on specific interests.

We host a “Lunch With” series, designed to foster discussion and learning and allow members of the community to share unique opinions and perspectives.


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We support delegations of our diverse lawyers and consultants who, together, attend conferences hosted by national affinity bar associations such as National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), National Bar Association, Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), Lavender Law, National LGBT Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC) and National Hispanic Bar Association.

We offer firm-sponsored education and awareness events held throughout the year to which all lawyers, consultants and professional staff are invited—including annual MLK events and LGBT Pride programming.

We host “Law, Literature & Bias” discussions which offer opportunities for lawyers and staff to engage in a facilitated dialogue around short stories that delve into the timeless themes of belonging, race relations, difficult choices, political conflict, gender differences and the search for meaning.

We also boast a rich community of employee affinity groups, supporting a means for our professionals, connected by some common dimension of diversity, to come together to build relationships, discuss issues and solutions, and create business opportunities for the firm and the individual.

We partner with a variety of clients on diversity-related collaborations that support our mutual retention and advancement goals.

Firm Policies and Benefits to Support Diversity and Flexibility In support of our commitment to retain top talent and provide preeminent legal services, Faegre Baker Daniels recognizes and affirms that a lawyer can maintain a robust legal practice while having a more flexible work schedule. In addition, our benefits follow best practices identified by organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and the Project for Attorney Retention.

• We offer a “Full-Flex” policy for lawyers who work full-time but have a need for an adjusted schedule or to work remotely.

• We provide options for reduced-time practice. For more than a decade, we have made it possible for lawyers to become partners while working a reduced-time schedule, and to continue to work reduced-time after becoming partner.

• We offer generous parental leave with on- and off-ramping before and after in order to assist with transitions. Both men and women take advantage of these policies.

• We provide a generous adoption reimbursement of up to $5,000 per child. • We provide lactation support rooms for nursing mothers. • We provide backup child care options. • We have a generous sabbatical policy. • We offer comprehensive domestic partner benefits.


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EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS Diversity and inclusion is not something that any one individual—or firm—achieves on its own. For that reason, we have built collaborative relationships with clients, professional associations and community organizations. We are:

• A founding member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) • A founding member of Twin Cities Diversity in Practice • A host firm for the Center for Legal Inclusiveness (CLI) • A sponsor of the National LGBT Bar Association • A member firm of the National Association of Women Lawyers • A member of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals • A sponsor of LAMBDA Legal • A member of Catalyst • A sponsor of the Diversity/Flexibility Alliance and Project for Attorney Retention • An annual sponsor of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA)

In addition, we proactively partner with clients such as Target, Eli Lilly and Company, and Xcel Energy to provide concrete ways for our firm to move past the diversity “dialogue” and take steps to ensure that we fully develop all of our talent. We seek to provide opportunities for individuals to succeed, grow and flourish within our firm.


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RESULTS & RECOGNITIONS While we still have a long way to go in achieving our diversity and inclusion goals, we are making progress along the way.

• Current composition of our U.S. lawyer population: o 37 percent female o 7 percent racially diverse o 1.5 percent LGBT

• Current composition of our U.S. partner population: o 24 percent female o 5 percent racially diverse o 1 percent LGBT

• Our 2013 new partner class is 21 percent racially diverse, 35 percent female and 7 percent LGBT. Leadership A broad spectrum of backgrounds and viewpoints in the leaders of our firm is a business imperative, and achieving such diversity requires commitment and intentionality. For example, our nominating committee process demonstrates structural changes that have led to and resulted in greater diversity among our leadership. Instead of relying upon individuals to declare themselves for leadership positions, our process has an annually rotating and intentionally diverse composition (by office, practice area, seniority, gender, race, etc.). Our representation of women in leadership has been recognized by Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers, as well as the Women in Law Empowerment Forum. These external recognitions are an important way to benchmark progress, but we continue to look for effective ways to ensure wide-ranging diversity in our leadership.

• Faegre Baker Daniels is led by an elected management board of fifteen members, four of whom are women (27 percent); one is a woman of color (7 percent).

• Four members of the management board serve as an executive committee, directing the decision-making by operations executives. The executive committee includes one woman (25 percent).

• Our sixteen group leaders guide the priorities and operations of legal practice groups, four of whom are women (25 percent).

• Our five operations executives are the senior executives who direct the planning and operations of administrative departments: business development and marketing, finance, strategy and operations, talent services, and technology administration. Three operations executives are women (60 percent).

Awards and Recognition In 2012, Faegre Baker Daniels has been recognized with the following awards:

• Faegre Baker Daniels was named as one of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers.

• Faegre Baker Daniels received Gold Standard Certification by Women in Law Empowerment Forum. • Faegre Baker Daniels was named a “Best Place to Work” by the Human Rights Campaign, having scored 100

percent on HRC’s annual Corporate Equality Index.

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Diversity & Inclusion Report - Faegre Baker Daniels Report 2012.pdf · DIVERSITY & INCLUSION REPORT 2 TABLE ... met in person and utilized strategic planning techniques to ... Foundation