January 18, 2007  

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ALA Currents is a free newsletter about management trends and innovations provided exclusively upon request to members of the Association of Legal Administrators.

News & Views

LAW FIRM PARTNERSHIPS STILL ELUSIVE FOR MINORITY WOMEN

Minority women constitute only 1.48 percent of partners in major U.S. law firms. This group is thus particularly underrepresented in the partnership ranks, even more so than minority men, who account for only 3.53 percent of partners. These are the most startling findings of NALP’s recent analyses of the 2006-2007 NALP Directory of Legal Employers (NDLE), the annual compendium of legal employer data published by NALP, the Association for Legal Career Professionals.

However, during the 14 years that NALP has been compiling this information, law firms have made steady, albeit slow progress in increasing the numbers of women and minorities among their lawyers and summer associates. In 2006, minorities accounted for 5.01 percent of partners in major U.S. law firms, and women accounted for 17.9 percent of the partners in these firms. The total change since 1993, the first year for which NALP has comparable aggregate information, has been only marginal. At that time, minorities accounted for 2.55 percent of partners, and women accounted for 12.27 percent of partners. Looking at all lawyers represented, minorities now make up just more than 10 percent of lawyers at these law firms. At the same firms, women make up just less than one-third of lawyers, and minority women constitute about 5 percent of the lawyers.

The most recent NALP findings from the NDLE also reveal that, in the United States, women and minorities continue to be much better represented in associate and summer associate ranks than in the partnership ranks. Women account for 44.33 percent, minorities for 16.72 percent, and minority women for 9.16 percent of associates. Each group lags in its representation by 3 to 5 percentage points compared to the population of recent law school graduates. According to the American Bar Association, since the late 1980s, the percentage of minority law school graduates has doubled, from 10 percent to 20 percent. During the same period, the presence of women among law school graduates has grown from 40 percent to nearly half.

Summer associate classes best reflect law school enrollment, with women constituting 46.67 percent, minorities 23.05 percent, and minority women 12.4 percent of summer associates in 2006. With an increase from 22.85 percent in 2005 to 23.05 percent in 2006, minority representation in summer programs slightly exceeded their representation among law students for the second consecutive year.

The 2006-2007 NALP Directory of Legal Employers, which provides the individual firm listings on which these aggregate analyses are based, is available at NALP’s Web site.

STRONG GROWTH TREND IN ONLINE LEARNING

According to a recent survey of online learning, nearly 3.2 million U.S. students took at least one course online in fall 2006, up from 2.3 million in 2005. The study, Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006, was a collaborative effort between the College Board and the Sloan Consortium. The results reflect responses from more than 2,200 U.S. colleges and universities.

“This is the largest study to date, and it tells us online learning is growing without any sign of a plateau,” said Jeff Seaman, Chief Information Officer and Survey Director, The Sloan Consortium.

The survey also found that 62 percent of chief academic officers believe the learning outcomes in online education are now as good as or superior to face-to-face instruction, while 57 percent say it is critical to their institutions’ long-term strategies. In addition, 73 percent agree online education reaches students not served by face-to-face programs.

“Offering courses online increases enrollment, particularly among populations like working adults and others who traditionally have not been able to access higher education,” said Frank Mayadas, Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Click here to read the complete survey results and analysis.

Management Innovations

A PEEK INSIDE MICROSOFT’S LABS

In a rare move, Microsoft Research recently revealed some of the security technologies on which it’s working. GhostBuster locates dangerous rootkits by using their own deceptive behaviors against them. It’s expected to be developed as a standalone security tool, rather than a feature within Windows. Also in development is a software “shield” that would function much like a content filter. It would search for and block any network traffic that tries to exploit a detected vulnerability. The shield, which is vulnerability-specific rather than exploit-specific, wouldn’t disrupt an operating system or other software running on a computer. Researchers say the shield would have protected Microsoft customers from 98 percent of the vulnerabilities found in its products during the past two years.

SureMail, which is designed to ensure you get all of your e-mail, is another proposed Microsoft security technology. With SureMail, your e-mail software client detects whenever an e-mail has been sent to your account. If it fails to arrive, SureMail alerts you. SureMail is designed to reveal who sent it, without disclosing the contents of the missing message.

Microsoft Research is also developing software (code-named Vigilante) for detecting and responding to worm attacks, in particular “zero-day exploits” for which there are currently no available fixes.

(Information Week, December 4, 2006)

THIS LAPTOP’S A LIGHTWEIGHT

In Japan, Sony is unveiling what it calls the world’s lightest notebook computer, weighing in at only 898 grams (about 2 pounds). The “type G” Vaio comes with a 12.1-inch LCD screen and will be priced at about 220,000 yen (US $1,881). The company has no immediate plans to market the diminutive device outside Japan.

(Reuters, November 1, 2006)

Building Buy-In

Written by firm consultant and training expert Paul Trout, “Building Buy-In” is a new column in ALA Currents. It will help legal administrators learn how to effectively build buy-in from thought to action within the entire firm.

EATING MY OWN DOG FOOD
By Paul Trout

In 2006, I took my own good advice that I had previously given readers: To create “The Best Year Ever,” continue to execute against small and big goals, even if you can give only a little bit every day.

I wrote that column as a missive both to readers and to myself as a result of a conversation I had at a holiday party. A woman I had just met inquired about the quality of my year. I described that 2005 had been my best year ever, and I was afraid that in 2006, it would all come to an end, because nothing could possibly be better than the previous 12 months. I never had two consecutive (let alone three or more) years that have been “incredible” – have you? It never occurred to me that it was possible.

She asked, “Why not try to extend it instead of assuming it will end?” Something within me changed at that moment. I achieved a new alignment and saw new possibilities that I had never considered before. Because I was freed from my negative thinking, I’ve lived more happily and productively in the past year than I ever have. I can’t wait to see what 2007 brings.

Neither of us realized it at the time, but her off-the-cuff remark became the seed for my first business book, a collection of speeches, and the series of columns that recently launched and will continue to appear in ALA Currents.

I’m calling the subject of my columns “Internal Selling,” because before I could make great things happen consistently in 2006, I had to sell myself first. Once I had, some of those ideas required me to persuade and influence others within my organization to follow my vision.

Internal selling is universal. Nearly everyone has an idea on what they could do “only if…” Within law firms, most administrators have to persuade others within their organization to facilitate and create change. When these ideas come to life, actions to influence and persuade others must take place. These are functions that happen every day in the world of external sales. However, non-salespeople have rarely had best practices training in sales.

I found there is no guide other than your own experience to help you become more powerful, persuasive, and influential in your firms. So the idea of writing a book on the subject “Internal Selling” was born.

The twist: I will be writing the book live in front of you. This will be a “new media” experiment in online/offline writing and publishing, with hopes that you will be an active participant in creating the book by submitting your experiences, constructive criticism (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and perspectives I may not have considered.

In return, you will receive tactical tools that will help you be more persuasive and influential in your firm without having to wait for my book to arrive in bookstores sometime in 2008.

One of the key principles of Internal Selling is this: If you are serious about doing something, tell a lot of people. “Self-imposed peer pressure” is a powerful tool … that is, unless you are in the habit of letting others down. Most people aren’t.

Thanks in advance for giving me your eyes, your stories, and your perspectives as we travel along this new path together through my regular writing for ALA Currents. I won’t let you down.

Paul Trout is a Partner with Akina – a firm that helps clients improve their sales, marketing, and leadership effectiveness. This column is an excerpt from a book he is writing on Building Buy-In. He encourages readers to submit case studies, learnings, or questions about Building Buy-In, which may become part of the book and appear in a future column. Contact him via e-mail or by phone at (312) 224-8028.

Caucus Insights

This section features condensed versions of recent discussions in ALA’s Large Firm Administrators Caucus ListServe, which is exclusively for people working in firms with 100 attorneys or more.

THE TOPIC: Designation of Associates Not Yet Advanced to Partner

If an associate is not advanced to partnership after his or her requisite time after law school, do you typically “advance” the person to some other title, like “of counsel,” “senior counsel,” etc., or does the person remain an associate for another year or two or longer? If you do assign a different title, what’s your preferred title? We’ve made associates “of counsel” a couple of times, and we debate whether that’s perceived by others to be a bad thing and whether leaving them as associates would be better.

Selected Responses:

1. Off-track associates (after they have been here for six years) and some laterals that are not quite at non-equity partner status are titled “senior counsel.” We reserve the “of counsel” category for retired partners and other more senior laterals who have a book of business, but not at the level to be considered non-equity partners.

2. Our “senior counsel” position is similar, except it is used for “on-track” or “off-track” associates when they first become eligible for partnership, but don’t make it. (We only have one class right now, but are considering going to two.) Often, associates don’t make it when they are first eligible, so there is not a stigma attached to the title. This title is also used for lateral attorneys who have practiced for seven or more years, but are not coming in as partners or “of counsel.” We use the “of counsel” title for retired partners or senior laterals with some book of business.

3. We advance to “of counsel” – but we ask. One person asked to keep the associate title.

4. Attorneys too senior to be called associates and not headed toward partner are called “counsel.” For us, “of counsel” represents senior attorneys (usually retired partners) who continue to practice.

5. We see a move to “senior counsel” as a statement that the individual is highly unlikely to ever make the jump to non-equity. And so, yes, I think the title has some internal stigma attached to it. Associates who are not advanced (but are likely to be advanced in the future) remain as associates. We don’t have an up or out policy at this level either. The most severe critics of this approach seem to be the parents and spouse of the non-advancing associate.

6. As a general rule, they remain associates, and it is not unusual for someone not to make partner at the end of our seven-year period for partnership eligibility. I don’t recall us ever having “permanent” associates. If they don’t qualify for partnership after a reasonable time, they typically move on, either voluntarily or with a nudge from the firm. We do have some “of counsel” attorneys, but all are lateral hires. We have never promoted someone from associate to “of counsel.” We have had a few become staff attorneys or non-partner track associates, but those were mostly lifestyle choices.

7. We will let people stay in the associate ranks for about two more years. If they’re still around, then we generally make them “counsel,” with no related stigmas.

ALA’s Legal Management Resource Center (LMRC) also has several articles related to this topic. Click here to learn more.

Special Note: ALA members have free access to the ALA Reference Desk. Send any question on legal management issues to infocentral@alanet.org. Staff will conduct personal research on each question.

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