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Many legal departments are discussing what their law firms should be doing to promote diversity. However, what legal departments are doing internally is not as often discussed.

U.S. Bank was among the first to sign on to Diversity Lab's Mansfield Rule for legal departments. The goal is to increase the representation of diverse lawyers in a corporate legal department.

Jim Chosy, executive vice president and general counsel at U.S. Bank, said he felt it was important to sign on since he asked his panel of law firms to sign on to the Mansfield Rule. Further, he said, it is aligned with his mission to move the needle and have better representation at U.S. Bank.

One of the methods he has helped implement in his legal department is to have a panel of managers sit in on interviews.

"We have taken a panel approach to eliminate, to the extent that we can, the unconscious biases that one individual manager may have," Chosy explained.

How is your legal department helping to create a diverse pipeline of talent? Let me know by emailing me at [email protected].

What's Happening

The Impact of Big Tech Antitrust Investigations

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission last week opened an investigation into Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc.'s acquisition of smaller companies between Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2019. The investigations seek to find out if those acquisitions harmed competition.

The investigation focuses on tech companies but could have broader implications for other industries, Jon Dubrow, an antitrust partner at McDermott Will & Emery, told Corporate Counsel. There are three things that other companies should consider while the FTC is investigating big tech, antitrust lawyers said.

● This isn't only about big tech companies. Dubrow said the fact the FTC is looking at transactions reportable under Hart-Scott-Rodino should be concerning even if those transactions were not challenged.

● Spillover to companies that rely on big tech platforms. David Reichenberg, a member at Cozen O'Connor, said, "If there are aspects of your business that mirror aspects of other businesses that are being investigated, you would want to be proactive about the steps you are taking to be able to explain why you are handling a parallel or similar issue in a way that a government regulator would approve of."

● Antitrust investigations could have an impact on business negotiations. "If you are the general counsel, the fact that there are fact-gathering and assessments going on could impact the way you conduct a business negotiation," Reichenberg said.

Novartis Shares Law Firm Panel

Novartis announced the third iteration of its preferred panel program. Shannon Thyme Klinger, group general counsel at Novartis, said the preferred panel contains 22 firms, which serve as specialty firms as opposed to the 10 generalist firms it had before. The preferred panel program comes with a stipulation that no less than 30% of billable associate time and 20% of partner time be "provided by females, racially/ethnically diverse professionals or members of the LGBTQ+ community. If a firm does not hold up to that staffing commitment for a particular matter, Novartis will withhold 15% of the total amount billed over the 'life of that specific matter.'"

Many of the firms told Corporate Counsel they are excited to be a part of the preferred panel.

"When Shannon's newest version of the program came across the wires, we were pleased because it dovetails nicely with our firm's culture and our firm's ethics," Saul Morgenstern, a partner at Arnold & Porter in New York, said.

"Clients like Novartis play a powerful role in driving law firms to become more diverse and inclusive. Like Novartis, we know that diverse and inclusive teams do the best work for our clients and are essential to our firm's future," Mary Ellen Connerty, director of diversity and engagement at O'Melveny & Myers in New York, said.

What I've Been Reading

Legal operations professionals in Canada are largely concerned about data security issues, according to a report in Canadian Lawyer Magazine. The results of a survey published by OpenText and Ari Kaplan Advisors. The report indicates that 94% of legal operations professionals surveyed are concerned about electronically stored information to discovery vendors and law firms.

Tali Farhadian Weinstein, the general counsel in the Office of the Brooklyn District Attorney, is considering running for Manhattan District Attorney, according to City & State New York. If she decides to run, she will be in a primary race against four other attorneys who have already pledged to run.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Office of General Counsel noted in a letter that it believes Grams, created by Telegram Group, are commodities and not securities, according to a report in Finance Feeds. Because it is a commodity, it is not subject to registration under the Securities Act of 1933.

Don't Miss

Friday, Feb. 21 – The Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law will be hosting the Sixth Annual Fashion Law Symposium. Speakers will include Maryann Lawrence, associate general counsel at Chanel Inc., Shane St. Hill, associate general counsel at Rent the Runway, and Gail Wheeler, general counsel at Hermes of Paris Inc.

Thursday, March 5 – Corporate Counsel Business Journal will be hosting a Legal Operations Executive Forum at the Tarrytown House Estate in Tarrytown, New York. Speakers will include Andrea Colby, former IP counsel at Johnson & Johnson; Darren Guy, AIG global head of legal operations; and Brian Liss, senior vice president and deputy general counsel at Leidos.

Tuesday, March 10 to Thursday, March, 12 – Georgetown Law will be hosting Corporate Counsel Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Speakers will include Caroline Tsai, chief legal officer at Western Union, Farinaz Tehrani, chief legal officer of Advantia Health, and William Min, general counsel at RELX, Risk & Business Analytics.

On The Move

✦ Payscale ✦ Kristin Boraas will join the compensation data firm as general counsel beginning March 9. She previously served as senior director of the corporate legal department at Tableau Software.