Aviva Will, co-chief operating officer at Burford Capital/courtesy photo

In-house leaders still view law firm origination credit as a stumbling block to achieving gender diversity in law firms and should begin asking the firms they work with about their origination credit process, according to Burford Capital's 2020 Equity Project Study: General Counsel and the Gender Gap in the Law.

Of the general counsel and senior in-house attorneys who responded to the study, 52% said they are not aware of how origination credit is awarded at the law firms they work with. Aviva Will, co-chief operating officer at Burford Capital in New York, said that number surprised her.

Even if a corporation has a policy about an origination credit, it can be a mystery how that credit is awarded on the law firm side. It is important for in-house attorneys to dig in and ask for that information, Will said.

"One of the things that corporate clients can do is say that they want to understand that [the origination credit]," Will said. "Is it the woman who was actually doing the work on it, or is it the relationship partner who doesn't actually do my work?"

Roughly 36% of general counsel and senior in-house lawyers who responded believe that in order to improve gender equity, law firms should improve how they handle origination credit and business development, the study states.

"You have to follow the money. Lawyers cannot succeed in a law firm unless they receive origination credit. If you are not asking this question as a client, you are not helping," an anonymous assistant general counsel for a Fortune 100 energy company said in the study.

Outside of asking how the credit is awarded, in-house counsel can act as mentors to women who are working at law firms. Will, who previously served as assistant general counsel at Time Warner Inc., said the legal department would help cultivate women partners at the firms they worked with. They wanted those attorneys to better understand the business and become the "go-to" partner.

"It pays off in spades for the partner and for the client because they really get to know the business and become trusted advisers, not just litigators on a particular case," Will said.

Those interviewed for the report indicated that working from home during the pandemic provides an opportunity for women to show their firms and clients how reliable they can be.

"I think staying at home has created an environment where there will be long-term changes in the way that law firms behave and the way that clients work with them and that could be to the benefit of women," Will said.

Women working from home while having other responsibilities shows law firms and clients that they can be efficient from wherever they are.

"Women who are juggling after-school activities can work from home and be just as effective as a man sitting at an office who doesn't have other obligations," Will said.

The study was the result of a series of interviews with over 75 general counsel, heads of litigation and other senior in-house lawyers at global companies with median revenues of $8 billion.

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Change at the Start: How Law Firm Origination Credit Still Hurts In-House Counsel Diversity Focus