Legal departments are increasingly pushing outside law firms to boost diversity efforts. Just last week one industry report found that in-house leaders are letting go of firms that fail to meet expectations. But Adobe Systems Inc.'s legal team is looking to build diversity in-house and in partnered firms in a new, more collaborative way.

This summer, the department will have its first two 1L diversity fellows, two law students who will split their time between Adobe's offices and a Bay Area office of either Perkins Coie or Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. The idea came from Lisa Konie, senior director of legal operations at Adobe.

“I'm usually trying to push the boundaries for ways we can partner and advance common interests [with firms]. Being able to expose law students to both sides of the fence was certainly a driving piece,” Konie said. “Not just talking the talk, walking the walk.”

Konie said the fellowship was also an important chance to provide law school students with a rare opportunity to work in-house. Adobe already offers some other internships to students, and it's one of few companies to do so. Konie said she pushed for the programs, in part, because she remembers her own struggle moving in-house years ago, when most interviewers wanted previous in-house experience.

“I'd never have in-house experience unless someone gave me that opportunity,” Konie said. “To give a student the opportunity to say 'I spent my summer with Perkins Coie and Adobe,' that  opens doors for them from here on out.”

Konie proposed the idea to others at Adobe's legal team, and then to their two preferred provider firms. She said both firms were eager for a chance to build diversity, work with talented students and develop stronger relationships with Adobe. The firms separately worked  with Adobe's legal team to create a plan for recruiting a fellow, and outline what the fellowship will look like in practice.

“We had to build the program from the ground up, in terms of everything from laying the groundwork, what the split [in time] would be when they were with Perkins and Adobe,” said Michelle Le Biavant, senior legal recruiting manager at Perkins Coie. “We were side by side having weekly calls about figuring our all of the details. [We] pooled our resources here at to come up with branding and marketing for the program.”

Adobe and Perkins Coie called their fellowship the Two Steps Ahead Scholars Program. Together, officials at the firm and company sifted through around 100 applicants eager for a chance to get in-house and firm experience. Eventually they brought the final students, who came from schools across the country, to California for an in-person interview. The selected fellow will receive a salary and a $15,000 scholarship for the next academic year from the firm.

Logistics-wise, Adobe and Perkins decided that the fellow would spend the first half of their summer with the firm, then go in-house—but both sides will stay in contact with the fellow the entire time. During the Perkins Coie's half, the fellow will also work alongside two other 1L fellows, part of an older program at the firm.

Arnold & Porter and Adobe's partnered summer is called the A2 Immersion Program, or A-Squared. This associate will also spend the first half of the summer with the firm with a strong focus on firm-related work. They'll also join associates from the firm's other summer programs in Arnold & Porter's Washington, D.C., training forum.

“We have a training forum where we send [the summer associates] to D.C. and train them in D.C.,” said Ellen Kaye Fleishhacker, a partner at Arnold & Porter's San Francisco office. “So we thought it would be good to have them here at the beginning of the summer.” 

Fleishhacker said her firm was excited at the opportunity to increase diversity in the legal field and to work closer with Adobe. Arnold & Porter and Adobe had phone calls to work out the program's name and marketing strategy, and to decide on the two finalists for the program.

Perkins Coie partner Jim Valentine said the teamwork of putting together a program with Adobe “deepened the relationship, which was fairly deep to being with.” He and Le Biavant also said the firm has received positive feedback from other clients impressed with the program. Some have indicated they'd be interested in having a similar program with the firm, though nothing has formalized yet.

Fleishhacker also said she hopes the program spreads to the rest of the legal community.

“It could become a bigger [trend] in the industry, not just with Adobe and Arnold & Porter, but [with] companies and law firms, working together to boost diversity,” Fleishhacker said. “I think it's a great idea and there's a lot of possibilities here. We're at the beginning of starting to explore them.”