Law firms can't improve diversity with one-off donations to organizations and sponsorships for galas. Instead, addressing legal's long-standing diversity and inclusion challenges must involve reimagining evaluation models and making metric-based decisions, explained Legal Innovators CEO and co-founder Bryan Parker.

Parker was the main speaker for the "Equity in Practice: Driving Structural Legal Innovation With Data and Diversity" session held Wednesday during the second day of the virtual Clio Cloud Conference.

While leadership commitment is crucial, Parker noted that "change management" being accepted companywide is essential for law firms to make progress on a subject they've historically struggled with. "Think beyond the four corners of the page and let's think as a profession. If we have a pipeline problem and a diversity problem at almost all levels, what are the barriers?" he added.