(L to R) Kathy Szmuszkovicz, Principal, Washington, D.C. ;Paula Schauwecker, Principal, New York; Laura LaValle, principal, Austin Beveridge & Diamond (Courtesy Photo)

Beveridge & Diamond does well recruiting diverse lawyers—women and minorities comprise half of its head count—but the environmental boutique wants to do better.

Its leadership is now focusing on professional development as part of a strategy to improve retention. "We intend to take this to the next level," managing principal Kathy Szmuszkovicz, of Washington, D.C., said.

In addition to having a woman as its managing principal and an African American chairman, Ben Wilson, two-thirds of the firm's management committee members are women or minorities. And in 2019, 83% of lawyers who joined the firm were women or minorities. With those stats, Beveridge & Diamond stands out from much of the legal industry.

Still, Szmuszkovicz, the managing principal as of Jan. 1, said the firm has a strategic objective to strengthen its diverse culture.

So management decided two years ago to create a task force that would interview alumni, associates and shareholders about ways to improve every aspect of professional development and how it relates to retention. New York principal Paula Schauwecker, who leads the task force, said the firm doesn't have a retention problem, but it wants to improve the experience for associates.

"If people are staying, that's wonderful, but we want people do more than stay. We want them to thrive," she said.

To that end, the 124-lawyer firm recently named Schauwecker as its chief talent officer to oversee hiring, retention and talent development. Schauwecker was the first woman and first openly LGBT attorney to become a shareholder in Beveridge & Diamond's New York office and the first openly LGBT shareholder elected its management committee.

The task force had recommended creating her role to oversee various talent development efforts across the firm, since separate committees manage areas such as diversity and inclusion, workflow and mentoring, she said.

The firm has already adopted several other task force recommendations, Schauwecker noted, such as software to help with work assignments and workflow; improved associate compensation to provide more hours-based bonuses and pro rata bonuses for lawyers working on a flexible schedule; and an enhanced exit interview process.

And this year, Beveridge & Diamond plans to implement implicit bias training. It also reorganized its committee structure to give associates more of a platform to "talk among themselves" and develop leaders within their own ranks, Schauwecker said.

"As you step back and look at diversity and inclusion and professional development, it really needs to be woven into the fabric of the firm. My role is to help the firm with processes and procedures and other things that will help all of those good things," Schauwecker said.

Schauwecker said another goal is to increase leadership roles of women and diverse lawyers throughout the firm. In 2019, the firm was Mansfield Plus Certified, which requires having women, LGBTQ+ and minority lawyers in at least 30% of leadership roles.

Beveridge & Diamond, founded in 1974 by a group of lawyers that included former Environmental Protection Agency chief William Ruckelshaus, has attracted lawyers because of its "distinctive brand" as an environmental firm, Szmuszkovicz said. In addition to D.C., it also has lawyers in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Baltimore and Austin, Texas.

Laura LaValle, managing principal of the firm's Austin office, said clients—particularly women—do notice the firm's track record in hiring diverse lawyers. She said it does help in getting work.

"They are selecting who the law firms are, and certainly while women [clients] won't select women any more than men, they appreciate the ability to give us the opportunity," she said.

Lauren Rikleen, president of the Rikleen Institute of Strategic Leadership, trains lawyers on workforce culture, particularly related to diversity and inclusion and generational issues. She said the retention and development goals Beveridge & Diamond is managing to are in line with what firms should be prioritizing.

"It's how people feel about their day-to-day experiences," Rikleen said. Often "Firms are really uncomfortable [with] holding people accountable for behaviors, and yet that drives attrition in a very significant way."

She said Beveridge & Diamond's attention to workflow is a particularly important component in developing the careers of women and diverse lawyers.

"An unequal workload can be devastating to career growth," she explained.

Read More

'A Leader Must Be Fearless': A Conversation With Ben Wilson