From left, Greenberg Traurig labor and employment associate Philip Person (moderator); Nikki Lewis Simon, shareholder and chief diversity officer at Greenberg Traurig; Adelmise Roseme Warner, the global head of diversity and inclusion with SiriusXM and Pandora; David Pilson, the senior director of compliance with compensation, benefits and equity with eBay; Angela Johnson, litigation counsel for Uber. Photo: Caroline Spiezio/ALM

Greenberg Traurig's San Francisco office celebrated Black History Month on Wednesday with a panel on diversity in the legal industry, featuring local in-house counsel.

Labor and employment associate Philip Person led the panel, which included: Angela Johnson, litigation counsel for Uber Technologies Inc.; Adelmise Rosemé Warner, the global head of diversity and inclusion with Sirius XM Radio Inc. and Pandora Media Inc.; David Pilson, the senior director of compliance with compensation, benefits and equity with eBay Inc.; and Nikki Lewis Simon, shareholder and chief diversity officer at Greenberg Traurig.

“When you think of diversity right now, the current landscape is that it's not just a nice to have. It's a must have,” Warner said. Fostering diversity and inclusion at all levels of the company is a “business imperative,” she said.

According to Warner, SiriusXM and Pandora have done that by fostering inclusive groups for women, people of color and LGBT employees at the company, as well as ally groups. She said her legal department doesn't have a formal program but has hired aspiring lawyers with diverse backgrounds to prepare them for a legal career.

Pilson cited eBay's first-year law student summer program, which places students from underrepresented backgrounds in a 10-week internship, split between the legal department and an outside firm. This year, eBay partnered with six other tech companies, including Facebook and Uber, to expand the program.

He said eBay's legal team has also set goals for outside counsel diversity. The San Jose-based company asks that at least 30 percent of timekeepers be women or people of color. EBay has seen improvements in outside counsel diversity since implementing set metrics, according to Pilson.

“We made it very clear [to] firms that aren't moving in the right direction: We will take our business elsewhere,” Pilson said. “We are going to start to let our voice be known by our dollars.”

Johnson said Uber is still developing hard metrics for outside counsel diversity. The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company is focused on “creating the culture” that allows in-house counsel to hold each other accountable on diversity issues. Uber has also grown its black employee resources group.

But it can be taxing for people of color to be the only ones working on diversity at companies, panelists said. Warner and Pilson recommended diverse in-house counsel ask colleagues of all backgrounds if they'd like to get involved with initiatives.

That's what Pilson did, after a stressful period at work that included leading diversity and inclusion efforts. Ensuring diversity and inclusion work doesn't land on one person also ensures its impact will last longer, panelists said.

“It made me realize that I had to start getting other people involved to carry this on. That's important from a system standpoint. Because if I get hit by a car tomorrow and no one knows what's going on, what happens to the program?” Pilson said. Since then, he's found colleagues eager to help with eBay's diversity efforts.

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