Diverse Outside Counsel Hiring Policies: What Law Firm and In-House Lawyers Need to Know

Author
Zach McGeeJonathan GottliebRanda Soudah
Price
Free
Date
January 02, 2017
Category
Elimination of Bias

Description:

In recent years, more and more leading companies have adopted diverse outside counsel hiring policies that require the company in its hiring of outside law firms to encourage those law firms to become more diverse in their ownership, hiring, promoting and/or staffing. These policies range from committing to spend a certain percentage of its total outside counsel budget with law firms that are minority owned (e.g., AT&T’s policy) to requiring law firms to have diverse lawyers as the relationship partner and/or as the ones who are working on the company’s matters (e.g., Walmart’s policy) to granting law firms increases in their hourly rates based on increasing the percentage of hours billed by minority lawyers out of total hours billed (e.g., Microsoft’s policy).

This program reviews some diverse outside counsel hiring policies that have been adopted by leading companies from the perspective of law firm lawyers seeking first to understand what the policies require and second how to position themselves to succeed in obtaining work from companies that have implemented such policies. The panelists also share some best practices and challenges they have identified as in-house lawyers charged with implementing similar policies at their respective companies.

This program will benefit law firm and in-house lawyers at all levels and in all areas of practice.

Speakers:

Jonathan Gottlieb, Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs, Fox Entertainment Group, Los Angeles, CA

Zach McGee, Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA

Randa Soudah, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, CBS Corporation, Los Angeles, CA

Jonathan manages a team of lawyers responsible for drafting and negotiating license agreement for the distribution of Fox’s television and film content worldwide. Prior to that, Jonathan was Senior Vice President, Litigation, at Fox where he handled all manner of legal problems faced by Fox's film, television, and Internet properties. He clerked for the Honorable Roger J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and, before joining Fox in 2004, was Counsel in the Appellate and Litigation groups at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.Zach leads worldwide business affairs for Sony’s home entertainment division. Before moving to Sony, he was the Senior Vice President, Head of Business & Legal Affairs at Miramax, a leading independent film and television studio. Before joining Miramax, Zach was a Vice President, Legal Affairs, with NBC Universal, Inc. Prior to moving in-house, he was an associate with Davis Polk. Zach clerked for the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and he received his Masters of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Zach also has taught negotiation ethics for lawyers as an Adjunct Professor at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University.Zach McGee, Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA

Zach leads worldwide business affairs for Sony’s home entertainment division. Before moving to Sony, he was the Senior Vice President, Head of Business & Legal Affairs at Miramax, a leading independent film and television studio. Before joining Miramax, Zach was a Vice President, Legal Affairs, with NBC Universal, Inc. Prior to moving in-house, he was an associate with Davis Polk. Zach clerked for the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and he received his Masters of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Zach also has taught negotiation ethics for lawyers as an Adjunct Professor at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University.

Randa supervises a variety of litigation matters for CBS and also provides advice and counsel on labor and employment matters. She has been with CBS since 2001. Prior to that, Randa was a litigation associate at the New York law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher and a law clerk to the Hon. William H. Walls of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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