It’s a typical Sunday afternoon. You stroll down the aisles at your local grocery store to stock up for the week. Walking down the bread aisle, the shelves are fully stocked with everything your heart desires to put on a piece of warm toast. My personal favorite is peanut butter: It reminds me of my childhood, and my first introduction to the American culture as an immigrant child.
Tiffany Ho-Rivera
Director of Operations Rogoway Law Group’s San Francisco Office
Now decades later, my PB taste has changed as I opt for the jar of the vegan version. But it still brings that same delight. But did you know that peanut butter has to “earn” its label? Before a jar gets to label itself as PB, food manufacturers run series of tests against a Standard Reference Peanut Butter to ensure “they can […] accurately label their products.” The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “sells some 1,300 [food and beverage-related standard reference materials (SRMs)] that help a variety of industries make sure they are meeting regulations or industry standards that help ensure the safety and consistency of their products, among other characteristics.”
In the scientific world, a jar of peanut butter goes through standardized tests before it “earns” its label. So, for us in the legal industry, as we work to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), what is the standard? How do we know if our DEI goals are too far-fetched or aiming too low? Are we underserving our fellow colleagues in historically disadvantaged groups?
In searching for answers, ALA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee created the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarking Guide. This questionnaire aims to assist law firms, legal organizations and legal management personnel in examining their firm/organization’s diversity and inclusion programs. The questions included may also serve as a tool to strengthen a firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion efforts.
Despite the push of social movements in recent years, the American legal industry remains one of the least diverse professions. To be fair, the lack of diversity is a complex issue, which is rooted in historical discrimination, bias and stereotyping, barriers to entry, limited role models, and challenges in career advancement. Addressing these issues will require a concerted effort from all stakeholders in the legal industry.
“If law firms were jars of peanut butter, going through various tests to be compared to the NIST Standard Reference Peanut Butter, how do you think your firm would score under the DEI category?”
With that in mind, the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarking Guide was designed to support firm administrators and legal management personnel in assessing the comprehensiveness of their current DEI programs. It is also divided into six categories: formal firm leadership, firm culture, firm policies and workplace inclusion, professional development, organizational diversity and inclusion competency, and community involvement. It’s structured this way so improvements can be implemented in a steady, incremental and sustainable manner.
If law firms were jars of peanut butter, going through various tests to be compared to the NIST Standard Reference Peanut Butter, how do you think your firm would score under the DEI category? The self-assessing Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarking Guide aims to provide insights for you and your firm in building more comprehensive DEI programs.
There is no competition here. To quote Martin Luther King Jr.: “If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Whether you will be flying, running, walking or crawling, any step forward is a win in the fight for a more diverse and inclusive legal community.
Even incremental steps make a difference. ALA’s DEIA Committee put together the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarking Guide to help your firm do just that. This questionnaire aims to assist law firms, legal organizations and legal management personnel in examining your firm/organization’s diversity and inclusion programs. Plus, the questions included may also serve as a tool to strengthen firm commitments to diversity and inclusion efforts.
About the Author
Tiffany Ho-Rivera is Director of Operations at Rogoway Law Group’s San Francisco office where she oversees the firm’s HR, finance, administrative operations and marketing functionality. She works closely with the Managing Partner as a strategic partner on business planning and practice management. Ho-Rivera was the past Chair of ALA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee (2022–2023). Prior to working in the legal industry, she spent more than six years working with children and families with special needs. She remains a strong advocate to amplify voices that have been silenced and to empower those without power.
