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As of June 15,
2001, more than 400 chief legal officers of many Fortune 500
corporations signed the Association of Corporate Counsel's
Statement of Principle on Diversity in the Workplace. The
statement provides:
We expect the law firms which
represent our companies to work actively to promote diversity
within their workplace. In making our respective
decisions concerning the selection of outside counsel, we will
give significant weight to a firm's commitment and progress in
this area. (Diversity in the Workplace: A Statement of
Principle, Association of Corporate Counsel.)
With
diversity on the forefront as a business imperative for law
firms, why should you choose Carter-White & Shaw to assist
you in meeting this challenge? Because we have been in
business longer than most of our competitors. As a
result, we have a larger network of contacts in diverse legal
communities than those of our competitors within the niche of
diversity recruiting. As noted in the November 12, 2003 issue
of the San Francisco Recorder by John Childs, a partner with
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, "While mainstream
headhunters have a few contacts, they don't have the same
network [as diversity recruiters.] [Specialists] talk to
attorneys of color. They know who's available and who's ready
to move."
Carter-White & Shaw was promoting
diversity recruitment as a matter of fairness long before it
became a business imperative for law firms and corporate legal
departments. As a result, we have a loyal following of
candidates and clients who continue to refer business to us.
Using our network of candidates we have placed, our contacts
within numerous minority legal organizations, and our own
research skills, we find superior candidates wishing to work
for employers that are serious about diversity. Our policies
include:
Confidentiality: Our contracts with
client firms and corporate law departments include a
non-disclosure clause, and we maintain all candidate inquiries
and the placement process as confidential.
Candidate
Control: We do not submit information about candidates to
any potential employers without candidate
permission.
Client Guarantee: We provide for a
prorated reimbursement of our placement fee should a candidate
leave the employment of a client within six months of the
placement. In the history of Carter-White & Shaw, we have
had to provide only one such reimbursement, due to an Act of
God.
No Recruiting from Clients: Our contract
provides that we will not recruit anyone from any of our
clients for a period of one year following the placement of
one of our candidates with a client. This guarantee applies
firm-wide, not just to the office of the firm with which we
placed the candidate.
We do not recruit for employers
that lack commitment to diversity and that have recruitment
and retention records with respect to diversity that cannot be
defended, much less championed, by us to our candidates.
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