|
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.
|
