Ice Miller is pleased to announce a new collaborative effort with The Center for WorkLife Law, a research and advocacy organization at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, which seeks to advance gender and racial equity in the workplace. The Firm recently completed a two-year bias audit study of its partner-track evaluation process with expertise from The Center.

The new collaboration will build upon this initial work, with the intended goal of co-creating bias interrupter tools and publishing insights gleaned throughout the process. It will also further Ice Miller’s approach to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion while continuing to prioritize the Firm's internal commitment to mitigating bias and building equitable talent systems that help level the playing field for opportunity and development. The initial scope of the arrangement includes a collaborative review of the Firm’s previously completed Practice Group Training, Development and Work Allocation Audit, Structured Candidate Interview Process, Women’s Retention Study and Work Allocation System Pilot.

Ice Miller’s Partner-in-Charge of Diversity & Inclusion Myra Selby will oversee the new collaborative effort with Kristen Matha, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Debbie Atlas, Director of Attorney Recruiting, and Reva Pollack, Director of Attorney Development.

The previous bias audit study completed with The Center for WorkLife Law informed the re-design of Ice Miller’s partner-track annual evaluation process. Completed in 2020, results of the study showed that the Firm achieved significant gains in creating a more objective and transparent process, which improved feedback across the board. To learn more about the results of the study, read this article: Harvard Business Review - How One Company Worked to Root Out Bias From Performance Reviews.
 
Read Ice Miller’s 2020 Diversity & Inclusion Annual Report or learn more about the Firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives here.

This publication is intended for general information purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. The reader should consult with legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the reader’s specific circumstances.