Welcome to Cadence Corner. In this occasional series of informal conversations, I will interview Monique Burt Williams — CEO of Cadence Counsel, the in-house division of the Lateral Link consortium of legal recruitment firms — about timely topics in the world of legal hiring and recruiting.
Today’s topic: the rise of the chief diversity officer (CDO). Does your law firm, company, or other organization have a CDO? If not, perhaps it should. As diversity and inclusion become increasingly important — to law firms, their clients, and the customers of their clients — organizations benefit from having professionals dedicated to the promotion of these values.
Not surprisingly, the number of searches for diversity and inclusion professionals has increased dramatically in recent months. At Cadence Counsel and Lateral Link — where we have always placed a premium on diversity, including in our own ranks — we are working on a number of such searches.
What is driving this increased interest in D&I professionals? What should organizations look for when hiring a chief diversity officer? And how can they best ensure the success of the CDO in her new role?
Tune in as I discuss these and other questions with Monique Burt Williams, CEO of Cadence Counsel, in the inaugural installment of Cadence Corner:
Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. This post is by David Lat, a Managing Director in the New York office, where he focuses on placing top associates, partners, and partner groups into preeminent law firms around the country.
Cadence Counsel is the in-house division of Lateral Link, one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices worldwide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click here to find out more about us.