New York City Pro Bono Training Calendar
New York State Pro Bono Opportunities Guide

Diversity, Pro Bono Directors: Tempting Cuts in Downturn?

New York Lawyer
February 17, 2009

By Gina Passarella
The Legal Intelligencer

Subscribe to The Legal Intelligencer - 30 Days Free!

PHILADELPHIA - Diversity and pro bono initiatives took root in many firms over the past few years, but the economy might make having individual directors at the fore of those programs a less tenable prospect.

When Saul Ewing laid off 12 people earlier this year, the cuts included the firm's full-time diversity program manager and its full-time pro bono counsel.

Karen Forman had been Saul Ewing's first and only pro bono counsel. She started at the firm in 2004 and instituted its "We're All In" program, devoting pro bono resources to seniors and veterans. She worked to up the percentage of the firm's attorneys who provided 25 hours or more of pro bono work each year.

Karen Jackson Vaughn, one of the first diversity directors in Philadelphia, joined Saul Ewing in January 2005 as its diversity program manager, in charge of implementing the firm's strategic plan for diversity.

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney briefly had a director of diversity position that was held by Elizabeth Mell. The position was new to the firm and began in January 2008. It was eliminated amid a round of staff cuts the firm did in November. While that position was created recently, the firm's CEO-elect, John A. Barbour, held the title of chief diversity and integration officer since he joined the firm through its merger with Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling in 2006.

Attempts to contact Jackson Vaughn for this article were unsuccessful and Mell was unable to comment for the article.

In a statement from the firm, Buchanan Ingersoll said it was fully committed to both the diversity and pro bono programs. In December 2008, the firm hired Dani Kalafat in Washington, D.C., as director of professional development and diversity. She will spend a "significant portion of her time" on diversity efforts, according to the statement. The firm's pro bono efforts have been headed up by Pittsburgh attorney Peter Ennis and Philadelphia attorney Sherman Smith. They have chaired the pro bono committee since 2007.

Forman confirmed only that she was pro bono counsel at the firm from 2005 until January and that she believed she was in fact one of the 12 people that were let go, including Jackson Vaughn. Forman said she was told the firm was restructuring and would be eliminating her position and that the cut was not performance related.

At the time reports of the 12 layoffs came out, a Saul Ewing spokeswoman said the cuts were made in an effort to reduce redundancies in the firm and were not related to performance.

Forman said her time at Saul Ewing was positive, and the attorneys were very committed to pro bono work. She said she was proud of the firm's commitment and was told it would continue to support pro bono efforts. Forman said she didn't have a sense of whether other firms were cutting back on their pro bono programs. She is looking to continue to work in the field and has cast a wide net. Forman said she hasn't seen much hiring in the public interest sector.

Saul Ewing's spokeswoman said this week that the firm is fully committed to its diversity and pro bono programs "but the difficult economy requires us to make difficult decisions about where we spend our money."

Other firms had created programs without dedicating full-time professionals to them and Saul Ewing was following suit, she said. The firm now has diversity and pro bono committees that include attorneys from across its offices. It also reassigned a paralegal to manage the pro bono caseload. The spokeswoman said Saul Ewing has won awards for its pro bono efforts and won't cut back at all on those efforts.

Drexel University's senior vice president, Carl "Tobey" Oxholm III, spent much of his career working to create public interest programs in Philadelphia, including Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program and the Homeless Advocacy Project. If a firm's commitment to its values falls in an effort to raise profits, the firm's attorneys should step back and ask themselves whether that is the place for them, he said in an e-mail.

"It's often been said that you can measure a business and its owners by where they invest their money," Oxholm said. "To those for whom law is a profession not just a business, pro bono is a cost that must be paid every bit as much as rent or utilities. Commitments to the qualities that define us — pro bono, diversity, and excellence in service — are not necessarily measured by whether there is a director or coordinator; but a director focuses, improves and expands any effort."

Oxholm said he would hope the market forces that have "so wonderfully defined the Philadelphia legal community now for so long" are broad and deep enough that they can undo decisions that seem "penny-wise."

An attorney with the public interest bar who asked not to be named said Saul Ewing did a lot of good for the elderly and veterans through its pro bono program. The attorney hoped "this doesn't become a pattern in the law firm community, that a widely touted — and marketed — commitment to handling pro bono is dropped at the first sign of economic stress."

Vernon Francis serves as chairman of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group. He said he hasn't seen commitment to diversity decrease and certainly hopes firms don't decide to cut back on their diversity efforts.

Of the 30 firms or corporations involved in the group's 1L summer program, in which they each agree to hire one diverse attorney for the summer, only one or two who participated last year didn't participate this year, Francis said. For some involved, the 1L is their only summer hire, he said, which demonstrates a continued commitment to diversity.

While he understands firms need to stay alive and take certain measures given the current economy, Francis said he hopes they would think carefully before rushing to cut diversity or pro bono positions.

"I hope people don't get so blinded by economic uncertainty that they give up on the progress that we've made in the past few years," he said.

Both Saul Ewing and Buchanan Ingersoll are members of the PDLG.

Virginia Essandoh heads up Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll's diversity program. For firms looking to remain in favor with clients and serve as an attractive environment for diverse attorneys, she said this is not the time to cut back on client service and is the time to invest in their people.

"So I find it very surprising that any firm would let go or stop committing themselves, especially on diversity issues, right now," Essandoh said.

She said she is seeing a continued emphasis by clients on the importance of diversity, so she is not concerned that Ballard Spahr's commitment to diversity would be negatively affected by the economy.