From Ally to Champion: Strategies For Corporations and Law Firms to Go Past Awareness to Action

On July 23, 2020, Vorys attorney Akilah Craig partnered with the Association of Corporate Counsel Houston Chapter to host a webinar titled "From Ally to Champion: Strategies For Corporations and Law Firms to Go Past Awareness to Action."

Protests across the country are shining a light on racial injustice and inequity. These conversations have extended into workplaces, prompting several corporate CEOs and law firm managing partners to issue statements to express solidarity with their Black employees. Yet, Black lawyers continue to be among the most under-represented in law firms and corporate legal departments across the country. For the past decade or so, the number of Black lawyers in law firms has declined and the legal profession remains one of the least diverse of any profession. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic also poses unique challenges to Black attorneys, which if left unaddressed, have the potential to lead to wider racial equity gaps. This webinar provided strategies by which law firms and corporations can disrupt racial inequity in their workplaces, as well as provided practical ways to support and sponsor Black employees during the pandemic and beyond.