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Spotlight – Roberta Granadier, Dickinson Wright

August 2021 Spotlight on Flex

Our Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

For our August 2021 Spotlight on Flex we are pleased to share insights from Roberta Granadier, Of Counsel, at Dickinson Wright.

 

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How have the firm and/or your clients contributed to this?

Roberta Granadier: I have been working a reduced schedule for more than thirty years since my first child was born. I intentionally made my work schedule Monday through Thursday to enable me to participate in school activities for my kids when they were younger.  It was also easier for my clients and colleagues to know which days I would be in the office.  Clients have known throughout my career that I work a reduced hours schedule, but I’ve always ensured that they had access to my cell phone number and could reach me in case of emergency. The key for me has been being as responsive and prompt as possible with all of my clients. . In turn, my clients have respected my schedule and have been very apologetic on those times when they’ve needed to reach me on a Friday.

Generally, I have found that law firms are enlightened about reduced work schedules. Part of the reason I have been able to find success in working a flexible schedule is that I simultaneously always provide superior client services while also having a niche legal specialty in ERISA. The combination of having a unique specialty and being indispensable to clients and firms has really allowed me to thrive.

 

DFA: How has working flexibly made your career more sustainable and contributed to business development opportunities?

RG: Working flexibly has made my career more sustainable because I can successfully juggle my work responsibilities with other priorities that are important to me, such as my family, community involvement, and nonprofit activities. These non-work activities have also contributed to business development opportunities.  I continue to be energized by my practice specialty and teamwork with colleagues. 

 

DFA: Looking back, would you do anything differently, or what would you tell your first year associate self?

RG: One thing I would tell myself, and that I would tell anyone considering a flexible work schedule, is to be very candid and specific about your goals and expectations. Personally, I’ve always been up-front with my firms and my clients about when and how many hours I expected to be working. Obviously, this can fluctuate over time based on a number of factors, but I think it is important to remain intentional about my schedule. This candidness has been useful to me in my career, and I have been able to maintain a flexible schedule with multiple firms as a result.

 

DFA: How do you recharge, and how do you pay it forward?

RG: Aside from my family and my community involvement outside of work, I genuinely get recharged by feeling like I am providing value to my firm, my colleagues, and my clients. I recognize that I am an expert in an area of the law that most people don’t know much about, so I enjoy and have benefited from being able to explain complex law in a way that others can understand. For my clients in particular, I am providing them an overview of risks and options that help them make the most informed decisions for their organizations.

As it relates to paying it forward, I’ve always found it important to describe my schedule to other attorneys, especially younger women, who might also be interested in working reduced hours. I’m very open about how my career has developed, and I enjoy sharing with other attorneys how you can have a very successful career with a flexible schedule. Over the years I have also enjoyed participating in recruiting events at our feeder law schools to talk about the arc of my career.

 

DFA: How has the pandemic impacted your flexible working schedule?

RG: I have enjoyed working from home and it is actually easier for me to be more productive with my time.  Especially earlier in the pandemic when a  Saturday seemed the same as a Tuesday, and because I was very busy, I ultimately ended up billing more than previously. This is a good problem to have! Although I do miss seeing my colleagues, it has been easy to connect through Zoom meetings and occasional walks with local colleagues. 

Dickinson Wright’s remote work policy has also allowed me to spend a bit more time doing other things that are important to me. That said, the firm has always allowed attorneys to work flexibly with minimal oversight. This is largely a feature of how the firm trusts its attorneys: we’ve always had a significant amount of professional autonomy. This amount of trust makes Dickinson Wright a very healthy place to practice law and a great place to do so on a flexible work schedule.

 

 

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Action Step – Strategically Overcoming Flex Stigma

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

The pandemic has changed how we can work – individuals are rethinking how and where they want to work and organizations are looking at ways to change their flexibility policies and practices to attract, retain and engage top talent. However, in order to reap the many benefits of a more flexible work environment, including improved productivity, satisfaction, work-life control, business continuity and recruiting/retention, organizations need to ensure that controls are in place to identify and overcome stigma associated with flex. These biases, both conscious and unconscious, can derail an organization’s flexible work policies and practices if measures are not instituted to recognize and address them. As organizations revamp their flexible work policies using our Flex Recalibrated Framework, it is important to implement systems and processes to combat stigma (see the Reinforce stage of the framework.) Some measures that we recommend incorporating include:

 

  1. Training. When rolling out a flexible work policy, every organization should incorporate an ongoing training component to its implementation, consisting of best practices for flexible work success, effectively managing flexible teams, and addressing unconscious bias. This unconscious bias training should address the common stigma associated with flexible work, how to make your workforce aware of these biases, as well as effective ways to interrupt biases on your own behalf or on behalf of others.

 

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Bright Spot: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Billable Hours

In an effort to inform and inspire our members and friends, we often share diversity and flexibility Bright Spots – those small or large successes that impact an organization in a positive way. We believe that important diversity and flexibility initiatives can truly impact your organization’s bottom line, recruitment and retention capabilities and employee satisfaction. 

 

BRIGHT SPOT – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Billable Hours

Recent Bright Spots in the legal community are new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Hours Policies implemented by several law firms in which employees can accrue billable hours towards their annual target by participating in efforts that advance DE&I.

Some examples of projects that may qualify for DE&I billable hours include:

  • Serving in leadership positions on committees or subcommittees related to diversity;
  • Managing diversity projects;
  • Presenting materials for use in diversity training or programming;
  • Attending internal or external diversity trainings;
  • Participating in affinity group activities; and
  • Representing the firm at diversity-based job fairs and recruiting events.

IMPACT

We are happy to report that we’ve seen a very positive Ripple Effect to these new policies and many firms are now jumping on the DE&I billable hours bandwagon. Examples of firms that have instituted a DE&I billable hours policy include (but are not limited to): Ogletree Deakins, Davis Wright Tremaine, Cooley and Hogan Lovells, as well as one of the early pioneers of this trend Dorsey & Whitney who implemented their policy in 2019.

It’s important to note that Reed Smith seems to be one of the first firms to extend their policy to its business professionals. Further, in April of this year, Foley Hoag announced that there would be no hours cap on its DE&I billable hours allowing all timekeepers limitless billable credit for their DE&I projects and recruiting efforts.

Hopefully this trend signifies a true commitment to change for the legal industry and we will begin to see more gender and racial equity across the board.

 

Please share your Diversity & Flexibility Bright Spots with us by downloading and filling out THIS SHORT FORM and emailing it to Jane Caldeira at jane@dfalliance.com.

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Spotlight on Flex – Diane Crabtree, Bracewell

Our Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

July 2021 Spotlight on Flex

For our July Spotlight on Flex, we’re pleased to highlight Diane Crabtree, Counsel, in Bracewell’s Houston office.

 

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How has the firm and/or your clients contributed to this?

Diane Crabtree: I began working at Bracewell in the litigation group after graduating from law school in 2004.  My career path has been far from traditional at a big law firm.  After the birth of my first child in 2007, I initially took a leave of absence to stay home with my daughter.  Although I cherished this time at home, after a year I started to crave intellectual stimulation and decided to return to work.  I was thrilled when Bracewell welcomed me back and offered me several potential flexible arrangements.  I decided on a 75% reduced budget arrangement and maintained this schedule for several years.  After trying a couple of different schedules, I found that I prefer to work every day but to leave at 4 p.m. to be home for dinner and after-school events. 

Most clients don’t even realize that I work part-time on my schedule.  My son was born in 2010 and I was able to take an extended leave after his birth.  When my family moved farther outside of the city several years later, I decided to stay at home again while my kids were still young.  After three years away, I returned to Bracewell in 2017 on the same reduced-budget schedule.  Now that my kids are older, I have much more flexibility to work more hours when needed and then take extended time off.  I am thankful that my firm has been so supportive of my choices over the years and has allowed me to forge my own path.

Forging Ahead: Building Business Development Momentum Now and Into the Future

2021 Signature Seminar

Thursday, July 22, 2021 Thursday, 1:00pm EST

Featuring Tasneem Khokha, Managing Director, GrowthPlay

The year 2020 drastically changed business development for most lawyers. And as things continue to evolve, so do the opportunities and challenges of business development. Now more than ever, investing in authentic relationship building and looking for ways to be a valuable resource to clients is crucial. Putting this into action is especially critical for diverse lawyers, whose ability to stay close to clients and potential clients now will position them well for ongoing success.

This program will equip participants with practical tactics and a renewed approach to creating business development momentum now and into the future. In particular, this program will address:

  • Why staying connected and investing in relationships matters now more than ever
  • How to stay connected when the rules of engagement—especially in person—are constantly evolving
  • Business development activities that are relevant and timely in the current environment and how to prioritize them
  • The more things change, the more they stay the same—a reinforcement of business development best practices that apply in any condition
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Action Step – Maintaining Mentoring & Connection in a Hybrid Environment

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

Many organizations are reimagining their work environment after the pandemic, with flexible work at the heart of the discussion. A number of organizations are planning on instituting a hybrid work environment post-pandemic, based on positive productivity during the pandemic, employee feedback and desire to scale back real estate. A hybrid work environment involves employees working some of the time in the office and some of the time remotely. Organizations considering hybrid work models reap many benefits, but must make sure mentoring and connectivity are embedded in their culture and continuously fostered in order to thrive. To ensure that mentoring and connectivity are preserved within a hybrid workforce, organization should focus on these eight strategies:

 

  1. Training. Organizations should offer trainings on ways to develop mentoring relationships and maintain connections in a hybrid work environment. These skills are not always innate and organizations that provide such trainings will help foster these necessary relationships. Employee trainings should focus on effective ways to proactively build relationships, the need to be prepared and share specific goals, the importance of showing appreciation, and the benefits of developing relationships with many senior professionals. Supervisor trainings should cover the need to be receptive, ways to guide meetings/relationships with junior professionals, guidance on effectively helping with career development, and ways to be creative with mentoring in a hybrid environment.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Spotlight on Flex – Maryam Casbarro, Davis Wright Tremaine

Our Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

June 2021 Spotlight on Flex

For our June Spotlight on Flex, we’re pleased to highlight Maryam Casbarro, Associate, Davis Wright Tremaine

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How have the firm and clients contributed to this?

Maryam Casbarro: I formally started working a flex schedule in January of this year. It was brought about by life circumstances. In October of 2019 I found out that my baby would be born with special needs. We anticipated that she would have significant medical needs going into 2020, but of course we didn’t anticipate there would also be a pandemic! So I had a conversation with the chair of my practice on what work would look like returning from maternity leave with my baby still in the hospital.

She said I could come back on whatever schedule worked for me, and the firm would be completely flexible with my hours. At that time, my schedule wasn’t formalized so I would just take on projects that my personal life allowed. Then in September of 2020 I decided to come back full time. There was a very stark difference between working a pseudo flex schedule without a formal agreement to working full time. It quickly became apparent that life had shifted and it was not realistic for me to maintain a full-time schedule.

I spoke to the partner who oversees flexible working schedules and she walked me through what life would look like on a formal reduced hour schedule and what other attorneys had done in the past. She talked me through the process and explained that people had become partner on a reduced-hours schedule. That was something that was important to me because I didn’t want my career to be derailed by trying to accommodate the realities of my new life. So in January I formerly started to work an 80% reduced-hours schedule.

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Action Step – OVERCOME THE MYTH OF THE LOSS OF 5 Cs BY BUILDING THE RIGHT FLEX INFRASTRUCTURE

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

There is little doubt that flex is here to stay post-pandemic, given employees’ strong desire for it to continue, along with the business benefits of flex, including employee productivity/engagement, business continuity and retention/recruiting which became even more apparent during COVID-19. Our Pulse Poll: Future of Work shows that more than two-thirds of respondents plan on creating/updating their remote work policies post-pandemic.

Despite the fact that more organizations will be expanding flexible work, we have heard resistance to flex from a number of leaders through our conversations, insight interviews and focus groups with many organizations. Interestingly, the opposition to flex can be summed up as the fear of the loss of 5 Cs – loss of control, culture, collaboration, contribution and connection. While the loss of the 5 Cs can most certainly occur without proper flex infrastructure and support, organizations can prevent the loss of the 5Cs and also counter arguments against flex by building proper structures and processes. For flex to be successful, we need to gain leadership support, and we can win leaders over by pointing to infrastructure that prevents the loss of the 5 Cs.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Spotlight on Flex – Abigail B. Molitor, Sidley Austin

Our Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

May 2021 Spotlight on Flex

For our May Spotlight on Flex, we’re pleased to highlight Abigail B. Molitor, Associate in the Chicago Office of Sidley Austin, LLP.

 

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How have the firm and/or clients contributed to this?

Abigail Molitor: I’ve worked a flexible schedule for nearly the entire time I’ve been at Sidley.  I had my first child a few months after starting at the firm, and I returned from parental leave to an 80% reduced hours schedule. I’ve maintained that same schedule in the years since and through the birth of my second child. Over that time, I’ve found that the key to success is to periodically review and adjust how I organize my schedule within that general 80% framework.  There have been times, particularly when my kids were very small, when it has been very important for me to manage the number of hours I worked in a day to accommodate other responsibilities.  There have been other times, as my kids have gotten a bit older, where I have greater capacity to dig into more intense periods of work, then balance out my hours with longer periods of time off. In either case, I try to be intentional and thoughtful about the demands of my cases and the needs of my family to figure out how best to fit those puzzle pieces together.  And, if I’ve learned anything in the past few years, the shape of the puzzle is constantly changing.

Sidley’s flexible work policies provided the foundation for me to create a schedule that works for me, and the partners in my group have truly committed to helping make that schedule successful in practice. Because I adopted a flexible schedule early in my career, I’ve worked closely with group leadership and key mentors to be thoughtful about the cases and work opportunities I take on to ensure that I develop necessary skills, management experience, and leadership opportunities to grow in my career over the long-term.

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5 Steps for Law Firms Rethinking Flexible Work Post-COVID – By Manar Morales

Anyone responsible for their organization’s flexible working policy should make sure to read Manar Morales’ recent article published in Law 360. The article, entitled 5 Steps for Law Firms Rethinking Flexible Work Post-COVID outlines how firms should Reflect, Reimagine, Recalibrate, Recommit and Reinforce when redesigning their firm’s flexible working policy.

 

It’s critical that you view flexibility with a completely new lens. Moving forward, flexibility should be a fundamental element of every firm’s strategic plan to recruit, retain and advance top talent.

Manar Morales

President & CEO

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance

In Law 360 (May 14, 2021)

 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

For more details and strategies related to this 5 Step Framework, register for our Flex Launch Bootcamp to be held June 28 and 29, 2021.