Is your lawyer evaluation process unbiased?

As law firms use performance evaluations as the primary means to determine career advancement and compensation, ensuring that they are bias-free is critical. Panelists for the Annual Meeting program “Fair Measure: Toward Effective Attorney Evaluations,” discussed common biases and how to avoid them.

While law firms strive for fair evaluations, subtle stereotypes about behavior and character often derail the best of intentions. For example, because senior positions in law firms are overwhelmingly male, many people ascribe masculine traits—such as confidence and assertiveness—to lawyers, penalizing those who do not fit that perception.

Panelist T. Warren Jackson, DIRECTV Group, Inc., said that preconceived notions also determine assignments. A common perception that women are better organized than men can result in women receiving more work that requires attention to detail. Meanwhile, men often receive the higher profile, more visible assignments involving court appearances.

Such biases may not be immediately obvious. Cumulatively, they have powerful impact. Authors of the book Fair Measure: Toward Effective Attorney Evaluations, Second Edition, on which the program was based, report that a computer simulation showed a gender bias favoring men by just one percent led to only 35 percent women at a hierarchy’s highest level after eight rounds of promotion.

A bias-free evaluation system begins with its organization, according to the authors. The evaluation ideally is part of a well-communicated performance evaluation policy developed by a representative team of all practice groups and seniority.

Other components of an effective evaluation program include detailed job descriptions that outline objective, job-related performance criteria, a rating scale with a standardized structure and self-evaluations with training on how to conduct them.

How does your firm stack up? Consider:

• Are men and women lawyers at all levels of the firm included in the design, implementation and monitoring of the evaluation process?
• Does the firm have a written performance evaluation policy that defines the process and timelines?
• Are recruitment criteria consistent with attorney evaluation criteria?
• Are the performance objectives rated on the evaluation form specific, measurable, tied to position requirements, descriptive of the skills or experience the attorney must gain in order to achieve each objective?

Click here for the Bias-free Evaluation Checklist to see how you measure up.

The Fair Measure program was sponsored by the Section of Labor and Employment Law. Fair Measure: Toward Effective Attorney Evaluations, Second Edition is published by the Commission on Women in the Legal Profession with support from the Section of Labor and Employment Law.

In addition to Jackson, panelists included Rachel Geman, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP; Elaine D. Koch, Bryan Cave; and Ann B. Stevens, Morrison & Foerster.  The moderator for the session was Patricia C. Slovak, Schiff Hardin LLP.

Hear more about the book Fair Measure: Toward Effective Attorney Evaluations, Second Edition from author Joan C. Williams here.

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