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SMART Values

Problem: Research shows that women do more of the unpaid, non-billable “office housework,” which is often valued by law firms, but not rewarded equally to billable work and can have negative effects on women’s pay and upward trajectory.

Solution: Analyze non-billable work and redistribute, as needed, to ensure that this value-added, non-billable work is equally spread between men and women, and rewarded fairly for all lawyers.

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CompFirmation

Problem: Recent research findings and the UK reporting requirements show that there is a pay gap between the majority and the minority populations in most industries, including law.

Solution: Find and close the pay equity gap by utilizing statistical modeling and computational text analyses to understand if/where the gap exists and the possible underlying causes for it. Analysis examines the individual parts of the compensation process, including the structure, committee make-up, and partner evaluation memos.

Additional Details: The following five questions are answered through CompFirmation.

1. Are there linguistic differences by gender on the firm’s partner self-evaluations?
2. If there are differences, do they matter?  (i.e., do the self evaluations and the differences in language impact compensation decisions and, if so, by how much?)
3. What other performance factors (e.g., billable hours, shared credit, non-billable hours) are most or least impactful on compensation decisions?
4. Is there a pay gap (comp not controlled for or weighted by performance or seniority) and/or a pay equity gap (comp with performance and seniority controlled for) by gender? If so, what is the variance and who does it impact?
5. What can be done to create a more fair and equitable comp process, if the differences are adversely impacting one group versus another?

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Lawyer Engagement, Advancement & Retention Assessment

Problem: Many legal organizations wait until lawyers leave to assess their work experiences, projected career trajectory, and learn why they are unsatisfied.

Solution: Drawing on the findings of two decades of other studies on lawyer engagement and satisfaction, the current mindsets and work experiences of both associates and partners are evaluated through the Lab’s EAR assessment.

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Unconscious Bias in Work Allocation & Performance Reviews

Problem: Research shows that unconscious biases are often baked into performance reviews due to differences in how work is allocated and the language that supervisors use to describe the performance of women and other diverse individuals versus members of the majority. These variances lead to consequences, although unintended, that can have a negative impact on the career advancement of women and minorities.

Solution: Leveraging computational text analysis and statistical modeling, the organization’s work allocation is mapped and its performance reviews are analyzed across multiple years to discover if allocation and language differences exist and what effect, if any, the variances have had on the career trajectory of its underrepresented lawyers.