Publications
Publications
- Harvard Business Review
To Drive Efforts...Don't Tiptoe Around Your Legal Risk
By: Edward Chang and Bonnie Levine
Abstract
Many Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are scuttled because DEI leaders and legal teams feel themselves to be at odds over questions of acceptable risk. DEI leaders see lawyers as guardians of the status quo, whereas legal experts, trained to anticipate the worst, believe they are protecting the company from legal risk.
However, as the authors point out, businesses routinely choose to accept significant legal risk. In most situations they’re confronted with a risk-reward calculus that’s easy to quantify. But with DEI that’s harder, because the only thing on the balance sheet is the cost. Absent a foundation of trust and support, lawyers are skittish about signing off on initiatives, and the business is more likely to waste resources on performative exercises. And bad DEI poses a greater risk than does good DEI.
When it comes to establishing a productive partnership between DEI leaders and legal counsel, the key is to collaborate early and often. In this article, the authors provide a framework to help you balance the nuances of legal risk with the need to implement effective initiatives.
Keywords
Citation
Chang, Edward, and Bonnie Levine. "To Drive Efforts...Don't Tiptoe Around Your Legal Risk." Harvard Business Review 100, no. 4 (July–August 2022): 74–81.