Coca–Cola is one of those rare products that is embraced by people around the world, which makes it important for Coca–Cola’s legal department to be as diverse as its customers and consumers.“Take the United States for example, a third of its population is made up of minorities,” reflects Geoff Kelly, Coca–Cola’s general counsel. “As a global company, we really deal with everyone,” refl ects Geoff Kelly, Coca–Cola’s general counsel, “so it is a business imperative to have a very diverse legal department.”
Since 2005, the proportion of attorneys who are women and/or people of color in the company’s U.S.–based legal department has increased by double–digit percentage points. More than 30% of Coca–Cola’s U.S.–based attorneys are minorities, and 64% are women. These numbers are no accident; Coca–Cola actively seeks to diversify its legal department.
“We formed a legal diversity committee, which is lead by John Lewis Jr., who heads our litigation team,” Kelly explains. “The initiative took a real look at our organization. We examined metrics and made a concentrated effort to increase diversity. Once that journey started we never looked back.”
In addition, Coca–Cola has developed a system for evaluating outside counsel. The company distributes a questionnaire to its 32 U.S. “partner” firms, requesting descriptions of their practices and values that support and drive diversity and inclusion. The inquiry asks for established systems for measuring diversity progress and accountability among senior management at the firms.
“We wanted to establish our own baseline to evaluate our partner firms and acknowledge those that best demonstrate a commitment to diversity that aligns with our diversity values,” Kelly shares. “I think the questionnaire goes deeper than [some other similar surveys] because it focuses on retention. We want to know how many minority associates at a firm go on to the partner level. Nationally, the amount of minority partners is appallingly low — and even though it may be an uncomfortable question for law firms to answer, it is a question that we must ask.”
Firm responses are evaluated against the best–in–class practices in each area. The firm with the highest aggregate score is awarded the “Living the Values” award. The inaugural winner, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, took the prize in 2007. Last year’s winner was Atlanta’s King & Spalding LLP; the process to select this year’s winner will begin in November.
The company is also committed to increasing diversity through the pipeline. Coca–Cola’s legal division has been an enthusiastic participant in Street Law’s Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline for the past four years. More than 60 volunteers from the legal division partner with three Atlanta public high schools — Carver School of Entrepreneurship, Grady High School, and Therell High School — to teach approximately 75 students annually about civil law, and to encourage them to pursue legal careers.
“We are very committed to Street Law,” confirms Kelly. “It is uplifting for the lawyers, the teachers enjoy it, but the students especially get something out of it. We are able to expose them to the importance of the legal profession to the business of a global company like ours, and to opportunities that exist for all persons, regardless of economic status, color, ethnicity, creed or gender. I certainly hope that they chose a career in this great profession.”
Coca–Cola will continue to stress the importance of diversity, Kelly promises. “Winning the Employer of Choice award is wonderful; we have participated with MCCA for a number of years, and we are honored to win the award.” DB
From the November/December 2009 issue of Diversity & The Bar®