Women in Law Hackathon Firms Organize Alliance to Develop, Pilot Plans in 2017
The Diversity Lab in collaboration with Stanford Law School and Bloomberg Law, brought together 54 high-level partners from leading AmLaw 200 law firms across the country—including Miller Canfield, a global law firm headquartered in Detroit —to develop innovative solutions aimed at advancing and retaining experienced women lawyers in law firms, and increasing gender parity in the top ranks of the legal profession. The group met over a period of six months and worked extensively with industry experts and Stanford Law students.
Due to overwhelming interest in the innovative ideas presented at the conclusion of the Hackathon, Diversity Lab has now organized an ongoing “Hackathon Alliance” to work with 36 of those law firms to develop, pilot and implement specific plans in 2017.
Miller Canfield also established its own parallel 20-member Hackathon Support Committee to both support and learn from its Hackathon participation. The committee is actively developing and implementing specific programs on both a current and long-term basis.
“The goal of the Hackathon Alliance is to help forward-thinking firms experiment with new ideas that have the potential to move the diversity needle forward,” said Caren Ulrich Stacy, founder of Diversity Lab and creator of the Women in Law Hackathon.