Gerald Pauling Profiled in Metropolitan Corporate Counsel

The March 2006 issue of Metropolitan Corporate Counsel carries a special report on Diversity and includes a profile interview with Gerald on his background, his practice and his perspective on diversity in law. He notes that a successful diversity program "has to be an organizational issue that includes everyone. . . . There must be a mission statement, a plan with goals - - not only overarching abstract goals, but also specific concrete action items and the resources to implement those action items. There must also be a system for ensuring accountability to the organization for results by folks who are in leadership positions and who can make things happen." Gerald adds that a "diversity plan has to be an 'evergreen document,' something you come back to on a regular basis - you look at and ask 'Does what made sense for us yesterday still make sense today?' or, 'We've made progress and we need to set a higher bar for ourselves,' or, 'We were too aggressive in our thinking and we need to establish a more attainable goal.' If leadership doesn't treat diversity like a critical business initiative, the rest of the organization won't - those are the diversity initiatives that don't succeed. . . .To have greater diversity in the legal profession in the future, we must encourage youth to pursue careers in law. Unless the profession reaches out to youth and encourages them, our ability to effect lasting change - sustainable diversity - will be compromised."