tom.moore@legalease.co.uk; madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk In January, Coca-Cola unveiled a series of diversity goals for its U.S. advisers, threatening that their ability to meet them will be a “significant factor” in the decision to become a preferred group of law firms for the first time in 18 months. Companies that do not meet the targets will receive a 30% non-refundable discount on their fees until they meet compliance. Nokia`s legal team has implemented an Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (E, I&D) dashboard system to evaluate its six panel law firms. However, the status of the Coca-Cola program has been called into question after its chief executive, Bradley Gayton, resigned last month to become a consultant and his successor, Monica Howard Douglas, reportedly told the legal team he had been suspended. As part of the quarterly assessment, Nokia`s legal team and its E, I&D committee will mentor its panel firms and share challenges and best practices, hoping to further refine each firm`s E, I&D initiative to “maximize engagement and accelerate progress.” Nokia`s chief legal officer, Nassib Abou-Khalil, is leaving the global telecommunications company after three years in the job. Of course, this also applies to how we work with law firms. Since we are looking at I&D from an inside-out perspective, I will reassess how we work with outside lawyers and our expert firms. In my role as Chief Legal Officer, the immediate step for me is to develop measurable inclusion and diversity criteria that we expect from our external advisors when they work with us. We are thinking very seriously about what exactly we are asking of our law firms and how we can measure it.
Our goal is not just to talk about things, but to do things. He joined Nokia in 2014 and was appointed Chief Legal Officer in 2019. The “E, I&D Scorecard” of Nokia`s legal and compliance team is used to ensure that the law firms it works with share these “core values” quarterly and annually. Nokia recently launched its diversity dashboard for panel companies. What was the motivation behind this? With a legal team of 450 and external expenses of over £50 million, the Quartet has secured a place in one of Europe`s most sought-after legal bodies. There could also be more work in the pipeline as the Nokia team is still analyzing the legal fees of the recently acquired French telecom company Alcatel-Lucent. Nassib Abou-Khalil also discusses the new legal team diversity dashboard for expert firms and areas where internal leaders should start improving diversity in the industry. Shearman & Sterling, Reed Smith, Dentons and Eversheds are among the firms appointed to Nokia`s newly created global legal body. Varsellona told Legal Business: “We continue to review our preferred external advisor as Nokia`s transformation continues. So far, we have appointed companies for Finland-specific work, certain fields of activity and general work worldwide. As we continue our review, we plan to consider specialty firms, firms used by the former Alcatel-Lucent organization, and our existing panels of companies in major individual jurisdictions such as China, India, and the United States. The restructuring of the British tech giant`s panel, led by Rosemary Martin, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, reflects its renewed focus on diversity benchmarks and inclusion initiatives as the ESG movement continues to gain momentum across multiple sectors.
The in-house department will also provide updates on its own progress “to create a network where the legal team and law firms hold each other accountable to foster equality, inclusion and diversity representation.” Two municipal firms are among the first group of law firms to be used by telecom giant Nokia to undergo a reassessment of their progress on equality, inclusion and diversity. Panel companies evaluated receive regular updates from the telecom giant`s internal legal and compliance team. Nassib Abou-Khalil, Chief Legal Officer, said: “Creating an inclusive and diverse organization is a top priority for Nokia. We have taken significant steps over the past few years to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed at Nokia, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, disability or age. Nassib Abou-Khalil, Nokia`s chief legal officer, said the “agile” initiative reflected Nokia`s broader philosophy on diversity and inclusion, which has become a “top priority” for the company in recent years. General Counsel Maria Varsellona (pictured) has been working to create a single panel and consolidate the use of external consultants since a reorganization of the company, after Nokia bought Siemens` 50% stake in the Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture for €1.7 billion in July 2014. The committee`s review began in early 2015. As part of this initiative, Nokia will evaluate its panel companies quarterly and annually to determine whether they have taken steps to implement effective I&D strategies. Last month, Vodafone unveiled its updated Global Legal Advisory Board, which selects companies based on a shared commitment to promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) diversity goals and best practices.
“While many companies have already taken a similar approach, we believe our approach is unique in that it focuses on collaboration and support across the industry to influence positive change and progress in the legal profession.” · Aims for a work environment that encourages teamwork and innovation. When the first smartphone came out, it blew the competition away, and like many, I jumped at the chance and bought one. I remember experiencing the power of a computer in my pocket for the first time. The government is still unclear if, why and how reimbursable fixed costs will occur. The October implementation deadline has been cancelled and we are now looking to April 2023. As the project matures, it evolves from an ambitious idea to something that truly gives members of the LGBT+ community the tools and platform to succeed, learn to be a role model, and inspire others at Nokia. We want to strengthen the atmosphere in which Nokia is a preferred employer for the LGBT+ community, that this community is encouraged to succeed within Nokia and that Nokia takes seriously the development of the LGBT+ community. Legal teams can have a significant impact on setting the inclusion and diversity agenda.
The role we play in our businesses, our influence, our ability to make decisions and the fact that we are involved in many discussions and meaningfully integrated into the company mean that we are uniquely positioned to influence the wider culture. When I took on the role of Chief Legal Officer, I was sure that everyone expected me to appoint someone from my executive team to one of the key roles in my organization. To everyone`s surprise, I hired someone from elsewhere in the organization. She joined my leadership team and generated such a positive response from the team that the number of applications multiplied the next time there were vacancies and I applied for people from all areas of the organization.