The General Counsel Oath was introduced in August 2020 by Simon Zinger and endorsed by ACC soon thereafter. Suggesting a set of personal commitments that go beyond professional responsibility, the Oath provides a leadership roadmap for individuals in the most senior legal and compliance roles covering diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I), social impact and pro bono, and behavior within organizations and towards external parties.
The General Counsel DE&I Survey was launched in September 2022 to assess the impact and sentiment of GC and CLOs from around the world in diversity, equity & inclusion. This survey report includes feedback from 232 participants from all over the world on (i) the GC and CLOs' individual progress to impact the legal team in this area, (ii) the wider organizational progress in DE&I initiatives, and (iii) the progress made by law firms in offering diverse teams.
Although the survey results highlight that there is still much more work to do, GC and CLOs are showing moderate advances in fostering diversity within their own legal teams and are also in a unique position to influence their organizations' progress toward more ambitious DE&I objectives.