Biglaw, Women's Issues

Biglaw Firm Eliminates Performance Reviews, Earns Praise From Female Associates

Will any additional Biglaw firms adopt this model?

By  
on

associate moneyThere’s perhaps nothing more frustrating for Biglaw associates than the performance review. Partners’ standards are often vague, there’s usually some generic job skill that could be improved, and no matter how hard associates work, these dispassionate reviews are generally meaningless until they’re not (i.e., they’ll be used to explain away a subpar bonus or an unexpected termination).

Could there be a better way? One Biglaw firm thinks so.

According to Legal Business, Allen & Overy did away with its annual performance reviews six months ago, and ever since, the firm has been running a pilot program focusing on the use of “feedback and dialogue as tools to strengthen development and performance.” Since October 2016, A&O has used this program to evaluate 500 of its “fee-earners and business staff” in practice groups and staff teams in London, Singapore, and the Middle East.

Thus far, Allen & Overy’s pilot program has received fantastic reviews from everyone — but especially from women at the firm. Elizabeth Mercer, A&O’s corporate public relations manager, elaborated in an interview with Vivia Chen of The Careerist: “The feedback on this has been positive, particularly in engaging with female associates on their career development. We didn’t do it originally to retain female talent, but the positive feedback has been noticeable.”

Of course female associates at the firm are lauding this program. Here are just a few important reasons why that might be the case at Allen & Overy:

Studies have shown that performance reviews are riddled with gender bias, and that women are often judged much more harshly than men. For instance, one study finds that men outscored women in numerical ratings, though women often got glowing comments on the narrative portion of the reviews. (The study analyzed the performance reviews of 234 associates at a Wall Street law firm.)

“The [American Bar Association] Commission on Women in the Profession recognized the problem of implicit biases in evaluations many years ago,” says Roberta Liebenberg, the commission’s former chair. “Double standards are often applied.” Men get praised for aggressive behavior, she says, “while the same behavior by female associates is criticized.” Moreover, she adds, “Mistakes by male associates are more readily forgiven than those made by their female counterparts; and male associates are judged more often on potential, while women associates are judged based solely on their performance.”

Will any additional Biglaw firms adopt A&O’s model? We suppose we’ll have to wait and see, but we’ll note that going forward with a program like this would be a move in a very positive direction for every law firm that’s touted its commitment to hiring, retaining, and empowering female associates.

Sponsored

As for Allen & Overy, the firm will roll out the second phase of its feedback-and-dialogue program later this year, involving more people across more practice groups, worldwide. Congratulations to the firm for implementing such a revolutionary idea. Hopefully this will be the start of something big.

‘Enhancing our approach to development’: A&O drops annual appraisals in performance pilot scheme [Legal Business]
Allen & Overy Drops Performance Reviews, and Everyone Cheers (Especially Women) [The Careerist]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Sponsored

Topics

, , , , , , , , , , ,