Esther Lim: Advancing Diversity with Meaningful Action

The DC Bar interviewed Finnegan partner and recently appointed  Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) Esther Lim to discuss her new position and her aspirations for improvements and initiatives regarding the issue of diversity and inclusion.

Esther explained that her advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “[has] been a very meaningful issue for me throughout my career, particularly as someone who lived in this country as an immigrant without speaking any English in the beginning.”

She continued by explaining her role as CDIO at Finnegan and how it came to fruition:

“Given what has happened in the last two years, both companies and law firms have taken a redoubled look at what more we can do to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

One of those efforts has been to appoint, at the highest level of leadership at organizations, a person in charge of thought leadership — someone who can take initiative and a long-term view in promoting DEI efforts, including recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent, which remains a big challenge in the legal profession.

Finnegan has joined that industry-wide effort and movement in creating the first CDIO position as of January 1 this year. I’m very honored and privileged to have been appointed the first partner and CDIO for the firm.”

In her next five years as CDIO, Esther hopes to make improvements in representation and recruitment of diverse attorneys:

“One of my priorities is improving the representation of diverse attorneys. We are doing a lot better than the average law firm in terms of representation of women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ attorneys, and other underrepresented segments in the legal profession. But it’s still very far from where we should be as a profession. The numbers of women and attorneys of color in the legal profession lag behind significantly.

And so, one of the things we can do as a firm specializing in intellectual property is to fill the pipeline of eligible people who can become IP attorneys — in particular patent attorneys — by encouraging the pursuit of STEM degrees.

We started Finnegan IP University to do precisely that — reach out to undergraduate and graduate STEM majors and introduce them to careers in IP practice. It’s a five-week program. We lecture once a week, Wednesday evenings, virtually. Our inaugural year has generated an outpouring of interest by students all across the country, and even abroad, to learn about IP. For many of the students, this has been the first time they’ve heard about a career in IP.

It’s so important to fill the pipeline early because by the time you get to law school, your undergraduate major is set in stone. If you’re a liberal arts major, you have a barrier to entry in specializing in patent law after law school. This issue has come up again and again as I teach “Introduction to Patent Law” at Howard law school, for example. Students come up and say, “Hey, I wish I knew about patent practice when I was an undergrad. I would’ve completed my biomedical degree instead of switching my major.”

Information is key. Knowing what your options are early on can open up possibilities. If you are a first-generation lawyer in your family, you are not going to be surrounded by lawyer friends, lawyer neighbors, and lawyer relatives. You have no idea what the options are in law. But having access to that information early on can be critical in shaping someone’s future.”

She added that in many conversations surrounding DEI, the topic of equity is often left out of the focus:

“Equity is an important part of D&I. For me, it’s about how that translates to the day-to-day life of an associate. Do they feel that they have equitable access to projects and opportunities that will help them develop as a lawyer? That goes to one of the key issues that the legal profession is starting to examine more closely — fair and equitable work allocation. How is work distributed equitably among attorneys so that everyone has a fair shot at success? Once you get the first opportunity, it often leads to the next project.

Through those projects, you also develop relationships. And you find mentors, which often opens other doors. And so, equity is more than just numbers. It’s about everyone getting equal opportunity to succeed. And firms are looking more intentionally and more closely at how and to whom projects are assigned.

Our firm fosters openness and independence to grow and flexibility in creating one’s practice. You can work across groups. We have different mixtures of transactional, litigation, counseling, and licensing work that people pursue in varying quantities. We encourage attorneys to develop a practice that suits their interests, skill sets, and preferences.

We’d like to maintain that open structure while we focus on equity across attorneys, across practice groups, and across clients to provide great opportunities for everyone. Fair work allocation is a key ingredient in achieving equity.”

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