In celebration of Black History Month, we’re thrilled to spotlight attorney Lynn Olmert. She practices workers’ compensation law in MGC’s Atlanta office and is chair of the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee, Belong @ MGC. Lynn has more than 30 years of experience in workers’ compensation defense and general liability throughout Georgia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. In 2021, she became the first Black equity member at MGC. Lynn has also been named to the Top 100 by The National Black Lawyers, a professional honorary organization composed of 100 Black lawyers from each state who excel in their practice and promote diversity in the legal profession.
The goal of Belong @ MGC is to foster a firm culture where talented individuals from all backgrounds and experiences are recruited, empowered, included, respected and rewarded. What are some of the metrics that the committee looks at to measure success?
"The committee utilizes a number of different metrics to assess our progress in the DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) space. We track our hires to ensure the diversity of people joining the firm. We also use an annual survey of all employees seeking feedback on our efforts because it is important to make sure everyone is heard and to help us continually improve to make our firm an awesome place to work. We also track our success in retaining diverse employees and seek candid feedback from employees who leave, which is very helpful to us as we move forward. MGC is known for being a metrics-driven firm, which helps us to measure our success in a number of different areas, and quantifying our success extends to our diversity efforts and ensures that we are continually evolving and growing."
How is progress defined by Belong @ MGC?
"There has definitely been an increase in both our recruitment and retention of diverse talent. We have also been intentional about equity and inclusion through training employees in the area of unconscious bias in our mentoring program and in creating a pipeline to diverse law students through our scholarship program and relationships with diverse law school organizations. We also provide scholarships to diverse and underrepresented industry professionals for the CLM (Claims Litigation Management) Claims College, which enhances not only our firm but the insurance industry, as well."
Do you have any advice for attorneys of color?
"My advice to attorneys of color. First and foremost, it is to strive for excellence in all that you do and to seek out opportunities to learn from others how to practice law and how to interact with others, especially those who may see the world through a different lens than you. Recognize that we all have biases and work to figure out strategies to interrupt those biases in a way that helps us all to learn. Lastly, work through the challenges to bring about change."
