Up the ranks: Michael Chan takes the helm of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at Johnson Stokes & Master

In his new role, Chan’s first priority will be driving impact, engagement, and partnership with stakeholders within and beyond the firm.

Michael Chan (pictured above) has stepped up to the role of Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) at Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM)*.

In his new role, Chan’s first priority will be driving impact, engagement, and partnership with stakeholders within and beyond the firm. He will also focus on reviewing the firm's structure for DE&I, and aligning various business-related committees and steering groups.

His core responsibilities include working closely with the firm's DE&I Committee, the DE&I Committee chair, and the HR director to set and deliver the DE&I strategy in line with the business objectives, as well as being responsible for identifying, creating and implementing plans to promote diversity and inclusion.

In addition, the role works with a broader team that includes community involvement, pro bono, charitable donations, sustainability, and DE&I, and is instrumental in bringing these varied groups together on certain initiatives.

Overseeing the Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai markets, Chan reports to the Director of Human Resources and the Chair of the D&I Committee of JSM.

When asked about the main DE&I concerns in Hong Kong as well as the legal industry, Chan believes there would be a need to increase female representation in leadership positions.

Chan cites a survey conducted by The Law Society of Hong Kong in 2021 for the solicitors’ profession, which revealed the varied proportion of women practitioners at different stages of the career path in a law firm.

According to the results, while more than half of the new entrants to the profession are female, only one-third of those at the senior level are female. As of June 2021, women comprised 65% of trainee solicitors, 61% of assistant solicitors, 38% of consultants, and 30% of partners. Based on the statistics, a substantial number of female lawyers are dropping out along the way.

"If this trend of talent loss continues, the profession will have difficulty sustaining its growth in the long term, having regard to the trend that the majority of the new entrants are likely to be female in the foreseeable future,” cautions Chan.

To tackle this concern, Chan shares some ways listed in JSM’s Everyday Behaviour Project, a research publication on gender-based microaggressions in the Hong Kong legal industry, including:

• Education on biases that might potentially show up in the talent lifecycle (which includes talent acquisition, performance management and succession planning), and have measures to sideline biases.
• Policies and systems in place such as interview panels being diverse (it is currently quite common for just one partner to interview a candidate), blind CVs, and ensuring structured interview questions to mitigate individual biases.
• Revise ways of involvement in business opportunities within the office, e.g. open invitation on secondments instead of inviting people based on gender, age, or other untested assumptions.
• Update leadership competency models, e.g. moving away from a ‘military dictatorship’ style of leadership and focusing more on inclusive leadership qualities.

* Having separated the Hong Kong partnership from the international practices of Mayer Brown, the firm has now reverted to its legacy name, Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM).

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