Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) make business sense for every professional community. For the tax practice, where creativity is essential, diversity elevates the practice, benefitting everyone from clients to the government and practitioners themselves.

The tax community, however, lacks DEI for a host of reasons. At the heart of the problem is the ubiquity of whiteness and a pervasive insensitivity to otherness, whereby "others" must learn to navigate whiteness to survive. Maleness and whiteness often are used as synonyms for competence, which leaves women, people of color and LGBTQ+ attorneys constantly feeling compelled to prove themselves.

These issues widen the inequality gap in the tax practice and further a discriminatory system. Such a system places undue pressure on diverse attorneys to succeed, not only for themselves but also to keep the gate open for those who follow. This burden makes the already-challenging practice of tax law even harder.

How can you contribute to changing this reality and promoting diversity in the tax community? 

In this episode of the GILTI Conscience podcast, Skadden partners David Farhat and Nate Carden kick start The Spotlight Series by talking with associates Eman Cuyler and Stefane Victor about both the challenges to and opportunities for promoting diversity within the tax law community.

Click here for the full show notes, transcript, and video.



🗝️ Key Takeaways 🗝️ 

★    The ubiquity of whiteness and maleness in the tax practice. The need for diverse attorneys to learn to navigate whiteness to survive in corporate America, with no reciprocal requirement for white attorneys, contributes to an uneven playing field. Maleness also has become synonymous with competence and success.

★    The fate of a diverse attorney. The diverse attorney often must do the "shrug of resignation" and say to themselves, "This is the world I live in. This is what I've chosen. I just have to deal with it." They also live with the undue pressure to succeed for the next diverse attorney's sake. This background level of stress makes a challenging legal discipline even harder.

★    How can you contribute to promoting DEI in the tax community? You can start with encouraging diversity in mentoring, being vulnerable and doing some research. Attorneys also should strive to be sensitive to cultural differences and how they impact work and relationships.

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GILTI Conscience is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. Skadden’s tax team is recognized globally for providing clients with creative and innovative solutions to their most pressing transactional, planning, and controversy challenges. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.