Caren is a talent and behavioral science expert with more than 30 years of experience as the head of recruitment, development, and diversity for several of the world’s top law firms, including Weil Gotshal, Cooley, and Arnold & Porter. After co-founding Lawyer Metrics, which pioneered a “Moneyball” data-driven approach to talent recruitment and development, she created Diversity Lab.
Diversity Lab focuses on cultivating inclusivity and diversity in the leadership ranks of law firms, legal departments, and government agencies through the use of data, science, experiments, and design-thinking. Some of the Lab’s recent projects include the Mansfield Rule, OnRamp Fellowship, Inclusion Blueprint, Move the Needle Fund, and the Diversity Dividends Collective.
Caren is also the Lead Advisor for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, working with senior leaders to shape practices and policies that support and sustain inclusive talent systems at the agency.
In addition to her work with the Lab and USPTO, she currently serves on the Legal Advisory Committee for the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League. Other recent leadership roles included serving on the Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice’s Commission on Improving the Legal Profession and as a Judicial Performance Commissioner to evaluate judges. She also previously served as Vice President of Policy in San Francisco and then as President in Silicon Valley for the UN Women Board of Directors. In 2019, she was selected by members of Congress to assist with the Congressional Black Caucus task force on increasing diversity in law and tech.
As a result of her leadership, Caren has received many national honors including the National Association of Legal Professionals Mark of Distinction, the InnovAction Award by the College of Law Practice Management, the Corporate Counsel Innovator Award, the American Bar Association Golden Hammer Award, and Legal Momentum’s Women of Achievement Award. She was also elected as a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and selected out of 500 entrepreneurs as one of the inaugural 10 Tory Burch Foundation Fellows.
Caren has contributed to over 250 presentations and publications on talent management and authored several highly regarded books, including “Loyalty by Design: A Practical Guide for Developing an Effective Attorney Integration Program” (NALP, 2005).
