Fannie Mae GC On Diversity, the “Usual Suspects” and Getting a Life Outside of Law

On the issue of law firm diversity, Fannie Mae General Counsel Brian Brooks says the problem isn’t so much that lawyers consciously exclude women and minorities, but that, when a lawyer needs help, he turns to the “usual suspects.”

Because the “usual suspects” end up being people the lawyer has worked with before, or fellow law school alums, or people he happens to go to lunch with, the “usual suspects” end up looking a lot like the lawyer.

Brooks, formerly GC at OneWest Bank, and an office managing partner at O’Melveny & Myers, recently spoke to Big Law Business by phone. ...