2022 Lawrence Lecture on Dispute Resolution
2022 Lawrence Lecture on Dispute Resolution
Stacia Jones presents, A Better Way to Negotiate That Drives Towards Equity and Justice.
We are living in extraordinary times: there is a surge in labor union activity; we are swirling in the aftermath of the largest movement for civil rights in American history; there is an ever-increasing socio-economic and cultural divide; and there is a tenacious response of intimidation and resistance to any effort toward collective liberation. As we evaluate how we got here, we acknowledge the institutions, systems, and standards that have been in place for hundreds of years, persistently reinforcing the status quo and hindering us from real, meaningful progress. Drawing on more than 22 years of experience, Jones will demonstrate that lawyers and corporate executives can accelerate meaningful progress towards parity and justice by consciously engaging in negotiations, decision-making, and advice that challenges exclusionary institutions, systems, and standards by: centering the marginalized; redefining what a real “win” is; challenging how lawyers best advocate for their clients; and disrupting traditional manners of weighing risks and getting to an optimum compromise. Through her talk, you will be encouraged to use your negotiation acumen in a manner that best represents your client and drives us towards a more equitable and just society.
About Stacia Jones
Stacia is a forward-thinking executive with success designing and leading global employee and labor relations, human resources, compliance, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. She has a solid record of litigation, training, and change management across different industries. She is also a results-driven, people-focused leader with deep experience developing large-scale initiatives—leading the establishment of successful multi-country labor relations strategy, designing global compliance programs, realizing significant increases in workplace diversity, and rebuilding a workplace investigation process for 100K+ employees.
Stacia began her career working for Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, giving labor and employment advice, litigating employment and labor matters, and representing clients in labor arbitration. She then went in-house with Abercrombie & Fitch, where she was Vice President and Associate General Counsel. Stacia advised, trained and partnered with all facets of the business to create and implement policy globally on labor, employment and other matters, including general compliance, health and safety, and public accessibility. Stacia also led Abercrombie's global Office of Diversity & Inclusion as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer.
Stacia was Partner and General Manager for Microsoft, where she rebuilt and led the global workplace investigation team. Stacia is now Global Vice President, Head of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action at lululemon, where she leads a team of more than 20 to embed the IDEA function throughout the entire company and at every level. She is also the inaugural Dean’s Impact Scholar for the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington where she is teaching a class exploring the impact that employment law, employee activism, and customer loyalty have on corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
About James K. L. Lawrence ’65
James K. L. Lawrence (’65) is a retired partner with Frost Brown Todd in Cincinnati. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an attorney at the National Labor Relations Board. He left the Board to join his firm and, for more than 30 years, practiced labor-relations and employment law. He is a skilled advocate in arbitration and an astute negotiator in collective bargaining and settlement discussions.
He has pursued vigorously the sustained study of dispute resolution materials at programs throughout the country, including the Program on Negotiation at Harvard, and has blended that study and practice into teaching courses in negotiation and mediation at Moritz and at the University of Cincinnati Law School. He has given generously of his time, talent, guidance and resources to Moritz and our Program on Dispute Resolution over the years, so it is perfectly fitting that this expanded educational enterprise with Negotiation at its core be conducted in his name.