Explaining the Absence of Minority Partners

No one disputes the facts: i.e. that very few minorities have achieved partnership at the top law firms in the country. But the explanation for this reality is hotly disputed. A law professor at UCLA has ignited passions with a study that concludes that hiring practices are to blame (i.e. that in an effort to open up door for more minorities, law firms relax their academic standards when making offers to minority candidates.)

According to an article in today's NY Times (free subscription required), many dispute his findings and attribute the lack of minority partners to a lack of mentoring and a system of assigning work which leaves minority associates at a disadvantage. Others point to the fact that top minority lawyers are being recruited heavily by corporations for in-house counsel positions. Whatever the explanation is, it is clear that recruiting minorities out of law school is by itself insufficient to create long term diversity at a firm. Firms need to invest in cultivating minority talent long after the recruiting process is over.

Minority Lawyers Continue to Lag

Those are the unfortunate conclusions of a new study released by the ABA.

"Of women attorneys of color, 44 percent reported being passed over for desirable assignments, compared with 39 percent of white women, 25 percent of men of color and only 2 percent of white men. (The study covered law firms of 25 lawyers or more; more than 1,000 lawyers responded to the online questionnaire.)"

Further evidence that the only way for things to change is for law firms to make an affirmative commitment to addressing these statistics.

Minority Women Face Challenges in the Law

The ABA has just released a study documenting high rates of attrition for minority women in large law firms. You would think that law firms would have figured out by now how to address this problem. But then again, law firms are slow to change.

Diversity is Now Hitting the Bottom Line at Law Firms

A partner and the director of professional development and diversity at Day Berry & Howard provide some tips on how to increase diversity.