3 Things Law Firms Can Do Right Now To Increase Diversity In The Legal Profession

Diversity does not happen by accident, as columnist Renwei Chung argues.

“Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne /
I’m deep by sound alone, caved inside, 1,000 miles from home.” Nas

On Wednesday, Deborah L. Rhode, director of the Program in Law and Social Entrepreneurship at Stanford University, wrote an article for the Washington Post titled “Law is the least diverse profession in the nation and lawyers aren’t doing enough to change that.” In her article, Rhode wrote:

Eighty-eight percent of lawyers are white. Other careers do better — 81 percent of architects and engineers are white; 78 percent of accountants are white; and 72 percent of physicians and surgeons are white. . . . Part of the problem is a lack of consensus that there is a significant problem. Many lawyers believe that barriers have come down, women and minorities have moved up, and any lingering inequality is a function of different capabilities, commitment and choices. The facts suggest otherwise. . . .

The situation is bleakest at the highest levels. Women account for only 17 percent of equity partners, and only seven of the nation’s 100 largest firms have a woman as chairman or managing partner. Women are less likely to make partner even controlling for other factors, including law school grades and time spent out of the workforce or on part-time schedules. Studies find that men are two to five times more likely to make partner than women. Although blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans now constitute about a third of the population and a fifth of law school graduates, they make up fewer than 7 percent of law firm partners and 9 percent of general counsels of large corporations. In major law firms, only 3 percent of associates and less than 2 percent of partners are African Americans. . . .

To address these issues, legal organizations need a stronger commitment to equal opportunity, which is reflected in policies, priorities and reward structures. Leaders must not simply acknowledge the importance of diversity, but also hold individuals accountable for the results.

In her article, Rhode provided several recommendations for how legal organizations can increase diversity in the profession. I have written about many of the points she has highlighted here, here, and here. It is clear that there is a diversity crisis in the legal profession. It simply cannot be ignored any longer. Renwei’s diversity plan is not nearly as popular as Kanye’s workout plan. Nevertheless, here are the three practical things law firms can do right now to increase diversity in our profession:

1. Implement a résumé-blind policy for job interviews.

As I have previously mentioned, after the 2009 economic crisis, widespread layoffs caused women and minorities in law firms to decline for the first time since the 1990s. According to NALP, “lawyer layoffs disproportionately affected junior and mid-level associate ranks, and because these groups of lawyers were among the most diverse in law firms, it is likely that these layoffs contributed in significant measure to the lower overall percentages that we [saw] in 2010.”

One firm across the pond has discovered a surefire way to increase diversity amongst its hires. As I noted here, Clifford Chance, one of the big five “Magic Circle” law firms in the United Kingdom, has adopted a “CV blind” policy for final interviews with all would-be recruits:

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Staff conducting the interviews are no longer given any information about which university candidates attended, or whether they come from state or independent schools.

“All they will have is the candidate’s name for the final assessment,” said Laura Yeates, graduate recruitment and development manager at the firm.

Which U.S.-based firms will join Mayer Brown’s London office and Macfarlanes in following Clifford Chance and implementing a résumé-blind policy for job interviews? When it comes to diversity, why are European law firms taking the initiative and American law firms dragging their feet?

2. Conduct “unconscious bias” workshops.

As I mentioned here, we should seek to understand our unconscious racial bias so we can address substantive inequalities. Law firms must also understand and recognize that unconscious racial bias exists. Law firms should conduct “Unconscious Bias @ Work Training/Workshops” this year, if they haven’t already. A typical one-day course on hidden biases for 50 people costs an average of $2,000 to $6,000. The return on investment on proper training would be tremendous. Willful ignorance of hidden biases coupled with refusal of proper training is a deadly formula for diversity in any profession.

3. When attempting to solve the diversity problem, begin with the end in mind.

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As I highlighted here, by 2042 it is projected that no one race or ethnicity will be a majority in America. It would be great if the legal industry reflected the diversity of people and culture in our country, but this has never been the case. As Brad Smith, Microsoft General Counsel & Executive Vice President (Legal and Corporate Affairs), notes, “To better understand the situation, it helps to compare diversity in the legal profession to three other professions with broad education or licensing requirements: physicians and surgeons, financial managers, and accountants/auditors. Although the percentage of under-represented minorities in each of these professions lags behind the national workforce, the gap between the legal profession and these other professions has actually worsened over the past nine years.”

Diversity does not happen by accident. Diversity is not self-executing. The legal profession must strive to be more racially tolerant if it aspires to be as diverse as the country it serves.


Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn