Biglaw Firm Whose Latest Partnership Did No Favors For Diversity Pledges To 'Do Better' Next Time

The firm's chairman hopes this PR nightmare won't 'erase the firm’s diversity achievements over the past 75 years.'

We certainly can—and will—do better. I regret the gender and racial imbalance in our newly elected partnership class (one woman, one Latino, one LGBTQ partner, only 25 percent diverse), which resulted from an idiosyncratic demographic pool and which I can assure you will not be repeated.

We intend to continue to play a leadership role in diversity in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation. We look forward to being judged not by our words, but by our results, in the years to come,” Karp said. “There is no more important issue to me (and the firm’s leadership) than diversity and it is critical to me that Paul Weiss maintain its historic leadership role as a firm that champions diversity in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation.

Our percentage of female, African-American and LGBTQ partners and associates greatly exceeds the average for New York and U.S. law firms. It would be unfortunate and disappointing if an idiosyncratic demographic pool in one particular year would erase the firm’s diversity achievements over the past 75 years.

— Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp, in a statement given regarding the seeming lack of diversity in the firm’s latest partnership class. It’s worth mentioning that Paul Weiss has a history with putting diversity first: in the 1940s, it was the first major New York firm to hire an African-American male associate and female associate, and during the same time frame, it was the first major New York firm to welcome a woman to its partnership ranks.


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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