Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Minority Issues

Diverse Legal Teams Perform Better — Fact

With another recruiting season upon us, what is your law firm doing differently to improve diversity?

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diverse diversity minority lawyers associates“I don’t wanna say nothing wrong / But it’d be wrong if I ain’t say nothing / Imagine if I ain’t say something / Wouldn’t anyone say nothing.” – Kanye

Acritas Research recently released its 2016 Diversity Report, which uncovered the positive impacts of a fully diverse legal team. Acritas claims that “for the first time in the legal industry we can reveal scientific evidence on the hot topic of diversity.” Few, if any, research reports provide data results exclusive to the legal profession that reveal the specific benefits of diversity.

Based on interviewing more than 20,000 law firm clients over the last decade, Acritas discovered that diverse teams:

  • Earn 25% higher share of wallet.
  • Are more than one and half times as likely to achieve a “perfect ten” performance score.
  • Receive over three times higher Net Promoter Scores (Bain & Company client satisfaction index).

Not only do diverse teams perform better according to the report, they ultimately receive 25 percent more of their corporate clients’ legal spending. As Acritas CEO Lisa Hart Shepherd notes, Acritas’s “robust analysis has proven for the first time in the legal industry that a lack of diversity is detrimental to long-term financial success for law firms.”

The main factors law firm clients mentioned as ways law firms can demonstrate greater diversity include:

  • Gender
  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Nationality
  • LGBTQ
  • Industry Experience
  • Cross-section of society
  • Age

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How does your law firm measure up on these diversity factors? “All law firms, no matter your size or focus, can profit from understanding how small changes can lead to big benefits,” according to Acritas.

Other findings from the diversity research include:

  • Male general counsel get paid more than female general counsel.
  • Male GCs plan to spend more on legal services than female GCs.
  • Major differences in legal buying behavior exist between men and women.

Acritas found only 25 percent of legal teams are very diverse, and yet the benefits of diverse teams are clear as more diverse teams generate higher performance levels, an increased share of spending, and higher likelihood of being recommended to clients’ peers.

The business case for diversity is strong, so what else will it take to improve diversity in the legal profession? Business as usual will yield only more of the same. While 25 percent of legal teams are considered very diverse, far fewer law firms could claim the same. With another recruiting season upon us, what is your law firm doing differently to disrupt the status quo on this front?

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Diversity Report 2016 [Acritas]

Renwei Chung is passionate about writing, technology, psychology, and economics. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn.

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