Gibson Dunn Names 13 New Partners; How Diverse Is This Group?

There’s no denying that Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is one the nation’s greatest law firms. It offers a compelling combination of prestige, profitability, and public-spiritedness. Its lawyers undertake noble pro bono work, everything from fighting for marriage equality (Ted Olson) to representing grieving families (Orin Snyder) to defending victims of Donald Trump’s litigiousness (Ted Boutrous). It comes as no surprise to me to see the firm near the top of the American Lawyer’s A-List, which ranks firms based on financial success, pro bono commitment, associate satisfaction, and diversity.

Ah, diversity. That was the one A-List category where Gibson didn’t score in the 190s (out of 200). And it seems that it’s still an issue at the firm, as one GDC source pointed out to us:

Gibson Dunn just announced the new partner class: 10 men (all white, in LA, DC, NY, and London) and 3 women firm-wide (2 in NY and 1 in Paris). Probably not that surprising in Biglaw, but still pretty depressing to me as a young female associate.

I feel like in 2005/2006 the incoming class must have been pretty evenly split between men and women. It’s pretty disheartening.

You can flip to the next page to see the 13 new partners. They exhibit impressive geographic diversity, representing five different offices, and practice-group diversity, representing about a half-dozen different specializations (depending on how you count the litigators). But it’s true that, as noted by our source, they aren’t the most diverse group under the sun. Less than a quarter are women (although it should be noted that two of the women partners are diverse).

What does the firm have to say about these selections? Chairman and managing partner Ken Doran issued this statement:

We are very proud of our new class of partners; each of them exemplifies the characteristics that we expect of our partners – excellence, integrity, professionalism and collegiality. We are particularly thrilled to welcome Anita Girdhari, Saee Muzumdar and Judith Raoul-Bardy to our partnership ranks. They will be terrific partners. We are actively focused on improving diversity and inclusiveness within the Firm and, while we have made significant progress in recent years, we acknowledge that this priority will require a sustained effort. We are confident that our steadfast commitment and consistent focus on this priority at all levels of the Firm will prove successful.

It’s certainly the case that GDC is focusing on diversity — see, e.g., its response to the Vault/MCCA diversity survey — and hopefully these efforts will bear fruit in the years ahead.

In fairness to Gibson Dunn, one shouldn’t judge an entire firm by the diversity of a single partnership class (a point we made when discussing Sullivan & Cromwell’s new partners). GDC has a fair number of women and minorities in its partnership, including some of its most prominent partners (such as former U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang — but note she might be leaving to lead the SEC during the Trump Administration). And because the vast majority (more than 85 percent) of Gibson Dunn partners are equity rather than non-equity partners, these diverse partners are “true” partners.

Even though one shouldn’t read too much into the diversity (or lack thereof) in a single group of new partners, it’s important for firms to know that these subjects don’t go unnoticed. Diversity and inclusion matter — to a firm’s current lawyers, to potential recruits, and perhaps most importantly, to clients.

P.S. If you’re interested in gender diversity in the legal profession, please check out our Law Firm Gender Diversity Index.

(Flip to the next page for Gibson Dunn’s press release about its 13 new partners.)

Earlier: Law Firm Gender Diversity Index
Sullivan & Cromwell’s New Partners: Impressive, Yes; Diverse, Not So Much
Wachtell Lipton’s New Partners: 100 Percent Diverse
Cravath Names New Partners — And All Three Are Women
Cleary Gottlieb’s New Partner Class: Where Are The Women?
Tracking 10 Years Of Women’s Progress In The Legal Profession

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David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].