As we detail, often, despite minority lawyers being hired at law firms across the country, very few of them make partner.
But today, the Washington Post is making the same point so, let’s talk about it again:
Minority lawyers now make up 16 percent of law firms — a record high — but remain scarce at the top, where only 9 percent of law partners are people of color, according to new data collected by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.
Put another way, nearly half of their white counterparts make partner, while the vast majority of minorities remain associates.
The disparity is also reflected in the corporate world, where only 11 percent of general counsels at Fortune 500 companies are black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American even though minorities make up a third of the legal profession as a whole.
Welcome to the party, Washington Post. There’s pie and punch in the back, along with all the black people.
The reasons for why minorities are not making partner are legion: there’s systemic racism, there’s implicit bias, there’s a retention problem, there’s a lack of mentors, there’s a lack of wealthy white clients willing to give their business to black or brown faces. Making partner is not a meritocracy, it’s a subjective invitation to an exclusive club. It’s not all that surprising that minorities continued to get shut out.
But diversity initiatives are helping one group of people:
Affirmative action and other diversity initiatives have helped one group noticeably: white women.
“White women have benefited greatly from all of the diversity initiatives,” Lee said.
General counsels at Fortune 500 firms are now 22 percent white women, 5 percent women of color, and 7 percent men of color. The rest, nearly 70 percent, are white men.
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One of the ways we can explain the fact that 53% of white women voters voted for Donald Trump is that being white is simply MORE VALUABLE than being a woman is a hindrance to professional and social success. When looking at a candidate that’s going to advance the cause of white supremacy, white women benefit from that, even if they are greatly harmed by endemic sexual harassment and predation.
This seems like a good time to mention that tipsters report Sullivan and Cromwell announced new partners today. Six men, one woman.
The legal profession is diversifying. But not at the top. [Washington Post]
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.