Biglaw

The Biglaw Firms That Do The Best On The Diversity Scorecard (2018)

There's been progress -- just not that much.

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If there’s ever going to be any real change in the legal industry, diversity has to be more than a buzzword — it must be a priority across every firm initiative. That’s why taking stock annually on the progress made in Biglaw is so important.

According to the data collected as part of ALM’s Annual Diversity Scorecard — a ranking that looks at the percentage of minority lawyers as well as the percentage of minority partners at law firms — there’s been progress over the past year, but it’s been really, really slight:

Minority lawyers working in Am Law 200 firms and NLJ 250 firms increased just 0.5 percent in 2017, making up only 16.1 percent of attorneys in Big Law, up from 15.6 percent in 2016. The percentage of minority partners also saw 0.5 percent growth in 2017, to 9.1 percent from 8.6 percent the year prior. The total number of minority nonpartners at law firms inched up to 21.7 percent from 21.2 percent in 2016.

The firm that holds the top spot — and has for five years — is White & Case:

“Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace is absolute,” says Maja Hazell, global head of diversity and inclusion at White & Case.

“In addition to a number of affinity groups, initiatives and projects dedicated to increasing diversity and fostering more inclusive leadership competencies, we value education and growing understanding of our people’s varied backgrounds, interests and needs in order to deliver their best performance,” she adds.

So which firms are the best for diversity? Here’s your Top 10, and you can check out the full rankings at Law.com:

Law Firm Diversity Scorecard

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  1. White & Case
  2. Fragomen
  3. Wilson Sonsini
  4. Fenwick
  5. Best
  6. Procopio Cory
  7. Morrison & Foerester
  8. Curtis
  9. Kobre Kim
  10. Cleary Gottlieb

Congratulations to the firms that are doing their part to move the needle on diversity. For the other firms, the pressure is on to do better.

headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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