Biglaw

Top Am Law Firm Starts Diversity Pipeline Program For Incoming Talent

And the firm will look to law schools outside of the Top 25 to recruit new graduates for this program.

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Biglaw’s efforts to address the need for diversity and inclusion among their ranks continue to be of great importance to firms across the country. But thus far, only one firm has partnered with Legal Innovators, an alternative legal services provider focused on innovative talent management solutions, to drive systemic change in its recruitment and training strategies. Only one firm will use Legal Innovators’ ingenious methodology to create a diversity pipeline for incoming associates.

That firm is Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

The firm brought in $1,158,537,000 gross revenue in 2019, putting the firm in 31st place in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking. Under Orrick’s diversity pipeline pilot program with Legal Innovators, recent law school graduates will have the opportunity to join the firm as fellows, and may be offered full-time associate positions after two years. Legal Innovators will also offer training to other diverse attorneys who are joining the firm this year. Here are some additional details from Orrick’s press release:

“We’re focused on applying science-backed insights to the way we recruit and develop lawyers in a way that’s inclusive and attractive to top, diverse talent,” said Orrick’s Chief Talent Officer Siobhan Handley. “While we’re experimenting with a number of approaches, we’re especially impressed by Legal Innovators’ methodology and excited, not only to welcome the two Orrick Legal Innovators’ Fellows, but also to learn from their creative thinking and curriculum to ensure we improve the way we support diverse talent.”

Legal Innovators moves beyond traditional hiring metrics. Utilizing predictive analytics, they look at more than 20 factors, such as accolades and work experience in undergrad, to determine the potential success of a candidate.

The program will also help the firm expand beyond the law schools it traditionally hires from to recruit diverse candidates. “[W]e know there are extremely talented individuals that are outside of the top 25 or 30 schools and we know that there are many systemic barriers that prevent really qualified, amazingly talented individuals from ending up at a top 25 or 30 law school,” Siobhan Handley, Orrick’s chief talent officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Legal Innovators currently works with more than 25 law schools, many of which are ranked outside of the schools Biglaw firms traditionally hire from — including Howard University, University of Connecticut, and New York Law School. “If you’re going to take that approach, the law firms or even corporations are always going to be fighting over the same 200 Black associates,” said Bryan Parker, a former Shearman & Sterling lawyer who co-founded Legal Innovators.

Diversity pipeline programs like the one that Orrick has set up with the help of Legal Innovators could change everything for Biglaw firms when it comes to their D&I initiatives. Orrick was brave enough to be the first to give it a try. Which firms will join Orrick in its quest to create a more equitable and inviting workplace?

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Orrick and Legal Innovators Team Up to Pilot a New Approach to Developing Junior Legal Talent and Driving Gains in D&I [Orrick]
Orrick Partners with Startup to Pilot Diverse Pipeline Program [Bloomberg]

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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