Biglaw

The 2021 Biglaw Diversity Scorecard

In a pandemic year marked by calls for racial justice, there's been progress for diversity -- but not much.

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Year in and year out, we watch law firm after law firm pay lip service to their commitment to diversity in the legal profession, with promises to recruit, retain, and promote more minority attorneys. Despite these continued assurances, and despite the fact that a number of firms have made great efforts to improve the stature of their diverse hires in the law, there is still much more to be done, even after a year where the importance of diversity and racial justice took center stage and was brought to the attention of everyone across the country, if not the world at large. If there’s ever going to be any real change in the legal industry, diversity has to be more than just a buzzword — it must be a priority at every law firm.

According to the American Lawyer’s 2021 Diversity Scorecard — a ranking that tracks the average number of full-time-equivalent minority attorneys (both partners and nonpartners) at Am Law 200 and National Law Journal 250 law firms — there has been some progress over the past year, but it’s been slight:

The total number of minority attorneys rose to 18.5%, up from 17.8% last year and 16.9% in 2019. The number of minority partners also climbed, reaching 10.9%, up from 10.3% in 2020, and the percentage of minority nonpartners hit 24.6%, up from 23.7% in 2020.

Some attribute this continued progress to a maturing system of diversity and inclusion at law firms, while others have said the Black Lives Matter movement and the galvanizing effects of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing wave of national protests pushed D&I to the forefront at firms. Both likely played a role in avoiding the setbacks of the last crisis [when firms shed 6% of all attorneys and 9% of minority attorneys between 2008 and 2009].

The firm that took top honors this year — Berry Appleman & Leiden — retained its position as the nation’s most diverse firm, but the top five firms changed once again this year. Overall, firms surveyed were able to raise their average score on the scorecard by 3.41 points, a 13% increase over their 2020 average of 24.71.

Berry Appleman & Leiden was the top firm by score again in this year’s ranking, having taken the top spot as a new entrant in 2020. The firm had a score of 74.7, up from 72.4 in 2020 and 5.6 points ahead of second-place newcomer Cole, Scott & Kissane (69.1).

The rest of the top five, in order, included immigration firm Fragomen (63.6) and newcomers Kelley Kronenberg (63.4) and Kubicki Draper (62.4). …

White & Case, which was knocked down to No. 7 from No. 4 last year by the new entrants while still increasing its overall score from 54.4 to 55.8, was the only firm in the top 10 by revenue to also place in the top 10 in the Diversity Scorecard.

Which law firms are the best for diversity in 2021? Here are the Top 25:

1. Berry Appleman
2. Cole Scott
3. Fragomen
4. Kelley Kronenberg
5. Kubicki Draper
6. Wood Smith
7. White & Case
8. Kobre & Kim
9. Irell
10. Morrison & Foerster
11. Cleary Gottlieb
12. Best
13. Fenwick
14. Procopio Cory
15. Wilson Sonsini
16. Knobbe
16. Munger Tolles
18. Fish
19. Debevoise
19. Kasowitz
19. Paul Hastings
22. Finnegan
22. Orrick
24. Curtis
25. Davis Polk

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Check out the full rankings at the American Lawyer.

Congratulations to all of the Biglaw firms that are doing their part to move the needle on diversity. For all other firms, the pressure is on to do better — and fast.

The 2021 Diversity Scorecard: Ranking the Legal Industry [American Lawyer]
The 2021 Diversity Scorecard: The Legal Industry’s Slow March Continued Amid Racial Justice Protests [American Lawyer]

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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