The 2022 Biglaw Diversity Scorecard: Record-Breaking Progress Has Been Made!
There is finally some news worth celebrating when it comes to law firm diversity.
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. 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. And last year, it was. There is finally some news worth celebrating when it comes to law firm diversity.
According to the American Lawyer’s 2022 Diversity Scorecard — a ranking that tracks racial and ethnic diversity across firm leadership, equity partners, and other attorneys at Am Law 200 and National Law Journal 250 law firms — there was record-breaking progress over the past year. In fact, it was the biggest year-over-year improvement since 2001. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
The total number of minority attorneys rose to 20.2%, up from 18.5% last year and 17.8% in 2020. The number of minority partners also climbed, reaching 11.9%, up from 10.9% in 2021, and the percentage of minority nonpartners hit 26.7%, up from 24.6% in 2021. …
Firms embraced innovation with DEI in mind, in part due to the lasting impact of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the racial justice protests that followed. Clients also played a major role in the movement, as they took steps to refine their DEI goals and hold law firms accountable.
Referral Fees The Key To Growing A Modern Practice? Overture Thinks So.
This is meaningful, says Caren Ulrich Stacy, founder and chief experimentation officer at Diversity Lab. “More than 1% growth is at least worth celebrating. We did move,” she said. “We didn’t backslide at a time when everyone was thrown through a loop—organizationally, professionally and personally.”
Thanks to a new methodology for this ranking, the firm that took top honors this year — immigration firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy — is new to being the nation’s most diverse firm (but it usually places well within the top five firms). At Fragomen, 41% of the firm’s head count is made up of minority attorneys, and 27% of its US equity partners are minorities.
Following Fragomen, the rest of the top five on this year’s Diversity Scorecard, in order, were White & Case; Kasowitz Benson Torres; Munger, Tolles & Olson; and Clearly Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Hanson Bridgett; Morrison & Foerster; Baker McKenzie; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; and Berry Appleman & Leiden rounded out the top 10. Berry Appleman had placed first two years in a row under the previous methodology.
Kasowitz and Cleary were both among the top five based on African American attorney representation. Berry Appleman ranked in the top five for both Asian American and Hispanic attorney representation.
On the whole, lawyers in each ethnic minority group saw a modest amount of growth in 2021, according to this year’s Diversity Scorecard.
Which law firms are the best for diversity in 2022? Here’s the crowded Top 25 (technically the Top 27 thanks to some ties):
Sponsored
Rise Above Redlines: How AI Is Setting A New Benchmark For Contracting
Referral Fees The Key To Growing A Modern Practice? Overture Thinks So.
Raising The Bar in Bar Prep
Rise Above Redlines: How AI Is Setting A New Benchmark For Contracting
1. Fragomen
2. White & Case
3. Kasowitz
4. Munger Tolles
5. Cleary Gottlieb
6. Hanson Bridgett
6. Morrison & Foerster
8. Baker McKenzie
9. Wilmer
10. Berry Appleman
11. Willkie
12. Hogan Lovells
13. Cravath
14. Carlton Fields
15. Paul Hastings
16. Jackson Lewis
17. Milbank
18. Curtis Mallet-Prevost
19. Simpson Thacher
20. Fenwick
21. O’Melveny
22. Reed Smith
23. Orrick
24. Cooley
24. Crowell & Moring
24. Gordon Rees
24. Susman Godfrey
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.
Big Law’s Record-Breaking Diversity Gains Show Industry’s Commitment to Progress [American Lawyer]
The 2022 Diversity Scorecard: Ranking the Legal Industry [American Lawyer]
Why We Changed the Diversity Scorecard Methodology [American Lawyer]
Sponsored
How 3 New Legal AI Tools Will Strengthen Firms
Staci 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.
