Changing the Make-Up of the Legal Industry: Diversity Success Stories
/The law profession suffers from a lack of diversity. But companies are adopting innovative programs to change the employment landscape
In the legal field, the topic of diversity and inclusion is one that remains widely discussed. But despite the conversation, the profession continues to be one of the least diverse of any industry.
According to studies by the American Bar Association, women make up only 35 percent of the legal profession and a mere 20 percent of the partners in private practice. When it comes to racial and ethnic diversity in the legal space, the numbers are even worse. Only 5 percent of attorneys identified as African American or Latino in 2017, and just 2 percent identify as Asian.
Why is this? It is not for a lack of effort or solid research proving that the diversity in the workplace is good for a myriad of reasons—but representation in the profession as a whole and certainly in leadership roles continues to lag far behind overall population demographics.
Creating more diversity and inclusion in the legal profession requires much more than meeting diversity quotas or having a few attorneys of various ethnic backgrounds in the office. It requires those in corporate leadership and partnership roles to walk their talk by building teams inclusive of people from diverse backgrounds in various levels of their firms.
On the bright side, there are companies actively working to build a more inclusive legal profession through innovative diversity initiatives. These organizations are putting conversations into action through powerful programs that are working. These initiatives are founded on the principles of leadership, collaboration, incentives, recruitment, retention, development, relationship building, and communication.
Here is a sampling of diversity success stories:
Initiative: Creating an environment where women attorneys can succeed.
Description: Through intentional, top-to-bottom efforts that include support of women at all levels, women now make up half of both the managing partners committee and the executive management team.
Initiative: The Diverse Attorney Directory.
Description: In an effort to enrich messaging around diversity and inclusion, Reed Smith LLP created a Diverse Attorney Directory. The directory lists the majority of the firm’s diverse attorneys along with their contact information and specific practice area. The firm uses the directory to help women, minorities, LGBT, disabled, and veteran attorneys gain exposure both inside and outside the firm.
Initiative: The New Mom’s Group.
Description: The New Mom’s Group, originally designed to help make new and expecting mothers feel supported through an otherwise tricky transition, has since evolved to include office locks and refrigerators for nursing moms, e-courses on navigating maternity leave and the transition to motherhood, as well as breast-milk shipping for traveling moms. Members of the group assist the firm with recruiting efforts as a way to attract and retain female lawyers who otherwise may have their careers put on hold or adversely impacted by choosing to have children.
4. HP Inc.
Initiative: A bold stance on diversity.
Description: Under this company’s diversity policy, “law firms with more than 10 attorneys who have a relationship with HP must have diverse relationship partners and/or both a female and racial minority attorney, each performing at least 10 percent of the firm’s billable work.” This initiative was announced to firms in 2016 and they were given a year to train, hire, and comply.
Initiative: Creating a feedback culture.
Description: Based on research that shows that traditional evaluation processes don’t always work for women, minorities, and Millennials, changes have been made to the company’s performance review systems and a culture of feedback has been developed. The firm created a two-part training module which allows for clear and concise feedback with the absence of judgment or harm. In addition to helping people communicate amid differences, components of the model directly address diversity, specifically on how assumptions and unconscious bias can have a significant impact in feedback scenarios that involve diverse individuals. This culture of feedback has been essential for retention, growth, and professional development.
Initiative: The Rooney Rule.
Description: While this diversity initiative is most popularly known for improving minority representation among head coaches in the NFL, Seyfarth Shaw LLP is one of several companies testing the Rooney Rule’s effectiveness. Instead of setting a percentage or quota for the required number of diverse and female candidates considered for positions, Seyfarth inherently expects a diverse lineup of candidates for all hires. This expectation has been built into the firm’s process and culture. Accountability measures have been implemented to ensure that every candidate pool is diverse and, if not, the job remains open for longer. Since the program’s inception, almost 45 percent of all new hires have been diverse attorneys.
Diversity initiatives are making progress—but there is room for improvement
As occupations go, the law is a profession specifically designed to serve and represent the interests of all of the people—making the benefits that diverse individuals, perspectives, and life experiences bring to the table a must for it to reach its full potential.
The law profession still has a way to go before inclusion and diversity are woven into its fabric. In addition to finding ways to increase the number of diverse candidates who get into college, apply to law school, are accepted at law schools, and pass the bar, initiatives should support qualified attorneys and incentivize them to stay in the profession. Setting diversity goals is an important step —but there is much more work to be done.
Carrington Legal Search is committed to providing a diverse slate of candidates for each search that we undertake. To make our nationwide network work for you, get in touch at 512-627-7467 or email carrie@carringtonlegal.com