The legal industry is taking steps toward creating a more inclusive environment.
Legal offices have never been considered a hub for diversity, as white males have long dominated the profession—particularly in management positions. This lack of representation has received industry-wide attention in recent years. Various initiatives have aimed to change the status quo and provide more opportunities for women and minority attorneys.
At the same time, much work remains to create truly diverse, inclusive law firms and legal departments throughout the industry.
An overview of diversity in the legal industry
Progress exists but it is slow. Between 2009 and 2016, the percentage of female lawyers increased less than one percent, while the percentage of minority lawyers went up by one percent.
In addition, four percent of active attorneys identified as African-American in 2007 and four percent identified as Hispanic. A decade later, those numbers had only climbed to 5 percent each—despite African-Americans and Hispanics comprising 13.3 and 17.8 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.
The issue gets even more problematic when looking at the top of the legal ladder, as only nine percent of partners are African-American, 20 percent are female, and only three percent are women of color.
Numerous causes of the legal industry's lack of diversity have been cited, including less-privileged students not being able to afford law school, inner-city schools not having the resources to support young people in those communities, and minority lawyers seeing a lack of opportunity and leaving the profession after graduation.
There also appears to be an unconscious bias against women and minorities in the field, in which they are perceived to make more mistakes and be less qualified than other attorneys.
Read this break-down of the causes of a lack of diversity in the law to learn more.
Why a diverse legal industry is a crucial goal
Diversity is important in law because it creates a better reflection of society as a whole, enabling firms and legal departments to better serve their clients. For lawyers and their organizations, a diverse workplace also creates new opportunities and leads to better employee engagement and retention. A diverse workforce promotes diverse perspectives, which leads to innovation.
When clients walk into a law firm, for example, working with individuals from similar backgrounds can put them at ease. This familiarity creates trust because members of the firm will better understand where clients are from, what shaped them, how they prefer to be spoken to, and who they are in a way that less-diverse offices cannot. And there are some objective numbers that underscore this benefit: From a financial perspective, firms with higher numbers of minorities in leadership positions are about 35 percent more likely to have returns higher than national medians. Moreover, corporate clients are increasingly demanding that the teams that do their work be diverse.
By promoting diversity within an organization, particularly at the management level, leaders can change the culture within the organization and create a workplace with an emphasis on inclusion. The positive impacts for doing so on perception, retention, and the bottom line are extremely practical as well as the right thing to do.
How to improve diversity
Achieving greater diversity is an effort that must start from the top down, as a change in the culture of the organization starts the process. A top-down approach is needed because every initiative depends on this example for true success, and some of the challenges are often ingrained in an organization’s culture. For example, lawyers from diverse backgrounds can find it difficult to not only break into the industry as a whole, but to also gain access to influential social groups within a firm or company. This failure of access makes it particularly challenging to move up the ladder within some organizations, creating a glass ceiling for minority lawyers.
Leaders within an organization, however, "have the unique ability to remove these barriers and strategically position diverse attorneys to flourish within the profession."
Beyond cultural and leadership changes, there are specific mechanisms and initiatives that have been designed to improve diversity. The Mansfield Rule is one of them. Named after Arabella Mansfield, who, in 1869, became the first woman admitted into the American Bar Association, the rule "requires law firms to consider at least 30 percent women and minority lawyers for significant leadership roles, lateral openings, and equity partner promotions."
Although the Mansfield Rule has only been in place and deployed at certain law firms since 2017, there are encouraging signs of its success. These include more transparency in the hiring process, explicitly tracked diversity in the pool of candidates for a firm, and significantly more women and minorities being considered for leadership positions.
Beyond its impact on the current workforce, it’s hoped that the Mansfield Rule will encourage more minorities and women to enter the field because they will feel like it's possible to get ahead. Over 40 law firms initially became Mansfield Certified, and they now collectively boast 40 percent higher diversity in leadership positions.
Another crucial initiative is the design of dedicated mentoring programs. These provide a means by which minority and non-minority lawyers can encourage the development of individuals of varying backgrounds—either encouraging them to enter the field or promoting their professional development once they are in it.
There are two types of mentoring in the legal field:
- Formal — When a mentoring program is implemented through the law office.
- Informal — When professionals get out into the community and grow relationships with interested parties.
Both types of mentoring help build relationships within diverse communities, encouraging participants to enter the profession after completing school or achieve their full potential after they’ve done so.
These methods are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dedicated diversity and inclusion efforts, and various firms and legal departments have unique programs. Regardless of the specific initiatives, all of them crucially depend on buy-in from leadership—and on being embedded within an organization’s culture.
Fighting diversity fatigue
Diversity fatigue happens when significant attention is paid to the issue, but slow advancement towards goals or improper communication and execution of initiatives create disengagement.
Fatigue can fundamentally threaten progress—especially when individuals at various levels feel like they aren't making headway, with some giving up entirely.
There are some ways to fight diversity fatigue, however. And it starts with recognizing small victories. When only 16.1 percent of attorneys are from diverse backgrounds, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done. But perspective is called for: That number has increased from 10.3 percent 15 years ago, so progress has been made.
Leaders should focus on changing the culture within their organization and make sure to highlight the wins that these efforts achieve. It’s important to recognize that the path to an inclusive industry isn't linear. There will be setbacks, but organizations can keep moving forward and see that despite varying year-to-year results, the movement is trending positively.
Those leading the diversity movement are most likely to experience fatigue, and they should specifically be recognized and rewarded for their efforts. Acknowledging a diversity leader's achievements goes a long way towards fighting fatigue and keeping him or her on track.
There will be frustrations, as well—so allowing those who are driving the diversity movement an honest forum to highlight suggestions, problems, and other feedback is helpful. And seeking and encouraging discussion within the law firm or department as a whole is a great way to keep everyone engaged.
Attracting and retaining diverse candidates
Beyond creating a culture within an organization that supports diversity, actively attracting and retaining diverse candidates are perhaps the next-most-crucial steps. After all, if an organization doesn’t prioritize these efforts—or worse, working there fundamentally isn't attractive for people of color or female attorneys—the organization will of course fail to diversify.
Again, progress starts from the top. The first thing a law firm can do is prioritize creating a diverse management team. Diverse candidates will see diversity at all levels of the organization as a major draw when considering a potential work environment—it provides a powerful example of the possibility of advancement. Finding diverse candidates for other non-leadership positions of course also helps attract and retain a wider pool of talent.
Firms can also begin diversity-aligned recruiting efforts, and one key element of expanding the pool of candidates is looking beyond top-tier law schools and toward graduates who performed exceptionally well at other institutions. Finally, individual firms should play the long game when it comes to improving both their individual organization’s diversity as well as the overall industry’s representation.
For example, one initiative that has shown great success involves mentoring students through urban debate leagues. There are more than 20 chapters of these leagues in the country, and over half of participants plan to enter the legal field after graduation.
Finally, law offices should consider hiring a Chief Diversity Officer to ensure that diversity and inclusion are core values and initiatives that are ingrained into every level of the firm. This officer will take a close look at recruiting and hiring strategies, ensuring that every effort to create a diverse workplace is made.
Increasing diversity in the legal profession is an ongoing journey
While progress has been slow and there is certainly quite a bit more work to be done—progress is happening. The incremental improvement in the number of diverse attorneys, the creation of widely lauded, concrete initiatives like The Mansfield Rule, the expansion of mentoring, and the new focus on diverse representation in leadership positions are having a positive impact. If the legal profession maintains and builds on this momentum, true representation that reflects the clients who are served—and obtains them even better outcomes—is possible.
Carrington Legal Search is committed to providing a diverse pool of candidates for each of our searches and we proactively maintain a pipeline of diverse candidates. Want to insure that you are meeting your diversity goals? Let Carrington do the work for you. To make our nationwide network work for you, get in touch at 512-627-7467 or email carrie@carringtonlegal.com.
