Diversity in the Legal Profession

“[D]iversity is one of those kinds of phenomena, which increase the motivation of your staff. If the staff looks around and sees a lot of different people, they are imbibed with a sense that ‘my firm is a firm that really represents the public at large and that makes me feel good.' At the end of the day, the bottom line is that diversity is economically in most organizations' best interest.”

-- Carl Cooper, former Chief Diversity Officer, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP

Greenlining firmly believes that the legal profession will be left behind in an increasingly global marketplace if it does not embrace diversity the way other industries have, not only in California but also internationally.

In May 2007, Greenlining published report cards illustrating the lack of diversity at twenty of California 's largest law firms. Since then, Greenlining has developed relationships focused on improving diversity in the legal profession with many of the law firms in the report cards, law schools, ethnic bar associations, and representatives from the CaAAL Pipeline Project .

Embracing diversity requires firm-wide investments in three key areas. These investments will be most successful if managing partners and other key decision-makers are on board.

Recruitment and Hiring

Greenlining believes that the standards currently used by many law firms to identify “qualified” candidates do not necessarily identify all of the talented candidates. All too often bright students of color are not even considered by many firms despite their potential, merely because they have not had the same access to traditional education pathways.

Greenlining therefore recommends that firms striving to improve diversity as part of a competitive business strategy must re-evaluate their recruitment and hiring “qualifications” to reach a greater number of California 's talented minority students. With changes in recruitment and hiring practices, law firms will promote a more positive culture, as well as increase creativity and breadth of perspective.

Retention and Promotion

Once diverse associates are hired, they often find it difficult to gain access to the kind of work experience required to advance in the competitive firm environment. Many associates of color often feel that their work product is scrutinized more closely than that of white associates, out of either overt or subconscious doubts about their ability to succeed. This additional scrutiny can contribute to a culture that is hostile to diversity.

Further, the distribution of work assignments at many large firms is often ad hoc through individual partner relationships. Without any guidance or firm-wide structure governing assignments, partners choose to work with associates with whom they have more in common. The result is that educational, geographical or socio-economic commonalities drive workplace relationships, to the detriment of associates who do not share these experiences.

Greenlining therefore recommends that law firms proactively ensure that all associates have equal access to assignments for a variety of clients, so that opportunities for success and advancement do not depend on factors that have little or nothing to do with individual talent and capability.

The Educational Pipeline

The recruitment and hiring challenges mentioned above are in part due to the difficulties diverse students have in securing admission to competitive, elite law schools. Accessibility of the legal profession doesn't just begin with law school – students must have exposure and access to the profession early in their education, to determine whether they want to pursue a career in law, and if so, how to do so.

Many, if not most, law firms have scholarship or mentorship programs available to students from underserved communities. The value of these programs, in terms of their ability to reach out to promising students in a meaningful way, vary depending on their structure. For example, a handful of partial scholarships for second-year minority law students already interested in working at the firm no doubt provides welcome assistance to students who receive them. However, improving diversity in the legal profession as a whole requires creative outreach to students who might otherwise feel that a legal career is unattainable.

Greenlining therefore recommends that firms more effectively leverage their resources by thinking of pipeline programs as “investments” in their future workforce. For example, a firm can provide mentorship and internship opportunities to high school students of color, along with sponsorship for SAT and LSAT prep classes. Focusing resources in such a way will expose a greater number of students to the legal profession and provides them the tools to ensure that they will be considered “qualified” when they enter and graduate from law school. For an example of a high-impact educational investment, click Sidley Austin's Prelaw Scholars Program .

Investments of this nature also promote systemic cultural change by showing young students of color that the elite legal profession is in fact within their reach, and is a field in which their contributions will be valued. Greenlining is committed to working with firms and with existing pipeline programs to encourage high-impact educational investments.

For further information about the Greenlining Institute's Diversity Project, contact Samuel Kang , Managing Attorney.

Resources

State Bar of California - Council on Access & Fairness

California Bar Association Diversity Pipeline Task Force - 2006 Report & Recommendations

Bar Association of San Francisco - Diversity Program

Los Angeles County Bar Association - Diversity Pipeline Project

Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession

Diversity at California's 50 Largest Law Firms - California Lawyer Magazine, August 2007