When it comes to hiring and promoting African-American lawyers, the record is especially bleak for large law firms—and it’s not getting any better, according to our exclusive Diversity Scorecard survey. Today, just 3 percent of all lawyers—and only 1.9 percent of partners—at the nation’s largest firms are black, according to our survey of 223 of those firms. By contrast, the percentages of Asian-American and Hispanic lawyers and partners, while small, continue to grow. At a time when minorities will soon be the majority in this country, the business case is clear. So why have firms fallen so short and what can be done about it? Read on.
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Big Law is Losing the Race
The percentage of African-American lawyers at large law firms continues to drop. Why?
Pioneering Partners Say Hurdles Remain
What black trailblazers of Big Law say about its future.
Battle Fatigue
Corporate legal departments have long led the charge for diversity at law firms. A decade into the fight, are GCs easing off?
How Law Schools Fall Short
Minority enrollment in law schools is rising—slowly—but the percentage of African-Americans is flat.
The 2014 Diversity Scorecard: An Interactive Look at How Firms Rate
The largest law firms are slightly more diverse that they were last year, with minority attorneys and minority partners making gains.
