Pity more racists aren’t like Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers (and a lawyer). If all bigots were as flagrant as Sterling, it’d be so much easier to identify racism and nip it in the bud. Much more slippery are the more polite forms of bias, such as those that persist in the polished halls of Big Law.
In my 10-plus years covering women and diversity in the profession, I’ve heard many reasons why elite law firms have poor track records with black lawyers. (They make up only 2 percent of Am Law 100 partners; for Wall Street firms, it’s 1.6 percent.) Among them: the leaky pipeline, the dearth of role models and mentors, poor training, etc.
