Association of the Bar of the City of New York Sees Minority Lawyer Gap (The New York Times)

Large law firms are generally not diverse places. Even though law schools for years have produced graduates of increasingly varied backgrounds, these young lawyers seem not to stay long enough to rise through the ranks of senior associates and eventually become partners.

Partners at large firms loudly lament the situation and point out the one or two African-American partners they have, or the few Asian-Americans, or maybe even a few Hispanic-Americans. But the numbers tell the story: According to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, for example, which released results of a voluntary survey of diversity at 82 New York-area law offices earlier this year, 4.7 percent of partners are members of minority groups, even though 21.1 percent of associates are.

The New York Times
July 22, 2005