BigLaw: Still A White “Bro’s Club” (Lexology)
Lexology, October 18, 2016
BigLaw: Still A White “Bro’s Club”
“Now, the third shoe: the New York Law Journal has just reported that ‘Despite more than a decade of New York law firms pledging to enhance diversity in their ranks, minority representation within associate and partners levels stalled last year, and attrition rates for female and minority attorneys remained disproportionately high, according to new survey results.’ The survey was conducted by the NYC Bar Association, and it is called the 2015 Diversity Benchmarking Report. ‘The rate of progress … is disappointingly slow,’ said the City Bar President. Apparently 75 BigLaw firms responded to the Bar’s survey. But why would these retrograde firms actually report these negative results? Because … it was mandatory! ‘[P]articipation in the survey was mandatory in order to be listed as a signatory to the City Bar Statement of Diversity Principles,’ noted the Benchmarking Report.”
