Summary: The latest Vault survey of 247 law firms showed a glimpse into how the diversity of law firms are growing but the numbers are still lower than where they would be expected to be.
According to the results from the yearly Law Firm Diversity Survey, Vault and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association discovered some discouraging numbers. The report is filled with sharp contrasts in the advancement of white lawyers compared to those of color.
Read Most Diverse Law Firms for other statistics on diversity in law firms.
One trend discovered is the declining number of African-American lawyers being employed by law firms. Eight years ago in 2007, African-Americans made up 3.6 percent of the attorneys in law firms but now the number is barely over 3 percent at 3.05 percent.
Law firm equity partners still tend to be mostly white males but one-third of all new-equity partners in 2014 were minorities or women. This puts the number of equity partners of color at 7.5 percent, the highest since Vault and the MCCA starting collecting this data.
See New Data from NALP Shows Diversity at Law Firms Growing.
At a slower pace than would be desired, minority lawyers make up 15 percent of attorneys at the firms in the survey. This number in 2007 was at 13.8 percent. This number is suspected to continue to grow since the incoming associate classes are also more diverse.
Unfortunately for Asian attorneys, they are less likely to be partners than other minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics. While those of Asian descent make up 11 percent of associates, they only make up 3 percent of partners. Compare this to there being one African-American or Hispanic partner for every two black or Hispanic associates.
Read Law School Diversity Increases, But Mostly at Less Prestigious Schools.
The survey has been held for over 10 years, providing a glimpse into the demographics of law firms. There are around 250 law firms are included with a majority of them being Vault Law 100 and Am Law 100 firms. The latest survey includes 247 firm.
Source: http://www.vault.com/blog/vaults-law-blog-legal-careers-and-industry-news/2016-diversity-report
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