NALP Bulletin, April 2013

In a December 13, 2012 press release, NALP reported that law firms have continued to make up most, but not all, of the ground lost when diversity figures fell between 2009 and 2010. While the representation of minorities continued to inch up, the overall representation of women increased by only a very small amount, and, among associates specifically, representation of women declined a bit again for the third year in a row. Aggregate statistics about the representation of women and minority lawyers at law firms do not tell the whole story, however.

For instance, among all employers listed in the 2012-2013 NALP Directory of Legal Employers, just 6.71% of partners were minorities and 2.16% of partners were minority women, and yet many offices report no minority partners at all. And, in fact, although the most recent information suggests that the temporary set-back for minority representation among associates as a whole has been reversed, rising from 19.53% in 2010 to 20.32% in 2012 after declining from 19.67% in 2009, a more detailed look reveals the lion’s share of the increase can be attributed to an increase in Asian associates. Meanwhile, representation of Blacks/African-Americans among associates has slid for three years in a row. This article takes a closer look at representation of specific minority groups at the partnership and associate levels and also compiles new information on the demographics of other lawyers such as counsel/of counsel and staff attorneys.

Of the five categories of lawyers tracked in the Directory, minorities in general and minority women specifically are most likely by far to be found among the ranks of associates and staff attorneys, as shown in Table 1. (The term minorities as used here includes lawyers identified as Black/African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and multi-racial. The very few Native American, Native Hawaiian, and multi-racial lawyers are not reported out separately.) Minorities accounted for over 20% of associates and almost 23% of staff attorneys. Figures for minority women were about 11% and 14%, respectively. Counsel and “other” attorneys fall in between the lows for partners and the highs for associates and staff attorneys. The racial/ethnic makeup differs quite noticeably across these categories of lawyers. Though Asians are most prevalent across all categories, the degree to which they outnumber other racial/ethnic groups varies. For example, at the staff attorney level, Blacks/African-Americans are outnumbered by Asians as a whole by a relatively small margin, whether looking at Blacks/African-Americans as a whole or women specifically. Representation of Blacks/African-Americans is highest by far among staff attorneys. Representation of Hispanics is about half that of Blacks/African-Americans. In every other category of attorney, Blacks/African-Americans and Hispanics are about equally represented.

Additional information by firm size for partners and associates is shown in Table 2 and Table 3. Although among partners overall, Asians are somewhat more prevalent than either Blacks/African-Americans or Hispanic partners, differences are evident depending on the size of the firm. For example, the presence of Blacks/African-Americans and Hispanic partners generally increases with firm size, whereas Asian partners are most prevalent at smaller and the largest firms (Table 2). Among associates, Asians account for almost half of minority associates at the national level, and in the largest firms (Table 3). Comparing these nationwide 2012 figures with those from 2010 and 2011 shows that the increase in minority representation from 19.53% in 2010 to 20.32% in 2012 (as reported in the December 13, 2012 press release cited above) is attributable mostly to an increase among Asians, whose representation has increased from 9.39% to 10.01% in the same time period. The percentage of Black/African-American associates has been declining since reaching 4.66% in 2009. Representation of Hispanics was up slightly, at 3.90% in 2012, compared to 3.83% in 2011. Compared to 2009, however, it is essentially flat.

As might be expected, these figures vary greatly by city. For example, Black/African-American associates and partners are most common in Atlanta, while Asian associates and partners are most common in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the San Jose area. Hispanics dominate the minority presence in Miami.

Additional insight on women and minorities at law firms comes from looking at the extent to which women and minorities are represented at each office, rather than for a city or for the nation as a whole. (See Table 4 and Table 5.) Thus, the fact that 6.71% of partners as a whole are minorities does not mean that minorities make up 6.71% of partners at each of the over 1,200 offices and firms represented in the Directory. In fact, one-quarter of offices reported no minority partners and over half reported no minority women partners. Likewise, 13% of offices/firms have no minority associates, and almost one-quarter reported no minority women associates. Offices in firms of 701+ lawyers fare better on these measures at 8% and 15% respectively. Less than 29% of offices reported that more than half of their associates were women.

The December 13, 2012 press release on this topic can be found at www.nalp.org/2012lawfirmdiversity.

Table 1. Women and Minorities at Law Firms — Nationwide by Type of Attorney

Figures are based on 1,209 offices/firms covering a total of 117,934 lawyers.
Source: 2012-2013 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.

Table 2. Partner Demographics at Law Firms — 2012

Source: The 2012-2013 NALP Directory of Legal Employers. Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Short Hills, Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean/Tysons Corner, Reston, Vienna, Fairfax, and Alexandria. The few Native American, Native Hawaiian, and multi-racial lawyers reported are included in the overall minority percentages but are not reported separately. For multi-office firms that reported only firmwide figures, the information was attributed to the reporting city if at least 60% of the firms lawyers are in that city.

Table 3. Associate Demographics at Law Firms — 2012

Source: The 2012-2013 NALP Directory of Legal Employers. Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Short Hills, Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean/Tysons Corner, Reston, Vienna, Fairfax, and Alexandria. The few Native American, Native Hawaiian, and multi-racial lawyers reported are included in the overall minority percentages but are not reported separately. For multi-office firms that reported only firmwide figures, the information was attributed to the reporting city if at least 60% of the firms lawyers are in that city.

Table 4. Representation of Women and Minorities Among Law Firm Partners — 2012
(percent of offices in each range of representation)

Source: The 2012-2013 NALP Directory of Legal Employers. Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Short Hills, Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean/Tysons Corner, Reston, Vienna, Fairfax, and Alexandria. The few Native American, Native Hawaiian, and multi-racial lawyers reported are included in the overall minority percentages but are not reported separately. For multi-office firms that reported only firmwide figures, the information was attributed to the reporting city if at least 60% of the firms lawyers are in that city.

Table 5. Representation of Women and Minorities Among Law Firm Associates — 2012
(percent of offices in each range of representation)

Source: The 2012-2013 NALP Directory of Legal Employers. Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Short Hills, Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean/Tysons Corner, Reston, Vienna, Fairfax, and Alexandria. The few Native American, Native Hawaiian, and multi-racial lawyers reported are included in the overall minority percentages but are not reported separately. For multi-office firms that reported only firmwide figures, the information was attributed to the reporting city if at least 60% of the firms lawyers are in that city.