NALP Bulletin, January 2010

Aggregate statistics about the representation of women and minority lawyers at law firms are widely cited (see, for example, NALP's press release "Law Firm Diversity Demographics Show Little Change"), but these national averages do not tell the whole story. For instance, among all employers listed in the 2009-2010 NALP Directory of Legal Employers just over 6% of partners were minorities and 1.88% of partners were minority women, and yet many offices report no minority partners at all. In addition, the representation of minorities by specific race and ethnicity varies considerably by size of law firm and geography. This article takes a closer look at representation of specific minority groups at the partnership and associate levels.

Overall, minority groups are relatively equally represented at the partner level (Table 1). (The term minorities as used here includes lawyers identified as Black, 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.) Differences are evident, however, depending on the size of the firm. For example, the presence of Black and Hispanic partners increases with firm size, whereas Asian partners are most prevalent at the smaller and largest firms. Percentages of female minority partners are generally higher in smaller firms and in the largest firms.

At the city level, the presence of Black partners is highest in Atlanta, followed by Baltimore and Washington, DC. The presence of Black female partners exceeds 1% in just eight cities: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale/W. Palm Beach, Miami, Nashville, and Washington, DC. Black partners account for less than 0.5% of partners in Grand Rapids, Las Vegas, Orange County, CA, San Diego, and Salt Lake City.

Over half of minority partners in Austin, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm Beach, and Tampa/St. Petersburg are Hispanic. In each of these cities, the presence of female Hispanic partners is also above average. Conversely, in 15 of the 45 cities listed, fewer than 0.5% of partners are Hispanic. Asian partners — both overall and women specifically — are most common in the Los Angeles and Orange County, CA areas and in the San Francisco and San Jose areas.

Among associates, Asians account for almost half of all minority associates at the national level and in the smallest and largest firms. As is the case with partners, cities vary a great deal on these measures (Table 2). For example, Black associates are most common by far in Atlanta, followed by Charlotte, Miami, and Nashville. In each of these cities, except Miami, Blacks account for over half of minority associates. The percentage of Black female associates was also highest in these cities, along with New Orleans, St. Louis, and Washington, DC. Every city reported at least some Black associates and Black female associates.

The pattern for Hispanic associates is similar to that at the partner level, with representation highest by far in Miami, followed by Ft. Lauderdale/W. Palm Beach, and Austin. Percentage representation was less than 1% in several cities. The leading cities for Asian associates — both overall and for women specifically — are San Francisco and the San Jose area, followed by the Los Angeles and Orange County areas and New York City. Every city reported at least some Asian associates.

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 U.S. as a whole. Thus, the fact that just over 6% of partners as a whole are minorities does not mean that minorities make up 6% of partners at each of the more than 1,500 offices and firms represented in the Directory. In fact, as Table 3 shows, about 30% of the offices/firms reported no minority partners, and 58% reported no minority women partners. Both of these figures improve with firm size, and most offices — 90% — report at least one woman partner, but fewer than half of offices — about 46% — have more than the average 19% of women partners.

Likewise, 16% of offices/firms have no minority associates, and 41% exceed the average figures of about 19%. (See Table 4.) About 26% of offices reported no minority women associates. In each case, small firms are more likely to have no minority associates than are larger firms. About one-third of offices reported that more than half of associates were women.

Table 1. Partner Demographics at Law Firms — 2009

Source: The 2009-2010 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.
Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Cupertino, Menlo Park, Mountain View, 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, 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.

Table 2. Associate Demographics at Law Firms — 2009

Source: The 2009-2010 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.
Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Cupertino, Menlo Park, Mountain View, 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, 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.

Table 3. Representation of Women and Minorities Among Law Firm Partners — 2009
(percent of offices in each range of representation)

Table 4. Representation of Women and Minorities Among Law Firm Associates — 2009
(percent of offices in each range of representation)