The percentage of women and minority lawyers in law firms across the nation was only slightly higher in 2009 than in 2008, and the rate of change in some cases was less than in previous years, according to a recent study by the National Association of Law Placement (NALP).
Representation in some cities showed small gains, while in other markets the percentage of women and minority lawyers actually declined. Throughout most jurisdictions, minority women continue to be the most dramatically underrepresented group at the partnership level.
“It is clear that the overlap of race and gender is significant, and presents unique hurdles for minority women in the law firm setting,” said James Leipold, NALP executive director. “Despite the fact that minority women outnumber minority men in law schools, minority women continue to leave law firms at a faster pace than their male and non-minority peers, often to pursue legal careers that are not law firm-based.”
The statistics for female and minority hiring are the key findings of a recent analysis of the 2009-2010 NALP Directory of Legal Employers (NDLE), the annual compendium of legal employer data published by NALP.
Minority women make up less than 2 percent of the partners in the nation’s major law firms. At just 1.88 percent of partners in 2009, this group is particularly underrepresented in the partnership ranks, even more so than minority men, who account for just 4.17 percent of partners this year.
The representation of minority women partners is only slightly higher, 2.33 percent, at the largest firms of more than 700 lawyers. The newest NDLE also reveals that representation of minority women among partners varies considerably by geographic location, with firms in Miami reporting the highest level of representation, at 6.30 percent. This contrasts with nine cities where minority women make up less than 1 percent of partners.
During the 17 years that NALP has been compiling this information, law firms have made steady, albeit slow, progress in increasing the presence of women and minorities among their lawyers and summer associates.
In 2009, minorities accounted for 6.05 percent of partners in the nation’s major firms. Women accounted for 19.21 percent of the partners in these firms. In 2008, the figures were 5.92 percent and 18.74 percent, respectively.
The most recent findings also reveal that women and minorities continue to be much better represented nationally in associate and summer associate ranks than in the partnership ranks.
In 2009, women accounted for 45.66 percent of associates. Minorities made up 19.67 percent of associates and minority women accounted for 11.02 percent of associates. Among summer associates, minorities had the highest representation in Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle, where one-third or more were minority.
Despite overall incremental increases in the total representation of women and minorities from 2008 to 2009, the trend has varied from market to market. Although exact comparisons with prior years are not possible because of variations in offices listing in the directory each year, a core consistency in office listings allows for some approximate comparisons.
In the five largest markets represented in the directory — Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. — representation of women and minorities among partners and associates generally at least held steady and in some cases registered small gains. In other cities where the core of reporting offices was relatively stable, however, decreases in the aggregate were noted.
“It is likely that layoffs and reduced hiring during the past year have contributed to the small declines we have been able to measure,” Leipold said. “These data were gathered early in 2009, and therefore do not reflect all of the layoffs that have occurred, and in fact continue to occur, as a result of the economic slowdown.”
He said that he believes law firms are working hard to maintain a diverse workforce, even as they experience overall reductions in headcount.
“But I am fearful that we may see further erosion of some of these numbers when we look at the data for 2010,” Leipold said. “The good news is that the 2009 data do not reflect more widespread decreases, and in fact in most markets, diversity levels rose in spite of the tough economic times.”
