Law360’s 2021 Diversity Snapshot: Representation In The Ranks

By Jacqueline Bell

Law360 (August 16, 2021, 3:02 PM EDT) — Law360’s latest Diversity Snapshot provides a data-driven view of law firms at the end of 2020, a starting point for many on the road to progress.

The ranks of law firms still lack significant representation of attorneys of color, particularly at the top. Few law firm equity partners are attorneys of color. And the coronavirus pandemic put increasing pressures on racial and ethnic minorities.

Law firms that have committed themselves to that work face an urgent set of questions. How are they measuring up? How do they see their future path? What goals should they set?

Our Diversity Snapshot this year — a picture of the legal industry amid a global pandemic — attempts to shed light on some of those questions. Our ranking of law firms on their overall representation of minority attorneys at the associate and partner levels of the firm provides a window into where firms are, and where they can forge a new path.

The chart below provides another view, with a more detailed look at the representation of minority attorneys at the associate and at the partner level.

We see these reviews as the beginning of a conversation that we hope will expand as we develop new ways of examining diversity in the profession and evaluate the data that is the most relevant to answering difficult questions. As we continue to collect and analyze data, we welcome your comments.

–Graphic by Jonathan Hayter and Chris Yates.