NALP’s findings mirror similar conclusions released in recent months by both the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and Vault and National Law Journal affiliate The American Lawyer. All three surveys found small pockets of improvement, either at individual firms or among subsets of the attorney population, but the larger conclusions were that diversity suffered. It was the first time in the 17 years that NALP has collected demographic data that diversity actually declined.

The latest NALP figures show that minorities accounted for 12.4% of firm attorneys, down from 12.59% in 2009. Women represented 32.69% of firm attorneys, down from 32.97% in 2009.