The percentage of minority lawyers at large firms has edged up, erasing the decline reported by last year's Diversity Scorecard. The fall in diversity seen in last year's Scorecard came after large law firms shed 6 percent of their lawyers in the depths of the recession, including 9 percent of their minority lawyers. This year, even though overall attorney head count continued to drop--slightly--the number of minority lawyers rose. Cumulatively, the firms that responded to our survey this year saw their collective U.S. head count fall by 359; yet they increased their minority head count in U.S. offices by 136.
THE CHARTS
Our annual ranking of large U.S. law firms according to their percentage of minority attorneys and their percentage of minority partners.
Our interactive scatter chart tracks the changes in the percentage of minority partners versus the change in all minority attorneys from 2010 to 2011 at the firms participating in this year's survey.
Kelley Drye tops the list of firms with the biggest gains on this year's scorecard. The firms with the steepest declines in diversity include Dickinson Wright, Dow Lohnes, and Thompson & Knight.
THE FEATURES
The percentage of minority lawyers at large firms has edged up, erasing the decline reported by last year's Diversity Scorecard.
Kelley Drye & Warren diversity chair Sarah Reid discusses the firm's steady gains on The American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard.
For the first time in years, the population of minority lawyers at big law firms is shrinking.
Illustration by Pete Ryan
