Diversity has taken a front-row seat in terms of recruiting and retaining talented women lawyers, including women of color, in private law firm practice. Although diversity is commonly limited to the elements of race and ethnicity, it also embraces the element of gender. In fact, women, as a group, are shut out of opportunities much as are people of color. Today, both clients and employees have demanded that the workplace resemble the diversity of society, and some law firms have declared their commitment to attracting and retaining women and attorneys of color. In an era when talk of diversity and inclusion is common, maintaining diverse attorneys in law firms is the brass ring that has yet to be attained.
It is no secret that women lawyers of color, through no fault of their own, have a more difficult time adjusting to law firm culture than any other group. In fact, the difficulties that women lawyers of color face when attempting to fit in are ultimately some of the reasons why they flee law firms. In the late 1990s, NALP, formerly the National Association for Law Placement, found that more than 75% of women associates of color left their jobs in private law firms within five years of being hired. See NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education, Keeping the Keepers-Strategies for Associate Retention in Times of Attrition (1998). This trend is gaining momentum; in 2005, 81% of women lawyers of color reported leaving their law firms within five years of being hired. See NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education, Toward Effective Management of Associate Mobility (2005). This comes at a time when more women of color are being hired. While not at the same alarming rates, all women are leaving their law firms in disparate numbers. It is a tale of two classes of lawyers.
