Of the complaints I get from lawyers and firms, this one keeps popping up like a broken jack-in-the-box: Why am I so obsessed with transparency and equity partner status?

I hear those gripes whenever I write about firms with opaque or poor records on female or minority partners. Some firms tell me that I’m unfair, misinformed or simply naive for singling them out. Sometimes, they’re so angry that they complain directly to the editor or someone in the C-suite.