Following slow but steady progress, in or about 2008, the proverbial bottom fell out of efforts related to diversity in many U.S. law firms. When the economic crisis escalated and there was a shortage of legal work, diversity too frequently became a casualty. Firms that had gone beyond hiring diverse lawyers in greater numbers than ones and twos, and likewise felt the need to hire diversity professionals, made a calculated decision that it was “OK” for diversity to be collateral damage as they trimmed expenses and adjusted to current financial conditions.
Overall, not only was the limited progress achieved in the years leading up to the economic crisis commencing in 2008 lost, but in too many instances diversity in the legal profession retrogressed. Much emphasis has been placed on practicing attorneys, but they were not the only casualties when downsizing began. Diversity professionals, most of whom, at the time, were both trained attorneys and ethnically diverse, were among the first to receive pink slips. Once considered unique positions, diversity professionals and tasks performed by them were ostensibly absorbed into human resources and/or professional-development departments. And, no matter what the Web site representations, the perception was that diversity was not a core value in law firms.
