Earlier this year, over 150 corporate general counsel and chief legal officers signed on to an open letter directed to law firms. That letter voices frustration over the lack of promotions and advancement of diverse associates and partners within large law firms. It also threatens to move substantial business to law firms with more diversity in their ranks. However, whether it ultimately moves the dial depends on what steps corporations and the firms that represent them take to translate these beliefs into action. We propose the following simple (if not necessarily easy to implement) perspective on what those next steps require.

The development and advancement of associates to partner, and partners within the partnership, boils down to just a few factors: increasing opportunities to lead client relationships, obtain origination credits and work on matters of significance. Unfortunately, addressing these issues may carry both perceived financial and political consequences by disrupting an established workflow or firm hierarchy, and concerns about business interruption from the perspective of clients who have enjoyed satisfactory representation and long-standing relationships with a firm’s nondiverse partners.