An 'Exodus' of Black Attorneys From Big Law Could Be a Boon for Smaller Firms
"We were told in no uncertain terms that the onus was on the Black associates to claw our way into the inner circles or the all-boys' clubs," said one Black associate who left an Am Law 100 firm.
June 29, 2020 at 01:00 PM
7 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
Editor's Note: This story is adapted from ALM's Mid-Market Report. For more business of law coverage exclusively geared toward midsize firms, sign up for a free trial subscription to ALM's weekly newsletter, The Mid-Market Report.
More than three decades ago, Merle Vaughn graduated from what is now Berkeley Law and went straight to work at Cooley. She liked the firm (and still does), but as a Black woman, she found it wasn't a good situation for her. She wasn't given the same resources to succeed as some of her colleagues—mentorship, a role on the right cases—and within three years, despite a pedigree anyone would envy, she left Big Law.
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