Solving Law's Diversity Challenge: Data and Small Firms
The solution to law's diversity problem won't happen without a meaningful paradigm shift that involves in-house teams using data to inform their decision-making on outside counsel hiring.
February 26, 2019 at 03:14 PM
5 minute read
On Jan. 27, 170 general counsel from a variety of industries released an open letter decrying the lack of diversity among the law firms they work with. They stated that they “are disappointed to see that many law firms continue to promote partner classes that in no way reflect the demographic composition of entering associate classes.”
This announcement was in response to a now-viral (in legal circles, at least) photo of the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison incoming partner class that was “largely white and largely male.” The letter concludes by claiming the signatories “as a group, will direct [their] substantial outside counsel spend to those law firms that manifest results with respect to diversity and inclusion, in addition to providing the highest degree of quality representation.”
As the CEO of Priori, a legal marketplace that matches in-house legal departments with boutique firm lawyers and counts many of the letter's signatories as clients, I am intimately aware both of the problems with the current model for finding diverse outside counsel and also that it's a significant concern for many in-house legal teams.
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