Most of the Texas firms on The American Lawyer's 2019 Diversity Scorecard lost ground in the rankings, which are calculated from the percentage of minority attorneys and minority partners at large U.S. firms.

Only two of 11 Texas firms on the Diversity Scorecard, which was made public today, improved their rankings. They were among 225 firms that provided 2018 lawyer diversity statistics to The American Lawyer.

Jackson Walker was 96th on the list, up from 97th last year, with 15.1% minority lawyers and 12.1% minority partners in 2018. Bracewell tied for 137th, an improvement from 143rd on last year's scorecard, with 12.4% minority lawyers and 8.9% minority partners.

Several Texas firms had more diversity than those two but saw their diversity rankings decline from last year.

Haynes and Boone led the Texas firms on the chart, taking 43rd place, down from the 38th spot last year, with 21.7% minority attorneys and 11.7% minority partners.

Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons was next among Texas firms at 66th, down from 31st last year, with 17% minority lawyers and 13.5% minority partners.

Baker Botts came in at 73rd, down from 61st last year, with 18.3% minority attorneys and 11.5% minority partners; and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld at 92nd, down from 77th last year, with 15.2% minority lawyers and 12.3% percent minority partners.

Vinson & Elkins was behind Jackson Walker in the 112th spot, down from 89th last year, with 16.8% minority lawyers and 8.7% minority partners. Locke Lord came in at 141st, down from 137th last year, with 13.8% minority lawyers and 7.4% minority partners.

Other Texas firms on the list are Thompson & Knight and Winstead with a tie at 161st, down from 153rd and 123rd respectively last year. At Thompson & Knight, 10.7% of lawyers and 7.7% of partners were minorities in 2018, and at Winstead, there were 11.4% minority attorneys and 7% minority partners.

Rounding out the Texas group, Kelly Hart & Hallman came in at 184th among the 225 firms on the chart, down from 168th last year, with 7.9% minority attorneys and 6.7% minority partners.

Nationally, Fragomen led the Diversity Scorecard this year, with White & Case coming in second.

The Diversity Scorecard reports on the average number of full-time-equivalent minority lawyers at Am Law 200 and National Law Journal 250 firms. Minorities include Asian American, African American, Latino or Hispanic, Native American and self-described multiracial attorneys. Partner statistics include equity and nonequity partners.

The diversity score is calculated by adding the minority percentage of a firm's U.S. attorneys to the minority percentage of all U.S. partners at that firm.  Among the Am Law 200 and NLJ 250 firms, 34 declined to provide diversity numbers.

On the scorecard, 55 firms had at least 20% minority attorneys, an improvement from 43 last year, and three had at least 20% minority partners, down from five the previous year.

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The 2019 Diversity Scorecard