diversity

White men comprise 42% of active California lawyers, and they are more likely to occupy executive positions in the private sector and be satisfied in the legal workplace than colleagues who are women and racial minorities, according to a report released Monday by the state bar.

The findings come from a voluntary 2019 survey of about 95,000 members of California's bar. The survey, expected to be taken annually, is one of a number of initiatives launched by the bar to improve diversity in the legal profession.

"By creating a snapshot in time based on the most inclusive data available, we provide a tool for accountability for ourselves and a stimulus for others to take action," the bar's interim executive director, Donna Hershkowitz, said in a statement. "We know that the lagging growth of diversity in the legal profession limits progress to eradicate inequities in the justice system."

Many of the survey's results are no surprise. For years, California's legal community has lagged the state as a whole in diversity.

The racial imbalance is reflected in those who are admitted to the bar annually; just one of 20 African Americans who graduated from an ABA-accredited law school in California and were taking the test for the first time passed the February 2020 bar exam. And it's reflected in the composition of California's state court bench. Just under 66% of state judges are white, according to a 2019 report.

The state bar's survey found that 70% of California-licensed, active lawyers are white and 42% are women. Thirty-six percent of Californians are Latino, but just 7% of lawyers in the Golden State are.

Among other findings:

>> While 22% of adult Californians report some form of disability, only 5% of state-licensed lawyers do.

>> The ranks of women and minorities who are lawyers have increased "substantially" since 1970. The proportion of Latinos has doubled while the proportion of Asian or multiracial attorneys have tripled over three decades. But the growth rate among Blacks joining the bar has remained largely stagnant since 1990.

>> Men are more likely than women to work in the private legal sector. Government and nonprofit workplaces are more diverse than law firms and in-house corporate counsel jobs.

>> Fifty-six percent of law firm partners are white men. Thirty-one percent of law firm attorneys are people of color, while their ranks among partners drops to 23%. The report specifically pointed to the underrepresentation of Asian women among partners; the cohort accounts for 6% of law firm attorneys but only 3% of partners.

>> White men reported being more satisfied with their workplace, career opportunities and work-life balance than other groups. The disparity was greatest between white men and women of color.

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Read more:

The 2020 Diversity Scorecard: Rankings and Demographic Leaders