Real Diversity = Providing the Opportunity to Lead
Bijal V. Vakil, founding partner of Allen & Overy's Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices, explains how rising numbers of minority partners at leading law firms are masking a more significant challenge for the whole industry.
June 21, 2023 at 11:38 AM
7 minute read
Bijal Vakil of Allen & Overy. Courtesy photo With Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (May) now over, we can celebrate some limited success. On one level, the latest statistics on law firm diversity paint a positive picture. According to a recent study by the National Association for Law Placement, more than 28% of associates at U.S. firms are now people of color, and almost half (49.4%) are women, up from 2.14% and 10.84%, respectively in 1991.
But our work is far from done. Dig deeper into the numbers, and it's apparent how much further we have to travel. People of color and women currently comprise just 11.4% and 26.7% of law firm partners. The proportion of Black and Latinx partners in the United States is a failure—growing just 0.1% last year. Firms also face a challenge to retain minority talent—statistics from the American Bar Association show the attrition rate among lawyers from minority racial groups is up to three times higher than among white lawyers. My firm can do better with all of this too.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Pentagon Settles Suit Seeking to Clear Records of Service Members Discharged for Being LGBTQ
3 minute read
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1RIP DOJ FCPA Corporate Prosecutions
- 2Federal Trade Commission’s Updates to the Health Breach Notification Rule Now In Effect
- 3I’m A Lawyer, What Can I Sell?
- 4Internal GC Hires Rebounded in '24, but Companies Still Drawn to Outside Candidates
- 5How I Made Office Managing Partner: 'Don’t Be an Opportunity Killer,' Says Thomas Haskins of Barnes & Thornburg
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
