Pushed by clients, law firms step up diversity efforts

By Karen Donovan
The New York Times
(July 24, 2006)The nation's largest law firms, long dominated by white men, have struggled to attract, keep and promote women and minority lawyers.

Now these firms have a powerful incentive to do better: Some of their biggest corporate clients are demanding that they increase the number of women and minority associates and partners.

Indeed, for some companies, diversity is as important as cost-cutting and performance when evaluating which law firm to hire.

And they are threatening to fire firms that do not show sufficient progress.

Until recently, "law firms have been able to be successful while ignoring" hiring more women and minorities, said Meredith Moore, director of the office for diversity at the New York City Bar.

"It's that client pressure that's forcing them to address this question," she said. "You almost can't ignore it any more."

Wal-Mart Stores has dropped two law firms – withdrawing active work from them – because of unhappiness with the firms' lack of diversity.

"Both of those firms were performing well, exceeding expectations, in the category of performance and in the category of cost," said Thomas Mars, Wal-Mart's general counsel.

Wal-Mart has also decided not to send any additional work to several other firms.

Companies that have sought to present a face that reflects the diversity of their customers are keen not to have their lawyers undermine that public image. And companies that have faced racial and sex discrimination lawsuits -- as has Wal-Mart, which is fighting a sex discrimination class action – are particularly sensitive to their law firms' diversity. (Mars says that Wal-Mart's efforts with its law firms have nothing to do with the litigation against the company.)

The recent corporate effort to push law firms to improve their diversity record began with Roderick Palmore, general counsel at Sara Lee, who wrote his peers at the top of corporate law departments to commit to "end or limit our relationships with firms whose performance consistently evidences a lack of meaningful interest in being diverse."

Palmore began the effort in 2004 because, he said, he saw no real progress, especially at the large firms, in the aftermath of a 1999 statement signed by more than 500 corporate lawyers, urging law firms and law departments to hire more women and minorities.

Palmore, who is 54, has experience with big firms' track record. Before joining Sara Lee in 1996, he had been a partner at two big law firms; at each, he was the firm's first black partner.

When he started the initiative at Sara Lee, seeking to benchmark the number of minority partners and associates and how many of those people were "home-grown" by rising through the ranks of a law firm, he found that many firms did not track the most basic information about their progress on this issue.

"I have heard every excuse under the sun, and I openly acknowledge that it's not an easy issue," Palmore said.

He concluded that many firms were not really focused on diversity – and would not be – because it did not affect their bottom line.

About 100 companies, including American Airlines, Boeing and General Motors, have signed onto Palmore's pledge.

Yet aside from Wal-Mart, he is hard-pressed to cite other examples of companies making good on the threat to fire a law firm for lack of progress on diversity.

The statistics show there's a long road ahead: Lawyers of color accounted for just 4.63 percent of partners at the nation's major law firms in 2005, according to research by the National Association for Law Placement.


Go to Target Market News homepage

 

Click here to read more

________________________

The African-American
Book Publishing Authority

Now in its seventh year of publication, Black Issues Book Review is the only nationally distributed magazine devoted exclusively to covering the latest news and reviews on black books. BIBR also provides up-to-date news on forthcoming author events, publications, conferences, shows and exhibits.
Want this issue? Get it with your new subscription.
Click Here
________________________


________________________


 12th Annual Edition Available 
Latest 'Buying Power' report shows black consumers spending more on home life

As the American economy continues to move sluggishly, African-American households are curtailing their spending in many categories, including food, clothing and basic household items, while investing more in home repair, home entertainment and consumer electronics. Although they are trimming back, black consumers are still spending more than their white counterparts on most of these products.
Story and statistics continued
_________________________

  SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 


The trade publication for
in-depth coverage of Black
Consumer Marketing
and Media news