NALP - The Association for Legal Career Professionals | Few Openly GLBT or Disabled Lawyers Reported in NALP Directory of Legal Employers

Few Openly GLBT or Disabled Lawyers Reported in NALP Directory of Legal Employers

NALP Bulletin, June 2005

While the reported numbers of openly GLBT and disabled lawyers rose slightly in 2004, the reporting of information in these two categories continues to lag far behind the reporting of other demographic information on race and gender.

As shown in the table below, openly GLBT lawyers account for just 1% of the more than 133,000 lawyers and summer associates reported by firms and offices in the 2004-2005 NALP Directory of Legal Employers. Disabled lawyers are even less common, accounting for just 0.13% of all reported lawyers. At about 1.7%, the reported number of openly GLBT lawyers is higher among associates and of counsel at large law firms than in any other category. The prevalence of disabled lawyers varies relatively little by firm size.

Just 30% of all firms and offices reported at least one openly GLBT lawyer, and 10% of all firms and offices reported at least one disabled lawyer. Despite small gains in the overall numbers, these percentages are little changed from 2003 in both categories. Excluding summer associates, the most recent numbers show 1,316 openly GLBT lawyers (compared to 1,240 in 2003) and 171 disabled lawyers, compared to 167 in 2003. About two-thirds of the reported openly GLBT lawyers are accounted for by four cities: New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The overall percentage of openly GLBT lawyers in these cities is correspondingly higher — 1.8% compared with the 1% nationwide figure.

It remains difficult to determine how many firms and offices collect this information. Offices and firms are most likely to report one or more GLBT partners or associates, with 18% and 22%, respectively, doing so. In each category, fewer than 5% of offices and firms reported one or more disabled lawyers. While some offices fill in this portion of the demographic grid with zeroes, many do not. For this latter group, it cannot be determined if there are no lawyers in these categories, or if the information was not collected.

Reporting of Openly Gay and Disabled Lawyers
NALP Directory of Legal Employers — 2004

	All Firms		Firms of 100 or Fewer Lawyers		Firms of 101-250 Lawyers		Firms of 251-500 Lawyers		Firms of 501+ Lawyers
	# Reported	% of Total	# Reported	% of Total	# Reported	% of Total	# Reported	% of Total	# Reported	% of Total
Openly Gay:
Partners	429	0.79%	47	0.60%	92	0.65%	103	0.77%	187	1.02%
Of Counsel	72	0.93	6	0.59	7	0.36	10	0.52	49	1.70
Associates*	815	1.33	40	0.71	121	0.90	168	1.19	486	1.67
Summer Associates	61	0.61	3	0.33	7	0.37	12	0.53	39	0.78
Disabled:
Partners	86	0.16	13	0.16%	27	0.19	28	0.21	18	0.10
Of Counsel	21	0.27	2	0.20	6	0.31	4	0.21	9	0.31
Associates*	64	0.10	6	0.11	12	0.09	13	0.09	33	0.11
Summer Associates	6	0.06	0	0.00	1	0.05	2	0.09	3	0.06

*Note: The "associates" category includes senior attorneys and staff attorneys.
Percentages are based on the following counts —
Partners: 53,977
Of Counsel: 7,718
Associates: 61,269
Summer Associates: 10,067

National Association for Law Placement, Inc.® (NALP)
1220 19th Street NW
Suite 401
Washington, DC 20036-2405
Phone: (202) 835-1001
Fax: (202) 835-1112
Email: info@nalp.org