The information provided on your NALP Form provides an excellent resource for potential candidates to learn about your organization. The demographics section is an essential snapshot of an employer's work environment and demonstrates the organization's diversity and culture.

How to collect demographic information

Visual surveys may be the most commonly used method of demographic data collection, but they are also the least accurate. Employers can ensure accuracy by allowing attorneys to self-identify for all the demographic categories, including gay and lesbian information and ethnicity.

The most important point to remember in collecting demographic information is the need to respect an individual's choice about whether to self-identify. Collecting demographic information by anonymous questionnaire allows the process to be impartial and free of judgments.

How to report demographic information

Some employers inadvertently publish inaccurate demographic information. All of NALP’s demographic categories, including the GLBT and disabled categories, automatically default to “zero.” The only acceptable entries besides numerals in this grid are the abbreviations “NC’ for “not collected” and “UNK” for “unknown.” As explained in the NALP Form instructions, if you enter a zero or make no entry at all in any area of the demographics grid, it will appear as a zero on your NALP Form, in print and online.

Race/ethnicity categories collected by NALP

At its February 2007 meeting, NALP's Board of Directors voted to adopt, with minor modifications, the new EEOC race/ethnicity demographic categories for inclusion in the 2008-2009 NALP Directory of Legal Employers. The categories are listed below, and for your reference have been annotated with the definitions published by the OMB in the October 30, 1997 Federal Register. [The full Federal Register notice "Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (October 30, 1997) is posted at: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/1997standards.html.] Note in particular that 'White' includes individuals of Middle Eastern and North African origin.

• Hispanic or Latino — A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
  
• White — A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
• Black or African American — A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander — A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
• Asian — A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• American Indian or Alaska Native — A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
• Two or More Races — A person who self-reports as belonging to more than one racial category.
  

Special notes on the importance of collecting gay and lesbian demographics

Although the federal government does not collect information on GLBT status, NALP has long included this demographic category on the NALP Form. Only by fully reporting on all demographic categories, including gay and lesbian information, will an organization provide an accurate picture of the diversity of its work force. Moreover, client requests for demographic data are becoming more common as corporations focus on diversity; thus, not providing this information could cost your organization an important client.

Accurately completing the NALP Form is an inexpensive but very real way to support the gay and lesbian attorneys in your organization and is an effective tool in the recruitment and retention of diverse attorneys. Leaving the “openly gay” box blank on the NALP Form may send the message to prospective applicants that your organization does not recognize or support gay and lesbian attorneys.

Additional information on collecting demographic information

• GLBT Lawyers Continue March Toward Equality, by Andrew Chapin, NALP Bulletin, December 2009 (PDF)
  
• New BASF Report Offers Best Practices for Inclusive Workplaces, by Lisa Dickinson, NALP Bulletin, June 2008 (PDF)
• GLBT Attorneys: Progress Because of NALP Members, by Andrew Chapin, NALP Bulletin, March 2004 (PDF)
• Asking the Right Questions: How To Gather Information on "Openly Gay" and "Disabled" Employees for the NALP Form, by Stuart D. Smith, NALP Bulletin, January 2003 (PDF)
• Why Do We Care How Many Openly Gay Attorneys We Employ?, by Andrew Chapin, NALP Bulletin, July 2000 (PDF)

NALP Research on Diversity Categories

• Diversity & Demographics