NALP Bulletin, January 2009

Aggregate statistics about the representation of women and minority attorneys at law firms are widely cited,¹ but these national averages do not tell the whole story. For instance, among all employers listed in the 2008-2009 NALP Directory of Legal Employers, about 6% of partners were minorities and 1.84% of partners were minority women, and yet many offices report no minority partners at all. In addition, the representation of minorities by specific race and ethnicity varies considerably by size of law firm and geography. This article takes a closer look at representation of specific minority groups at the partnership and associate levels.

Overall, minority² groups are relatively equally represented at the partner level (Table 1). Differences are evident, however, depending on the size of the firm. For example, the presence of Black and Hispanic partners, and of Black female partners, increases with firm size, whereas Asian partners are most prevalent at smaller and the largest firms. At the city level, the presence of Black partners is highest in Atlanta, followed by Baltimore and New Orleans. The presence of Black female partners exceeds 1% in just five cities: Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm Beach, and Washington, DC. Black partners account for 0.5% or less of partners in Grand Rapids, Orange County, CA, Portland, OR, San Diego, and Salt Lake City.

Most minority partners are Hispanic in Austin, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa/St. Petersburg. In each of these cities, the presence of female Hispanic partners is also above average. Conversely, in 15 of the 46 cities listed, fewer than 0.5% of partners are Hispanic. Asian partners - overall and women specifically - are most common in the Los Angeles and Orange County, CA areas, and in the San Francisco and San Jose areas.

Among associates, Asians account for about half of all minority associates at the national level, and also at every firm size (Table 2). As is the case with partners, cities vary a great deal on these measures. For example, Black associates are most common by far in Atlanta, Nashville, and New Orleans, followed by Detroit, Indianapolis, and Tampa. In each of these cities except Tampa, Blacks account for over half of minority associates. The percentage of Black female associates was also highest in these cities, along with Charlotte, St. Louis, and Washington, DC. Every city reported at least some Black associates, though not every city reported Black female associates.

The pattern for Hispanic associates is similar to that at the partner level, with representation highest by far in Miami, followed by Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm Beach and Austin. Percentage representation was less than 1% in several cities. The leading cities for Asian associates - both overall and for women specifically - are San Francisco and the San Jose area, followed by the Los Angeles and Orange County areas and New York City. Every city reported at least some Asian associates.

Additional insight on women and minorities at law firms comes from looking at the extent to which women and minorities are represented at each office, rather than for a city or for the nation as a whole. Thus, the fact that not quite 6% of partners as a whole are minorities does not mean that minorities make up 6% of partners at each of the more than 1,500 offices and firms represented in the Directory. In fact, as Table 3 shows, over one-third of the offices/firms reported no minority partners, and 60% reported no minority women partners. Both of these figures improve with firm size, and most offices - 88% - report at least one woman partner, but far less than half - about 43% - have more than the average 19% of women partners.

Likewise, 17% of offices/firms have no minority associates, and 40% exceed the average figures of about 19%. (See Table 4.) About 25% of offices reported no minority women associates. In each case, small firms are more likely to have no minority associates than are larger firms. About 39% of offices reported that half or more of associates were women.

******Footnotes:

1. See for example, NALP's press release "Law Firm Diversity Demographics Slow to Change" in the Research section of www.nalp.org under Press Releases.

2. Minorities as used here includes lawyers identified as Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and multi-racial. The very few Native American, Native Hawaiian, and multi-racial lawyers are not reported out separately.

Table 1. Partner Demographics at Law Firms--2008

Source: The 2008-2009 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.
Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Cupertino, Menlo Park, Mountain View, View, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Madison, Murray Hill> Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean/Tysons Corner, Reston, Vienna, and Alexandria. The few Native American, Native Hawaiian and multi-racial lawyers reported are included in the overall minority. percentages but are not reported separately.

Table 2. Associate Demographics at Law Firms--2008

Source: The 2008-2009 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.
Some city information includes one or more offices in adjacent suburbs. Orange County includes offices in Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Newport Beach. The San Jose area includes offices in Cupertino, Menlo Park, Mountain View, View, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Madison, Murray Hill Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean/Tysons Corner, Reston, Vienna, and Alexandria. The few Native American, Native Hawaiian and multi-racial lawyers reported are included in the overall minority. percentages but are not reported separately.

Table 3. Representation of Women and Minorities Among Law Firm Partners--2008
(percent of offices in each range of representation)

Table 4. Representation of Women and Minorities Among Law Firm Associates--2008
(percent of offices in each range of representation)