11-17-2005

Recent research from NALP confirms that women and attorneys of color continue to make slow but steady progress in their representation in U.S. law firms. Data from 2005 reveals that attorneys of color account for 4.63% of the partners in the nation’s major law firms and that women account for 17.29% of the partners in these firms. This compares with 4.32% and 17.06%, respectively, in 2004. These numbers suggest that, relative to the attorney population as a whole, and relative to the demographic composition of law school enrollment, women attorneys and attorneys of color continue to be under-represented among partnership ranks at these firms. Thus, the presence of women comes nowhere near to matching their presence among law school graduates, which has ranged from 40% to almost half since the late 1980s. Similarly, the percentage of minority graduates has doubled, from 10% to 20% during the same time period. Moreover, although the presence of women and attorneys of color at firms has increased each year since 1993, the first year for which NALP compiled this information, the total change since 1993 has only been marginal. At that time attorneys of color accounted for 2.55% of partners and women accounted for 12.27% of partners.

These are among the findings of NALP’s recent analyses of the 2005-2006 NALP Directory of Legal Employers, the annual compendium of legal employer data published by NALP. The 2005-2006 Directory consists primarily of large firm listings and includes attorney demographic information for about 126,000 partners, associates, staff attorneys, senior attorneys, and summer associates in over 1,400 law offices nationwide.

The current information reveals that, nationally, women attorneys and attorneys of color are better represented in associate and summer associate ranks. Women attorneys hold 44.12% of associate or staff/senior attorney positions, and attorneys of color hold 15.62% of these positions. Each group lags in their representation by about 5 percentage points compared to the population of recent law school graduates. Attorneys of color are defined as including African-Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Hispanics of any race, and multi-cultural individuals. Summer classes best reflect law school enrollment, with women comprising 47.92% and minorities comprising 22.85% of summer 2005 associates. With an increase from 20.15% in 2004 to 22.85% in 2005, minority representation in summer programs slightly exceeded their representation among law students.

A parallel analysis of the 44 cities with the most attorneys represented in the Directory reveals considerable variations in these measures. Among the largest of these cities (those with more than 1,000 partners represented), Los Angeles and San Francisco consistently show higher numbers of both women attorneys and attorneys of color across all levels. Attorneys of color account for 8.29% and 7.35% of partners in these cities respectively, and women account for 18.76% and 21.75% of partners, respectively.

Among smaller cities, this is true of Miami, where women account for 23.69% of partners; attorneys of color, many of whom are Hispanic, account for 26.02% of partners. Some cities rank high on specific measures. For example, cities with relatively high percentages of women partners include: Austin, Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, and Seattle — all of whom report at least 19% women partners. Austin, Orange County, and San Jose have relatively high percentages of partners of color.
Offices in Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and the San Jose area rank highest on representation of attorneys of color among associates, where representation is one in five or greater. Representation of women among associates is highest in Denver, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, and Stamford/Greenwich. Conversely, some cities, such as Birmingham, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Nashville, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, and Wilmington are below average on both measures, and considerably so with respect to associates of color. These findings reflect in part considerable contrasts in the population as a whole in these areas. For example, according to the 2000 Census, the population of Salt Lake County is about 81% white and non-Hispanic; the population of Milwaukee County is about 62% white and non-Hispanic. In contrast, the population of Los Angeles is just 32% white and non-Hispanic.

Miami’s higher representation of attorneys of color is also reflected in figures for summer associates; summer associates of color account for over one-third of those reported in the city. Other cities ranking relatively high on this measure include Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the San Jose area.

A similar analysis of eight states with substantial Directory representation beyond that for specific cities also yields interesting findings. Representation of attorneys of color among partners is highest in California, Florida, and Texas, and considerably below average in Kentucky, New Jersey, Michigan, Nevada, and New York. Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, and New York are also well below average with respect to minority representation among associates. Conversely, Californian and Michigan report the highest percentage of minority summer associates.

The 2005-2006 NALP Directory of Legal Employers, which provides the individual firm listings on which these aggregate analyses are based, is available online at www.nalpdirectory.com.

About NALP:
Founded in 1971 as the National Association for Law Placement®, NALP — The Association for Legal Career Professionals — is dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers. NALP maintains an online archive of press releases at www.nalp.org — click on “Research & Directories/Press Releases.”

Women and Attorneys of Color at Law Firms - 2005

Source: The 2005-2006 NALP Directory of Legal Employers.
For law firms that repeated firmwide demographic information for each office listing, demographic information was retained for just one office to avoid double counting. The associates category includes senior and staff attorneys. 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, Palo Alto and E. Palo Alto, Redwood Shores/Redwood City, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. The Detroit area includes offices in Bloomfield Hills, Bingham Farms, Southfield, and Troy. The Northern New Jersey/Newark area includes offices in Newark, Roseland, West Orange, Florham Park, Hackensack, Morristown, Parsippany, Short Hills, Westfield, Bridgewater, and Woodbridge. Northern Virginia includes offices in Falls Church, McLean, Reston, Vienna, and Alexandria. State figures exclude cities reported separately.

About NALP: Founded in 1971, the National Association for Law Placement, Inc.® (NALP) is dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers. NALP maintains an online archive of press releases at www.nalp.org — click on Research & Statistics > Press Releases. For additional information about NALP research, contact Judith Collins (jcollins@nalp.org), Director of Research, or James G. Leipold (jleipold@nalp.org), Executive Director, at 202-835-1001. Mailing address: National Association for Law Placement, 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1110, Washington, DC 20036-5413.