Law firm 2019 diversity scorecard is released; which firms top the list?
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The immigration law firm Fragomen has ousted White & Case from its position atop the American Lawyer’s diversity scorecard rankings.
Fifty-five of the nation’s largest law firms had at least 20% minority lawyers in the latest scorecard, up from 43 the prior year, the American Lawyer reports. Three firms had at least 20% minority partners, down from five.
Total minority representation across the top 200 law firms has increased from 13.6% in 2011 to 16.9% in the latest scorecard, the American Lawyer reports in a separate article. The slowest growth in representation has been among black lawyers, whose representation increased from 3.1% in 2011 to 3.3% in the new survey.
The top five law firms for diversity are:
Fragomen (32.5% minority lawyers and 23.9% minority partners)
White & Case (33.2% minority lawyers and 19.8% minority partners)
Curtis (23.3% minority lawyers and 25% minority partners)
Wilson Sonsini (27% minority lawyers and 20.1% minority partners)
Fenwick & West (32.7% minority lawyers and 14.1% minority partners)
The American Lawyer’s 2019 diversity scorecard ranked the nation’s top law firms based on their percentage of minority lawyers in 2018. The publication sought minority numbers from the nation’s top 250 law firms based on head count, and the nation’s top 200 law firm based on revenue. Thirty-four law firms did not provide minority numbers.
The diversity scores are calculated by adding together the firms’ percentage of minority lawyers and minority partners in U.S. offices. The American Lawyer double-counts partners to emphasize the importance of promoting minority attorneys.
See also:
ABA Journal: “Businesses double down on mandating diversity from outside counsel”
ABAJournal.com: “Partner promotion photo shows little diversity; law firm blames ‘idiosyncratic demographic pool’”
ABAJournal.com: “BigLaw firm criticized for lack of diversity is now No. 1 for black lawyers, new report says”
