Diversity

Why Annulkah Can’t Get a BigLaw Job: Everest-Climbing Super-Elite Grads Preferred

“Annulkah” is a fictional job candidate who illustrates the BigLaw reality: If you didn’t go to a “super-elite” school and worked rather than, say, climbing Mount Everest, you aren’t all that interesting to hiring partners. That’s the conclusion of Northwestern University professor Lauren Rivera, who interviewed hiring managers as part…

Jan 13, 2011 1:54 PM CST

1st Black Woman Headed to Ohio Supreme Court, Which Will Have 4-3 Female Majority

Born to a teenage single mother in Ohio who worked two jobs to provide for the family, Yvette McGee Brown has soared far above what might have been predicted for her based on where she started in life. McGee Brown earned her law degree at Ohio State University in 1985…

Dec 10, 2010 9:44 PM CST

Fired Associate Sues Akin Gump, Alleging Bias and NALP Lie

An African-American associate laid off from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld claims the law “showcased” her at minority events to create a false image of diversity, even as it was transferring her assignments to white lawyers. The racial discrimination suit by Tameka Simmons claims the firm cited pretextual economic…

Dec 6, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Barrier-Breaking US District Court Judge Is Nominated for Seat on 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

An award-winning, barrier-breaking federal district court judge has been nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Bernice Bouie Donald, who became the first female African-American bankruptcy judge in the country in 1988, and has been a federal district court judge…

Dec 2, 2010 1:16 AM CST

New Era of Tolerance as 2nd Transgender Judge Takes to Bench This Week

It appears that a new era of tolerance may be dawning as far as diversity on the bench is concerned: Days after a San Francisco-area county claimed to have elected the first transgender trial judge in the country, another transgender judge has been appointed to sit on the municipal court…

Nov 18, 2010 9:58 PM CST

News Reports: Calif. County Sets Record as Home of First Transgender Judge in Country

A transgender candidate has now officially won election to a seat on California’s superior court bench, apparently making Victoria Kolalkowski the first trial judge in the country to claim the sex-change distinction, according to the Oakland Tribune. Championing the diversity that she would bring to a bench of largely white…

Nov 16, 2010 11:21 PM CST

Shearman & Sterling Produces Video for ‘It Gets Better’ Campaign for Gay Youths

Lawyers and support staffers at Shearman & Sterling tell of their struggles growing up gay in a video produced as part of the “It Gets Better” campaign. The five minute video was produced by Sterling Pride, the law firm’s gay affinity group, the National Law Journal reports. The group’s members…

Nov 11, 2010 2:21 PM CST

About 25% of Law Firms Are to Blame for High Minority Attrition Numbers, Study Says

Recent NALP statistics showed a slight decline this year in law firm diversity, but a new study suggests that some firms are more to blame than others. According to Building a Better Legal Profession, much of the decline can be attributed to about a quarter of firms that lost more…

Nov 9, 2010 1:08 PM CST

Law Firm Diversity Declines Slightly, and Layoffs May Be to Blame

Law firm diversity declined slightly this year, likely because of lawyer layoffs, according to a new study by NALP, the association for legal career professionals. The decrease is the first in the 17 years that NALP has been compiling the information, according to a press release. NALP executive director James…

Nov 4, 2010 1:10 PM CDT

Firm’s Diversity Efforts Improving—Up from Abysmal to Mediocre, Says Managing Partner

Schiff Hardin’s Ronald S. Safer says diversity is the top priority of the firm—above all else—and on a YouTube video he recorded last year, he vows to step down as managing partner should the firm fail to meet its yearly objectives. A little more than a year later, is Safer’s…

Oct 27, 2010 2:37 PM CDT

New Commission Aims to Improve Access to Justice for Fast-Growing Hispanic Population

The ABA’s new Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities will look at how to improve access to the justice system for Hispanics but also at how to bring a deeper understanding of the culture of the rule of law to the nation’s biggest and fastest growing minority population, ABA…

Oct 14, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

97 BigLaw Firms Get Perfect Scores on LGBT Issues

The Human Rights Campaign has given perfect scores to 97 large law firms for their protections and benefits for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. The nation’s top 200 law firms were invited to participate in the survey, and 130 agreed, according to a press release. Ninety-seven received 100 percent…

Oct 4, 2010 3:12 PM CDT

Minority Report

Hispanics must be integrated into our profession, our law schools and our courts

Oct 1, 2010 9:00 AM CDT

Former In-House Lawyer at Wal-Mart Launches Lawyer Networking Website

A former in-house lawyer at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who focused on diversity issues has started a networking website for lawyers called Diverselawyers.com. “We are called diverse lawyers because of our emphasis on diversity, but also because the practice of law is diverse,” the website explains. Diverselawyers.com went live Sept. 1,…

Sep 29, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Federal Judge Orders Class Counsel to Try for More Diverse Legal Team

A federal judge is apparently disappointed with the makeup of the legal team of two securities law firms serving as co-lead counsel in a pending class action. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of New York issued an unusual order on Monday urging two law firms to assign at least one…

Sep 23, 2010 2:45 PM CDT