Working Together
The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal industry.
Written by Mandy Price and Star Carter
The Current State of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the
Legal Industry
When businesses talk about the importance of diversity in the workplace,
it’s often with the purpose of creating a workforce that reflects the
world around us rather than a homogenous team that thinks, acts, and
performs the same. Diversity includes ethnicity, race, gender, sexual
orientation, disability, and socioeconomic background, among other
differentiation points that inform an individual’s experience.
Addressing these areas in the workplace impacts hiring and recruitment,
workplace policies on parental leave, short- and long-term leave,
cultural celebrations, and retention and promotion strategies.
While progress has been made in many areas of diversity, equity, and
inclusion, or DEI, in the workplace, employees continue to express that
they think most companies struggle to create the ideal workplace that
has a sense of belonging. For progress to be made, words and actions
must match, with more than good intentions driving the change for
diversity in the workplace.
The legal field, like most professional service industry companies, has
had its fair share of issues related to diversity over the years, from
the number of diverse students enrolling and graduating from law school
to new hires and promotions within firms of all sizes. A 2018 report on
diversity1 from the National Association for Law Placement
included the following stats:
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The percentage of reported LGBT lawyers is 2.86%;
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16% of lawyers in U.S. law firms identify as racial and ethnic minorities; representation of black associates in 2018 is below 2009 pre-recession levels at 4.48% (compared to 4.66% in 2009);
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Reporting on lawyers with disabilities is minimal; and
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35% of lawyers in U.S. law firms identify as women.
When you look at law firms, the stagnant progress of DEI efforts is crystallized when looking at the lack of diversity of the equity ranks of women and diverse attorneys. Identifying disparities of women and diverse attorneys in equity partnerships at law firms is considered one of the most important metrics for law firms in determining progress in DEI. In an analysis of partnerships in the U.S. at 148 two-tiered partnerships for the 2014 through 2018 fiscal years, The American Lawyer found that “minorities are joining the non-equity ranks at three times the rate of their white colleagues.”2 This statistic is disconcerting given that the power dynamics of the law firm belong to equity partners as they control all aspects of the law firm.
Current Approaches to DEI
Despite the overwhelming proof that having a robust and
well-articulated DEI perspective positively influences policies,
initiatives, hiring and promotion, and overall culture, there are still
systematic failures when it comes to how well companies are doing on
this front. Even though 96%-98% of companies have a DEI program, 75% of
underrepresented employees do not feel like they have benefited from the
programs, according to a Harvard Business Review
study.3 That same study found that half of the diverse
employees surveyed expressed that bias is part of their everyday work
experience and half also said that their companies do not think their
companies have “the right mechanisms in place to ensure that major
decisions … are free from bias.”
Traditional approaches to DEI, including one-time annual trainings,
hiring tests and performance reviews, and outdated systems for reporting
incidents of discrimination that leave employees vulnerable to
retaliation, inevitably fail. These programs fail to address not only
the systematic disparities and interpersonal issues facing diverse
employees, but they also end up being feel-good tactics that aren’t tied
into business and personnel goals for the company. Studies have shown
that trainings can even worsen expressed bias, rather than end
it.4
While the legal industry is doing better than others in some areas of
inclusion—a recent Kanarys survey on parental leave initiatives at the
largest Dallas law firms found that 45% of law firms gave parental leave
to attorneys from their first day at the job, among other benefits
related to the needs of working parents—work remains to be
done.5
Recommended Approaches to DEI and Incorporating
Technology
Since current DEI initiatives and programs are not providing
measurable progress, it’s time for the legal industry to consider
alternative approaches to DEI, including a shift from diversity numbers
and metrics in annual reports to inclusive policies and leadership
perspectives that in turn, change the focus to the policies and programs
that are creating inequality in our workplaces. That inequality affects
hiring, pay and promotion, and the everyday interactions that make up
the experiences that aren’t captured by annual surveys. The truth is
that all changes must start at the top. Companies and law firms that
only dedicate a small team toward DEI or hire a DEI leader but don’t
provide a support team, money, and latitude to make true changes are
destined to earn the same results year after year. Fiduciary and
personnel investments must be made for true change to happen. Businesses
need leaders who are unafraid to budget toward DEI as they do research
and development and professional development on an annual basis.
Once a company’s culture becomes inclusive, it flourishes with
360-view-listening-first approach rather than a top-down-hierarchical
approach. If leaders don’t understand specifically how to make their
teams feel valued, the cycle of poor results both in surveys and
attrition outcomes continues. Value can come from pay, performance
reviews, new opportunities, new hires, and retention. Hiring statistics
are an entry point but true inclusion has no “end” as it involves the
everyday experience of employees.
Finally, using technology designed to deliver insight is key to
helping human resources and people managers understand the underlying
issues at hand, rather than focusing on the individuals involved. In
addition, technology can help companies create longitudinal views of
their DEI work to see the long-term changes, improvements, and
opportunities for growth.
As co-founders of Kanarys and as former Big Law lawyers, we launched
the platform in 2019 in response to experiences that we had as working
mothers of color at our previous firms. Incidents that included being
called the company’s “diverse partner” and challenges experienced in
trying to pump comfortably during the workday. Both of us knew that the
gaps in DEI initiatives could be solved through thorough planning and
getting beyond the emotions of DEI to the recurring and explainable
issues that employees express when they’re able to speak anonymously
without fear of retaliation. The Kanarys platform provides employers
more than a 1-10 rating of how they’re doing in connection with DEI.
Kanarys delivers qualitative and quantitative data through natural
language processing and artifical intelligence to give next level
insight that can shape how a company or firm plans and executes against
its DEI goals. Employees and employers have the ability to meet at the
table and solve issues, ultimately improving the workplace for all.
As the demographics of the country continue to become more diverse,
American professional culture is shifting and employees are unafraid to
make their needs known. DEI is the key to building a strong corporate
culture and improving the bottom line.TBJ
MANDY PRICE
is an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion as the CEO and
co-founder of Kanarys, an online platform that allows companies to
measure their performance against DEI benchmarks and identify areas of
improvement and growth. Previously, Price served on the Women's Task
Force at Barnes & Thornburg, as a member of the Diversity Committee
at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and as the former president of the J.L.
Turner Legal Association. She earned her juris doctorate from Harvard
Law School and a bachelor of business administration from the University
of Texas at Austin. She resides in Dallas with her husband and two
children.
STAR CARTER
is an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion as the chief
operating officer, general counsel, and co-founder of Kanarys, an online
platform that helps organizations acquire and retain diverse talent and
build more inclusive workplace cultures. Prior to joining Kanarys,
Carter served as an associate counsel to Hudson Advisors, counsel to
Sidley Austin, and as a senior associate in Weil Gotshal &
Manges.
