Law firms are continuing to progress towards more respectable minority representation, according to the National Association of Legal Placement, an organization that monitors hiring of women and minorities.
But it is slow going.
In 1993, minorities accounted for less than 3 percent of the nation’s lawyers, women about 12 percent. Today, minorities make up 10 percent of the total, women about one-third.
There’s pressure to change the situation. A law firm with a lineup that’s more in line with its potential clientele in terms of diversity stands to do more business, of course. Additionally, a number of corporate clients are trying to make similar shifts, and want to be represented by a firm that reflects progress.
About 100 major companies have signed the Call to Action initiative started by E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co. in 1992. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and El Segundo-based Computer Sciences Corp. are among the signatories. These companies are willing to withhold or yank business from firms that fail to demonstrate a commitment to diversity.
The higher up the ladder you go, the less likely you are to find a minority or female attorney.
In the associate ranks, women account for 44 percent, minorities 17 percent and female minorities 9 percent. The numbers for partners are not impressive. Twenty percent are women, 5 percent are minorities and nearly 2 percent are minority women.
There is some encouraging news in terms of the future. The number of minority graduates has doubled, to 20 percent, since the late 1980s, according to the American Bar Association. Women as graduates grew from 40 percent of the total to about 50 percent over the same period.
To help make up diversity ground, a number of law firms are offering diversity scholarship initiatives and assistance with law school tuition to top students, often with no strings attached. Three Los Angeles firms named their 2007 winners within the last week.
Latham & Watkins LLP selected four students for $10,000 awards: Grace Chu of University of California at Berkeley’s School of Law, Donesha Dennis of New York University Law School; Ronald Newman of Yale Law School; and Helen Ogbara of Columbia University Law School.
“We are proud of our tradition that promotes equal opportunity and fosters a diverse environment,” said Robert M. Dell, Chairman and Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins. “Initiatives such as our Diversity Scholars Program help to build and sustain this commitment.”
Foley & Lardner LLP has dispensed almost $400,000 in the eight years it has been presenting minority scholarships.
The firm announced nine winners of $5,000 for this year: Stephanie Maria Adams of Northwestern University School of Law, Jessica L. Brown of UC Berkeley, Jamie-Clare Flaherty at University of Michigan Law School, Andrea I. Gonzalez at Duke University School of Law, KaSandra N. Rogiers of University of Wisconsin Law School, Keane Shum of Georgetown University Law Center, Randy Lee Sims of UCLA, Lydia Nicole Thompson of Wisconsin and Nickisha Webb, Levin College of Law, University of Florida.
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP chose two, second-year law students for $15,000 scholarships and paid summer associate positions. Jessica Price of Harvard Law School and Nicole A. V & #225;squez of Hofstra University School of Law will work in New York, L.A. or Washington, D.C.
Bigger Money
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP is once again pushing the envelope on first-year associate pay, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily Journal. The boost this time is to $160,000.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision,” said Bill Urquhart, name partner at the firm. Quinn’s raise was in response to the same increase at New York-based Thatcher & Bartlett.
Last February, Irell & Manella LLP created an industry firestorm by boosting first year pay to $145,000. Many top-tier firms followed suit. This raise for Quinn associates is expected to have similar effects.
Simple Gifts
Morrison & Foerster LLP has given $1 million to four U.S. non-profits, two of them in California, in an effort to serve at-risk youth. Public Counsel Los Angeles, Seven Tepees in San Francisco, Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation and Inwood House in New York were the recipients.
Public Counsel will receive a $300,000 grant to create a Developmentally Disabled Child Advocacy Program in conjunction with the state and county foster care systems. Inwood House will create a computer-based literacy program with its $250,000 grant, Seven Tepees will build a life-readiness pilot program with $200,000 and I Have a Dream will provide academic and social support for at-risk kids with its $200,000 grant.
Howdy Partner
Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP promoted four associates to partner: Scott N. Castro and Kevin K. McDonnell in government, land use, environmental and energy; Travis Gemoets in labor & employment; and Michael N. Steuch in corporate. White & Case LLP has three new L.A. partners: Patrick O. Hunnius specializes in complex business litigation, Roberto J. Kampfner focuses on bankruptcy and insolvency and Daniel H. Peters in M & A.; Eric German was elected partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP’s IP & technology group.
Staff reporter Emily Bryson York can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235, or at
[email protected]
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