This community guest post comes from Kathleen Nalty of the Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence. Some of this language first appears in The Colorado Lawyer March 2010: “Legal Profession ‘AIMs’ for Diversity: CCIE’s Innovative Inclusiveness Program.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the legal profession has been shown to be the least diverse of all professions with respect to representation by racial and ethnic minorities. For example, in 2004, a study conducted by the ABA found that only Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), as a group, ranked lower on the list of professions in terms of representation of racial or ethnic minorities. By 2008, however, statistics (.pdf) compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor revealed that the percentage of racial or ethnic minorities among the ranks of CEOs had surpassed that of attorneys in the legal profession.

Retention of attorneys is one of the biggest challenges for today’s law firms. Attrition rates of racially or ethnically diverse attorneys, especially in private practice, are greater than those of their non-minority counterparts. Statistics gathered by National Association of Legal Placement (NALP) indicate that 16% of associates left their law firms in 2008. Over a five-year period, 79% of associates left their firms. More associate departures in 2008 were unwanted by their firms (40%) than were wanted (33%).

Attorney attrition rates are staggeringly high for non-minority and minority associates alike. However, by the fifth year of practice, 85% of minority associates have left their firms, compared to 76% of non-minority associates.

Many of the explanations for higher rates of attrition for diverse and female lawyers relate to organizational structures, cultures, and behaviors that exclude diverse and female attorneys. Law firms in particular have high attrition rates because they are unique business organizations with many informal practices that lead to disparate opportunities and with little transparency that keep barriers to success hidden—even to those in management. [click to continue…]

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