The Best Law Firms For Diversity (2016)
Which firms fared well in three big surveys of diversity within Biglaw?
We’ve almost done with July, so you know what that means: the arrival of on-campus interviewing season. If you’re a law student looking at firms or a lawyer involved in your firm’s recruiting efforts, check out Above the Law’s law firm directory, where law firms get letter grades in various categories. Law firms might look alike on the surface, but regular readers of ATL know there are very real differences between them.
Take the subject of diversity. Biglaw’s corporate clients are paying more and more attention to diversity; they want the lawyers and law firms they work with to reflect the diversity of their employees, their customers, and the country. The latest diversity rankings, from three different news outlets, show which firms excel on this front and which firms still have work to do.
First up: the Vault rankings (which columnist Renwei Chung mentioned briefly on Friday). The latest Vault rankings (i.e., the 2016 rankings) highlight the top 25 firms for diversity. We’ll share with you the top ten:
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As you can see, this year’s top 10 looks a lot like last year’s, with nine firms returning to the list (just changing places a little amongst themselves). Congratulations to Carlton Fields on retaking the top spot, which it held for five years in a row until getting displaced by Ropes & Gray. Ropes didn’t fall far, though; congrats to the firm on its strong third-place finish, showing that diversity and prestige are not mutually exclusive.
Congrats to Paul Hastings, which moved up from fourth place to second, and to all the other top-ten firms: Debevoise, Littler Mendelson, Finnegan Henderson, Shook Hardy & Bacon, Baker Donelson, Schiff Hardin, and O’Melveny & Myers — which broke into the top 10 after not making the top 25 last year.
Did your firm make the top 25? Check out the complete rankings over at Vault.
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Now, on to the American Lawyer’s diversity rankings, which came out in May. As we’ve explained before, the Am Law rankings diverge from the Vault rankings because they focus on different factors. Am Law focuses exclusively on the percentage of minority lawyers and partners at a firm, in terms of racial and ethnic minorities, while Vault looks at diversity as it relates to minorities, women, LGBT individuals, individuals with disabilities, and military veterans.
Here are the top ten firms from Am Law’s 2015 Diversity Scorecard (with 2014 rank indicated parenthetically):
1. White & Case (1)
2. Fragomen (4)
3. Wilson Sonsini (2)
4. Curtis (6)
5. Munger Tolles (5)
6. Knobbe Martens (8)
7. Wood Smith (NR)
8. Carlton Fields (18)
9. Fenwick & West (11)
10. Morrison & Foerster (10)
Congratulations to these ten fabulous firms. Once again, there’s not a lot of movement. You can’t change a law firm’s demographics overnight, which explains why firms with high ranks for diversity tend to keep those high ranks. In other words, law firms need to renew their commitment to diversity year after year; diversity problems don’t lend themselves to quick fixes.
You can access the Am Law diversity rankings, which include 222 firms in total, over here. Analysis from Am Law is available here.
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Which firms fared well on both lists? Make that “firm,” singular: Carlton Fields, #1 for Vault and #8 for Am Law. No other firm made the top ten on both surveys. Four other firms made the top 25 on both lists:
- Finnegan Henderson: #6 for Vault, #14 for Am Law
- Paul Weiss: #19 for Vault, #20 for Am Law
- Paul Hastings: #2 for Vault, #23 for Am Law
- O’Melveny: #10 for Vault, #25 for Am Law
Back in May, we also shared with you Law360’s list of top ten firms for diversity. Five firms on the Law360 list made either the Vault or Am Law list:
- Wilson Sonsini: #1 for Law360, #3 for Am Law
- Fragomen: #2 for Law360, #4 for Am Law
- Fenwick: #7 for Law360, #9 for Am Law
- Ropes & Gray: #8 for Law360, #3 for Vault
- Knobbe Martens: #9 for Law360, #6 for Am Law
Congratulations to all of the firms honored by Vault, the American Lawyer, and Law360 for their diversity. We still have a long way to go when it comes to diversity in Biglaw, but these fine firms give us reason for hope.
UPDATE (5:00 p.m.): Jonathan Hayter just prepared a very helpful ranking of the 15 firms that show up on more than one of the three diversity rankings. It’s a useful resource for minority law students and lawyers as they evaluate potential employers.
Law Firm Rankings 2016: The Best Law Firms For Diversity [Vault]
2015 Diversity Scorecard: Minorities Gain Little Ground [American Lawyer]
The 100 Best Law Firms For Minority Attorneys [Law360]
Earlier: The Top 10 Law Firms for Overall Diversity
Top 100 Law Firms For Minority Attorneys
The Best Law Firms For Diversity (2015)
The Best Law Firms for Diversity (2014)
The Best Law Firms for Diversity (2013)
The Best Law Firms for Diversity (2012)
