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April 2005Why Diversity?Rendering the Service of Reflecting the Persons We Serve, Leveling the Profession's Economic Playing Field, and Achieving True American Communityby Ron Ward, WSBA President Diversity is a term fraught with the spectrum of all of our human emotions. It has needlessly evolved into something quite complex and entirely unduly provocative. It need not be. As the title suggests, diversity aspires to the full enfranchisement, economic and otherwise, of all elements of the legal community and of our society. It aspires to the best in us and in this world in which we live. "Diversity is all the human dimensions that make us different from each other, and recognizing and leveraging the power of these differences. It is the full utilization of all Human Resource potential."1 It is the ultimate manifestation of what we claim to be and hopefully of what we will prove to be. In a rational world, this ought to be quite simple, particularly from a logical standpoint. Lawyers are noted as creatures of logic. Right? For the legal profession, diversity serves our present and future enlightened self-interest. For our country, it is the key to our continued societal viability, or our inevitable decline. In a global multinational community in which economic evolution is moving with laser-like speed, it is the test and the determinant factor as to whether we will become obsolete, or remain competitive. That inexorable fact applies to law firms and the legal community in the Northwest. Let's talk about some present and relatively near-future changes in this country and the world and the status of the legal profession vis-à-vis diversity in Washington. First, some statistics. Statistics can be so very dry, yet so very revealing. Let's look at some. Demographics of Population According to the Brookings Institute, based on the most recent data and information derived from the 2000 U.S. census, the number of Hispanics/Latino/Latinas and Asians will triple over the next half-century. During this present decade, the United States will reach the demographic milestone of more than 100 million minority residents. By 2010, persons of color will number more than 110 million out of a total population of 309 million. By the year 2020, more people in America will speak Spanish as a first language than speak English. The total U.S. population will rise to about 420 million in 2050. The number of Hispanics/Latino/Latinas is projected to grow to 103 million by 2050 — a three-fold increase from 36 million in 2000. The number of Asians is projected to rise to 33 million from 11 million in 2000. The Black population will increase to 15 percent, compared with 12 percent now. Those now termed "minorities" will make up more than half of the U.S. population by the year 2050 and will be the majority. Why diversity? Because all segments of society have a right to representation by a profession that includes their peers, to have the adjudication of their legal affairs presided over by a judiciary of their peers, and to be judged by a jury of their peers. The new burgeoning majority insists on it and will continue to do so. This demographic data signals a seminal shift and an opportunity of staggering proportions. The question for all of us is whether we will seize the time and prosper, or continue to rend ourselves apart by perpetuating issues that divide us. Right now, the answer to that question is problematical, though potentially promising. Demographics of Diversity in Legal Employment — We've Still Got a Long Way to Go Law Firms Nationally There are approximately 1.2 million lawyers in the United States, but less than 10 percent are lawyers of color. There is no firm of color in the top 200 in the country. A new study by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reveals that women now comprise 40 percent of legal professionals (non-partner/non-shareholder) in the private sector, a significant gain from 14 percent nearly three decades ago. In addition, since 1975, African Americans doubled their employment as legal professionals to over 4 percent, Hispanics more than doubled to 3 percent, and Asian representation rose by five times to 6.5 percent. The EEOC research covered medium and large law firms — as only employers with 100 or more employees are required to file reports. It examines changes in employment of people of color and women as attorneys since 1975.2 Firm characteristics are very significant in the dynamics of employment of people of color and women. Results suggest that the most pressing equal-employment issue in large national law firms is not just hiring, but retention and conditions of employment, especially with regard to promotion to partnership. In smaller regional and local law firms, questions about fairness and transparency of hiring practices probably still remain, particularly for lawyers of color. Other cited research suggests potential problems for women and people of color in attrition and earnings. The study supplements EEOC analyses with sample data and finds that women and people of color have lower odds of being partners than white males. One glaring statistic that is not a part of the EEOC study is the plight of multicultural women (women of color) in the legal profession. At the end of their initial eight years of practice, 100 percent of women of color have left their first employment, or left the practice of law altogether. Law firms also need to be encouraged to provide more employment opportunities for lawyers with disabilities. Misunderstandings about disability — from concerns about the cost of reasonable accommodations to unfounded fears about performance and reliability — have prevented many qualified lawyers with disabilities from even being considered for jobs within the legal profession. While we should certainly be proud of the progress women and people of color have made in joining the ranks of legal professionals, we must also be mindful of how far we have to go to ensure that the diversity of America is reflected in and sought by the legal profession. The numbers in particular for persons of color, for persons with disabilities, for openly gay and lesbian individuals are still pitiably and unacceptably small. We must all make a constant sustained effort to ensure that our nation's law firms are open and inclusive to all individuals. Washington Law Firms Is there an assumption on the part of Northwest law firms that we are somehow insulated from the inexorable reality of the economics shaping our future? I don't think that's the case. However, the latest issue of Washington Law & Politics that looks at the diversity statistics of Washington's 50 largest law firms bears scrutiny. Those statistics make it clear that although the future is promising, there is substantial work to be done before the goal of representative diversity and equal economic opportunity is reached in the overwhelming majority of those firms.3 Women fare better in employment and partnership/shareholder statistics, but are still grossly underrepresented in the ranks of the latter. As with the national statistics set forth above, the general trend in Washington is for women and minorities to be more representative in larger firms. Washington Judiciary It is particularly important that an increasingly diverse general population has matters it wishes to adjudicate presided over by a judiciary of its peers. Here again, we seem to be moving in the right direction, but we need to keep moving. Of our nine Supreme Court Justices, four are female. Washington has only had one justice of color in its history — Hon. Charles Z. Smith, retired. Our Court of Appeals has a total of 22 judges, nine of whom are non-minority women and two of whom are men of color. At the Superior Court level, of 179 judges, 46 are non-minority women, five are women of color, and 11 are men of color. The District Court has a total of 110 judges, of which there are 27 non-minority women, three female judges of color, and one male judge of color. Of 97 municipal court judges statewide, 14 are non-minority women, three are women of color, and six are men of color. 4 Washington Law Schools Data was assembled for this article for our three Washington law schools — Gonzaga University, Seattle University, and the University of Washington. Without setting out explicit numbers, the data indicates that despite the debilitating effects of I-200 on minority enrollment, the schools have engaged in a concerted recruiting effort. A more fair assessment will perhaps be possible, assuming legislation currently pending in the Washington Legislature (SB 5575 and HB 1586, allowing race to be considered as one factor amongst other factors in admission standards and conforming Washington law to Grutter v. University of Michigan) is passed. Syndicated columnist William Raspberry commented quite correctly that no one wants quotas, or "reverse discrimination." The object is the achievement of equitable goals, not issues. Issues, by their very nature, divide. They force us to choose sides, to work against one another, to produce winners and losers. That is their political purpose. Goals, on the other hand, can be shared — even when we embrace different means for reaching them. There is, of course, no one way of producing the goal of diversity — no way, including Michigan's, that is utterly without flaws. But doing nothing is an option only for those who think the goal isn't very important.5 The nexus and the crucible of the legal profession start at the law school. The law school is not only a forum for teaching and learning legal principles and advocacy, but is also one of the embryos for the development of professional and societal leadership. Any law school that practices or tolerates discrimination against any of its elements is a failure in its mission and a stain on the justice community. Washington State Bar Association It would not be cricket for me to talk about diversity in the Washington legal employment community, without including the Washington State Bar Association. I unequivocally state at the outset that during the tenure of Jan Michels, our present executive director, the WSBA has progressed light years in diversity in terms of its staff and its outreach to the membership. The latter has recently been buttressed by the hiring of Joslyn Donlin as diversity advocate, a position that was the brainchild of Immediate Past President Dave Savage. That having been said, as of December 30, 2004, the WSBA had 122 total employees according to an annual EEOC Report of the organization. Based on EEOC guidelines, the association is statistically perfect as regards diversity. But statistics, while often revealing, can also be deceptive in certain aspects of the substance they communicate. There are three levels of personnel in the WSBA structure: office/manager — the directors who supervise departments of the organization and are the highest paid; professional — such as disciplinary counsel and program managers, etc., who are the next highest paid; and office/clerical — administrative and secretarial staff, the lowest compensated level. No person of color has ever served in a director-level position in the history of the Bar Association. Substantial recent efforts have been made to address this situation, but, for the time being, it remains what it is. Of 30 persons in the professional classification, five are persons of color. The diverse majority of WSBA personnel are found at the office/clerical level, where of 84 employees, 26 were reported as minority. The EEOC report indicates that no African-American male is employed by the association at any level. The organization is entitled to kudos and plaudits, but as with other elements of the justice system, the WSBA has room for improvement in terms of certain aspects of its diversity, notwithstanding the strides it has made. What Does It All Mean and Where Do We Go From Here? Corporate America: ". . . See the Light, or Feel the Heat" Corporate America finally understands that practicing diversity makes good business sense and that a commitment to diversity goes well beyond the hiring process. Focusing just on hiring, at the expense of aggressive and far-sighted career development, misses the opportunities that building a diverse work force can offer for economic fruition. Today's forward-thinking companies are finding innovative ways to expand their commitment by integrating their diversity initiatives into all areas of their business. Instituting diversity is not some ploy to win at public relations. It is to win a competitive bottom-line battle. That means that law firms must change to meet the expectation that their ranks will be as diverse as the corporation's applicant pool and customer base. Law firms will eventually see the light, or feel the heat of a shrinking client base. Any firm in this day and time that does not recognize this immutable fact is an anachronism on its way to becoming an economic non-entity. Minority Corporate Counsel — "Call To Action" Emblematic of change in the marketplace is the December 2004 "Call to Action" for diversity in the legal profession by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. The "Call to Action" calls on chief legal officers (CLOs) to actively promote diversity in their own departments, as well as in the law firms they choose to retain. As signatories to this commitment, CLOs will look to make decisions regarding which law firms represent their companies based in significant part on the diversity performance of the firms. Their commitment will entail providing increased opportunities among the firms they regularly use which positively distinguish themselves in this area, and ending or limiting relationships with firms whose performance consistently demonstrates a lack of meaningful interest in being more diverse. The "Call to Action" reflects the view of leading corporate executives that the best legal and business interests of the corporation require representation that reflects the diversity of its employees, customers, and the communities where they do business. Diversity is not only the right thing to do, but it also positively affects the bottom line. To date, 65 chief legal officers are signatories, and the effort has received the endorsement of the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel, which at more than 17,000 members is the world's largest professional association of attorneys who work in corporate law departments.6 Initiative for Diversity Governing Council An effort in Washington to further diversify our profession continues this year with the work of the Initiative for Diversity Governing Council. The Council (a separate organization which receives WSBA support), consisting of representatives from various specialty bar associations, law firms, law schools, the judiciary, nonprofit organizations, public-interest firms, and in-house counsel, continues the work of the Diversity Consortium and its founding members who first endorsed the Initiative in 2004. The Council will promote adoption of the Initiative for Diversity by legal employers throughout Washington state. The Initiative, which consists of eight goals to which a signatory agrees to strive, reflects the value of having an attorney workforce that is inclusive of the many faces of our pluralistic society. It is designed to identify and implement strategies that will result in significant and measurable progress toward greater diversity in the legal profession. In the months to come, the Council will ask employers to become signatories to this Initiative. The Council will be available to work with each member to discuss strategies tailored to their organization to achieve the goals of the Initiative, and to facilitate discussion amongst members. This is an exciting program that I urge all WSBA members to consider as one way to genuinely strive toward making ours a truly inclusive profession. WSBA Leadership Institute Founded in 2004 and commenced in 2005, the purpose of the WSBA Leadership Institute is to annually prepare a small, carefully selected group of lawyers to take on leadership positions within the legal and broader general community. The emphasis is on growing leadership amongst young lawyers of color and women who have less than 10 years' experience in the profession, although it is important to note that all interested lawyers who have practiced between three and 10 years are considered for inclusion. The initial class of 12 fellows of the Institute, consisting of nine women and three men, was selected from nearly 70 applications received from lawyers throughout our state. The Institute is off to an auspicious start, with glowing reviews. What Can We Do? The following have been identified as steps law firms can take to increase the employment and retention of people of color, women, people with disabilities, and other traditionally underrepresented diverse groups. • Place a greater focus on diversity in the recruitment and hiring process; It is my hope that the foregoing is not cause for recrimination or lamentation. Part of the message I have sought to transmit in this article is that the Washington legal community needs to prepare for a changing society. Somebody has got to talk to this next generation of lawyers to let them know of the responsibility they have in this multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic America. Lawyers are gifted with the tradition, privilege, and heritage of accomplishment. We have an obligation to be societal leaders in every area of endeavor; an obligation to do more; an obligation from lawyer generation to generation, to lead and to provide service to our clients, to the public, and to our profession. Lawyers are leaders. Let's be that. NUMBERS 2,684 Total number of attorneys in Washington's 50 largest law firms Minority Partners/Shareholders The question is not whether we can; it is whether we will. We can and we will because, working together, there is nothing we cannot change for the better. _______________________ Ron Ward may be reached at 206-624-884 or rrw@admiralty.com. If you would like to write a letter to the editor on this topic, please e-mail it to comm@wsba.org or tradelaw@hotmail.com, or mail it to WSBA Bar News, 2101 Fourth Ave., Ste. 400, Seattle, WA 98121-2330, Attn: Letters to the Editor. NOTES 2 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Diversity in Law Firms, October 2003. 3 Washington Law & Politics, 50 Largest Washington Law Firms, L&P's 7th Annual Edition, Page 27, February/March 2005. NO. 50. 4 This information was derived from several data sources. While there is a high degree of confidence in the numbers, absolute accuracy cannot be verified at this time. Administrative Office of the Courts, 2-04-05. 5 William Raspberry, Copyright 2003, Washington Post Writers Group. 6 Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), Press Release, Washington, D.C., 12-14-04. |
