Law firm diversity and inclusion were hot topics in the legal industry in 2021. Like other industries, the public had law firms under a microscope for their DEI practices.
As 2021 wraps up, law firms should consider what the industry learned throughout the year, how DEI can be improved in 2022, and the general outlook for DEI in the legal industry in the new year and beyond.
Bloomberg Law debuted its DEI Framework last year, which has a list of law firms that meet or exceed the standards of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This framework is divided into:
Firm demographics
Recruitment and retention
Leadership and talent
Marketing
Business innovation
Diversity and inclusion
Each of these principles receives a score from 0 to 100. Points may be based on standards from the American Bar Association and other professional organizations or endorsing DEI practices.
The results were simply okay, leaving law firms with a lot of room for improvement. Generally, the law firms that submitted data performed well on the majority of the principles, including recruiting diverse lawyers, creating and implementing retention practices, marketing, including DEI in business strategy, and contributing to diversity in the community.
Leadership and talent scores are lower, however. Among managing partners and CEOs, nine out of 10 are white and 81 percent of the top leaders are male. Lawyers who are leaders of departments or large groups are mostly white men, though...
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