Why Diversity Has Become So Important

“The nation’s largest law firms, long dominated by white men, have struggled to attract, keep and promote minority and women lawyers. Now these firms have a powerful incentive to do better: Some of their biggest corporate clients are demanding that they increase the number of minority and women associates and partners.”

That was the lead in a New York Times article last July, Pushed by clients, law firms step up diversity efforts by Karen Donovan, who cited several examples of Fortune 500 companies dropping law firms because of their lack of diversity—in particular, Wal-Mart and the DuPont Company. This demand for diversity—formally initiated in 2004 by the general counsel at the Sara Lee Corporation, Roderick Palmore—stems from several factors, Donovan wrote. Companies seeking to present themselves as diverse—particularly those that have been involved in racial and sex discrimination law suits—“are not keen to have their lawyers undermine that public image.”

This demand from clients for more diversity among their outside counsel has led to the creation of a new position within many firms, the diversity manager. According to an article published February 2007 in The Legal Intelligencer (Law Firms Increase Use of Diversity Managers, an estimated 50% of the largest 200 U.S. law firms have such managers, and 96% have diversity committees. The data is based on a survey conducted by Virginia Grant Essendoh of Altman Weil, and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Essendoh points out that, “Changing and evolving demographics impact corporate economics. Law departments must be able to provide diverse viewpoints regarding diverse legal issues. Law Departments and thus their law firms must be able to literally and figuratively speak the language of their increasing multicultural customers and consumers." In the end, however it all boils down to simple economics, says Essendoh. "An offensive word, picture or commercial could cost a company $30 billion. After you set aside the social and moral imperatives of diversity, the business case rests mostly with financial implications.”