Diversity

Forget Work/Life Balance: All Work Is Great Fun for Some, Says Consultant

Once a litigator, Yolanda Cash Jackson is now a more than full-time lobbyist and she loves it. The 51-year-old partner of Becker & Poliakoff in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., intertwines her work and social life, “relationship building” with a signature smile throughout a jam-packed schedule that could begin with a breakfast…

May 18, 2010 5:55 PM CDT

Mother-Daughter Duos Go to Law School

When 53-year-old Robin Wood begins law school this fall at the University of Maryland, she’ll have a mentor waiting: her 25-year-old daughter, Portia, who will be a 3L. Andrea Thomas, who is 52, followed the example of her mother when she graduated last week from the University of the District…

May 17, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Harvard Law Student’s Racist E-Mail Goes Viral; Dean Calls It ‘Sad & Unfortunate’

The dean of Harvard Law School has now weighed in concerning a student’s racist e-mail that reportedly went viral on the Internet this week. Dean Martha Minow describes the e-mail in a statement today to the law school community as “troubling” and a “sad and unfortunate incident” that “prompts both…

Apr 29, 2010 6:32 PM CDT

Ex-Ga. Chief Justice Chooses ‘Tomato Sandwiches’ When Mistaken for Restroom Attendant

Being a lawyer and then chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court didn’t shield Leah Ward Sears from slights and mistaken assumptions over the years. Writing in the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), Sears recalled an incident when she was a newly minted lawyer attending a luncheon at a private…

Apr 2, 2010 12:43 PM CDT

Race Cuts Both Ways in Law School Hiring, Study Says

A study by a 2009 Harvard Law School graduate concludes that minorities are more likely than whites to land law school tenure-track positions, but minorities are more likely to end up at lower-tier schools. “In the realm of law school hiring, race appears to cut both ways,” according to a…

Apr 1, 2010 5:28 PM CDT

Lawyer Censured for Overstating Law Firm Diversity in Bid for DuPont Work

A politically connected Denver lawyer has been censured for inflating the number of women and minorities who held equity stakes in his law firm in an effort to win legal work from DuPont. Willie Shepherd, who had founded Kamlet, Shepherd & Reichert in 2000, did not contest the censure, the…

Mar 30, 2010 12:03 PM CDT

US News Rankings Czar: Our Methods Don’t Affect Law School Diversity

The rankings czar for U.S. News & World Report has a message for his critics: Don’t blame us for hindering law school diversity. Writing at the U.S. News blog Morse Code, data research director Bob Morse denies that the rankings’ emphasis on the Law School Admission Test and undergraduate grades…

Mar 5, 2010 2:06 PM CST

Layoffs Aftermath: Declining Marks on BigLaw’s Diversity Scorecard

Law firm layoffs apparently hit minority lawyers especially hard. The American Lawyer has found that the percentage of minority lawyers in the nation’s top law firms dropped from 13.9 percent in 2008 to 13.4 percent in 2009. “The drop in law firm diversity may be small, but it’s important,” the…

Mar 1, 2010 1:57 PM CST

Economy Hurting Diversity

The recession is undermining efforts to achieve greater diversity in the legal profession, says an ABA report released at the midyear meeting.

Mar 1, 2010 7:30 AM CST

Recession Hurting Legal Profession’s Diversity Efforts, Report Says

Recessionary concerns are undermining efforts to achieve greater diversity in the legal profession, states an ABA report that will be released Friday at the association’s 2010 midyear meeting. “While law firms have increasingly come to recognize that diverse corporate clients and international markets often require lawyer diversity, the recession is…

Feb 4, 2010 4:02 PM CST

Just Like Everyone

Inclusiveness efforts seek to make GLBT lawyers—and all others—feel at home

Feb 1, 2010 10:40 AM CST

Holding a Mirror to the Profession

Our justice system should reflect the diversity of those seeking to break barriers

Feb 1, 2010 10:00 AM CST

Ex-Staff Lawyer Can Proceed With Disparate Impact Claim Against Covington, Judge Says

A former staff attorney of Covington & Burling can proceed with her federal discrimination claim over the law firm’s policy of assigning work, based on a disparate impact theory. However, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton found that Yolanda Young had waited too long to bring a similar claim that the…

Jan 29, 2010 8:56 PM CST

Six Law Firms Make Fortune’s List of Top 100 Places to Work

Six law firms are on Fortune magazine’s list of the best 100 companies to work for in 2010, up from five last year. New on this year’s list is Baker Donelson, cited for increasing its number of minority lawyers from 12 to 40 and for reporting no layoffs. The other…

Jan 21, 2010 2:29 PM CST

Diverse Law Firms Downplay Grades, Use Activism as Recruiting Tool

California law firms that have been successful in recruiting women, minorities and gays share their secrets in a study commissioned by the law firm Fenwick & West. According to a press release, their best practices include: • Placing a lower emphasis on grades for recruiting. Bingham McCutchen looks beyond grades…

Jan 20, 2010 1:32 PM CST