What Men Missed When They Missed The Catalyst Release of “Women of Color in US Law Firms”

By Brande Stellings, J.D. and Jennifer Kohler

It was easy to talk to the men in the audience at the Catalyst release event for our latest research report, Women of Color in US Law Firms. There were only two. In retrospect, while the event was successful – bringing together a wide array of practitioners from the government, public, and private sector – almost all the attendees were women. Something is wrong with that picture.

Undoubtedly, these women are well-positioned to make change; many are senior partners and others hold influential positions within local government. Nevertheless, considering that men hold 82% of the partnership positions at law firms, it was discouraging not to see more men attending an event designed to provide insight into the experiences of one quarter of their firm’s women associates. And frankly, it wasn’t smart business.

We know women of color are entering and graduating from law schools in increasing numbers, but more than 75% of women of color associates leave their firms by their fifth year. Previous Catalyst research has demonstrated that when a lawyer leaves a firm, the cost to the employer is equal to, or even greater than, their total annual salary and benefits.

We also know that:

• Clients are diverse and are pressing law firms to provide teams which better reflect this diversity.

Catalyst Releases Women of Color in U.S. Law Firms Report - Quantifying Gaps in Perception & Experience

Catalyst released it's study of Women of Color in Law Firms today. The report represents a major undertaking, and I recommend reading it yourself, but I will attempt to summarize the key points.

First the problem:

...more than 75 percent of women of color associates leave their firms by their fifth year of practice, and nearly 86 percent leave before their seventh year. Those who leave often report experiencing institutional discrimination and unwanted and/or unfair critical attention, which combine to create an exclusionary and challenging workplace.5 Other research confirms that nearly two-thirds (64.4 percent) of women of color associates left their employers within 55 months compared to just over half (54.9 percent) of women overall.

Catalyst's argument is that this attrition is an inefficient waste of resources for firms, who spend significant sums recruiting and training young attorneys. This is not a new argument, but it's an effective one to a point.  I believe at some point the cost of achieving true gender and racial equity in firms will exceed the price of disproportionate attrition, though the attrition rates of women of color from large firms is so severe that's not an immediate concern. 

After the jump: the results of Catalyst's survey of associates and partner's in the country's 25 most profitable firms.