A new study by the American Bar Association (ABA), which looked at law firm hiring, leadership, attrition, and compensation at 287 law firms, found that, in 2020, white men made up 71% of lawyers who were in the top 10% of their firms by pay. Meanwhile, white women made up 13% of those top earners, and Black attorneys made up less than 1%.
While ABA released the overall results publicly, it is also making individual law firm data from its Model Diversity Survey available to companies that sign up for the ABA’s Pledge For Change. This is a commitment by employers to improve diversity within their organisations and is an arrangement that firms agreed to prior to submitting their data.
The ABA’s study aims to bring law firms and clients together for “an honest discussion about the vital role of diversity” and ways to improve it. In recent years, greater diversity has been an increasing demand for corporate clients.
