Black Partners in Big Law: The Road to Now and The Path Forward

Biglaw has come quite a distance over the past 10-15 years in terms of promoting racially and ethnically diverse lawyers to partnership. Still, enormous challenges remain. Black lawyers, and in particular, Black women lawyers, make up an infinitesimal percentage of the large law firm partnership ranks. And that percentage has grown at a glacially slow pace.  The same scenario is playing out amongst diverse associates. Some firms have fared better than others at recruiting diverse talent, but the vast majority of firms are struggling to retain and promote that same talent further on in their careers. Attuned to their law firms' mixed results in this area, law firm clients have increased the pressure on firms to staff matters with diverse teams, resulting in both an increasingly competitive market for diverse talent, but also an evergreen crop of junior diverse lawyers at firms, with a substantially less diverse group at the top.

Panelists Randall Clark, Bobby Earles, and Vanessa Jackson - equity partners at three of the country's premier law firms - will discuss the state of diversity at large firms, and talk through their journey from associate to partner. In particular, the panelists will discuss:

• The progress of Biglaw diversity efforts, both over the past decade, and more recently, in the wake of the George Floyd-fueled social justice movement

• The importance of intersectionality in law firm diversity and the idea that different racial and ethnic minorities have different experiences from each other

• The special case of Black women lawyers and how progress for women lawyers more broadly has not necessarily been shared by Black women

• Their particular journeys through Big law and the lessons they've learned along the way

Learning Objectives:

1. Analyze the success [or lack thereof] of Biglaw diversity initiatives over the past decade, and more recently since George Floyd

2. Examine the progress of racially and ethnically diverse groups of lawyers, focusing specifically on the experiences of Black lawyers

3. Recognize and gain insights from three Black partners who have made the journey themselves