Law firms report slow progress on diversity initiatives
BLOOMBERG LAW — There’s an exercise I do in my law firm diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings. I call it the Ten-Year Challenge. I show a slide with race, ethnicity, and gender stats for large law firms 10 years ago. Then I show stats from this year. Then I ask my group, “What has changed?” The…
Read More about Law firms report slow progress on diversity initiativesLaw firm partners with bar exam prep company to recruit law students
REUTERS — Hoping to lock in future clients, a major legal recruiting firm has partnered with the country’s largest bar exam prep company to offer career guidance to law students. Major, Lindsey & Africa and BARBRI this week said they will jointly provide career resources for law students who sign up for BARBRI’s test prep program, focused…
Read More about Law firm partners with bar exam prep company to recruit law studentsHow law firms can better accommodate lawyers’ needs
THOMSON REUTERS — Just 2% of lawyers from our global database of almost 1,200 client-nominated attorneys (Stand-out Lawyers) are completely happy with their set of non-billable responsibilities, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute’s Stellar Performance: Skills & Progression Mid-Year Survey. The survey also points out that lawyers have said they are responsible for an average of…
Read More about How law firms can better accommodate lawyers’ needsSMU Dedman Law recognized by White House for legal helpline for local residents
SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW — The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice recognized the pro-bono legal services SMU’s Dedman School of Law offered through its free COVID-19 Helpline to North Texans dealing with consumer, employment and immigration legal issues. The effort was honored for its response to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s call to…
Read More about SMU Dedman Law recognized by White House for legal helpline for local residentsThe path to law firm partnership gets longer for new associates
REUTERS — The number of years it takes to become partner at a major law firm is getting longer and longer, new research shows, despite tentative moves by some large firms to speed the way. Associates last year took an average of nearly nine years to make partner at the firms where they began their careers, according…
Read More about The path to law firm partnership gets longer for new associatesHow law firms can improve diversity efforts
BLOOMBERG LAW — Law firm leaders, partners, and recruiting departments already know how to find the same small number of diverse candidates year in and year out, say Intellectual Ventures’ Arvin Patel and Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP partner Jonathan K. Waldrop. The key to improving firm diversity is to dramatically increase diverse hires, implement diverse hiring…
Read More about How law firms can improve diversity effortsBlack Women Law Deans to be Honored for Antiracism Efforts
BLOOMBERG LAW — This summer, the deaths of George Floyd and others sparked demands for systemic reform, including in the legal profession. And law schools were among the institutions that jumped at the opportunity. Now, five Black women law school deans will be recognized for their efforts to reshape legal education and provide law students and young…
Read More about Black Women Law Deans to be Honored for Antiracism EffortsBoston University Law dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig discusses programs to improve diversity in the legal profession
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW — Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig had only been a tenure-track professor for four years when she decided to start a workshop that would help other black women law faculty advance in their careers. Now in its 14th year, the Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Workshop & Writing Retreat—named for the first…
Read More about Boston University Law dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig discusses programs to improve diversity in the legal professionWhat Law Firms Can Learn From the Unprecedented Hiring Market of 2021
JD SUPRA — 2020 was the year of The Great Pause. While law firms did not turn to layoffs as seen in previous downturns, they hit the pause button on hiring almost entirely. By the end of 2020, firms were awash with cash, low on talent and beginning to see signs of a recovering market. In 2021,…
Read More about What Law Firms Can Learn From the Unprecedented Hiring Market of 2021Law Firms Can’t Just Keep Throwing Money at Growing Talent War: 2022 Report on the State of the Legal Market
THOMSON REUTERS — Having regained their footing after navigating the depths of the pandemic, law firms are facing a growing talent war that threatens to upend the legal industry’s newfound momentum. But the 2022 Report on the State of the Legal Market, issued today by the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law…
Read More about Law Firms Can’t Just Keep Throwing Money at Growing Talent War: 2022 Report on the State of the Legal Market