Our profession is the least diverse in the nation. Eighty-eight percent of lawyers are White and sixty-two percent are male. But law firms’ numbers are even more troubling. Currently, Black representation among firm associates is 4.48 percent. The most depressing news is that we are not making meaningful progress.
This seminar begins from the premise that there is no single reason for our profession’s stubborn lack of diversity. Instead, a multitude of factors, including systemic racism and sexism, unconscious bias, and law firm structures contribute to this problem. Great strides can be made by analyzing the research, identifying the problems, reviewing recommended best practices, and listening to successful diverse attorneys who identified what worked and what did not in their offices and on their own paths to success. This seminar aims to help solve the problem of lack of law firm diversity by offering a toolkit of practical actions that law firms can implement.
Sybil Dunlop is a partner at Greene Espel PLLP, a Minneapolis, MN law firm. She co-founded their law firm’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practice, and has traveled the country providing assessments and recommendations while creating programing to help law firms (and other organizational clients) meet their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
The presenter will explore the following key topics:
- Why diversity in the legal profession matters.
- Methods for achieving diversity in law firm cultures.
- Why does the legal profession struggle with diversity and racial bias?
- What is implicit bias and how can identify it in our work?
- Strategies for diverse employment.
- What can diverse associates do?
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