Diversity as a Competitive Advantage:
Starting with the Facts
Women, Law & Leadership:
The IndyBar Women & the Law
Division Symposium
Diversity in Law Firms
1. Variations by Geography
– Minorities do make partner … just not
everywhere.
2. Individual success within an organization
– lessons for diverse lawyers
3. Organizational Success based on diversity
– E.g., team-based project management.
1. Variations by Geography
Sample: 2005-06 NALP Directory of Legal Employers
• Office level data of 613 law firm employers in 108
metropolitan areas
– Aggregate firm data of non-regional firms was excluded
– 1445 discrete offices; 878 offices (60.8%) are Am Law 200 firms
– In 2004, offices hired 6020 entry level associates (15.5% of all 2004 JD
graduates) and 1049 judicial clerks.
• Office level data broken down by:
– Job title, race, gender, disabled and openly gay.
– Summer associate, entry-level, and judicial clerk hiring
– Weighted average starting salary = $115,620
1. Variations by Geography
Gender
NYC, DC, Chicago, LA,
San Francisco, and
Foreign offices
comprise:
53.9% of all attorneys
47.3% of all female
partners
61.3% of all female
associates
1. Variations by Geography
Concentrations of Black Lawyers
DC, Atlanta, Southeast
22.5% of all attorneys
38.9% of all Black partners
33.82% of all Black associates
1. Variations by Geography
Concentrations of Hispanic Lawyers
Southeast, Houston,
Dallas, LA
18.7% of all attorneys
43.7% of all Hispanic
Partners
31.9% of all Hispanic
associates
1. Variations by Geography
Concentrations of Asian Lawyers
LA, San Francisco,
Rocky & West
17.5% of all attorneys
46.8% of all Asian partners
33.4% of all Asian
associates
1. Variations by Geography
New York City
New York City CSA:
18.8% of lawyers
14.0% of all partners
12.1% female partners
23.0% female associates
10.2% of black partners
24.0% of black associates
13.7% of Asian Partners
32.0% of Asian Associates
12.4% of Hispanic Partners
25.6% of Hispanic Associates
Key takeaway: NYC is highly heterogeneous at associate level but highly
homogenous at the partnership level.
2. Individual Strategies for Success
Robert Kelley’s Bell Labs Study
E = engineers
M = managers
E
Organization
C = clients
Stars
M
C
2. Individual Strategies for Success
Robert Kelley’s Bell Labs Study
• “Star” theories fell into three categories:
– Cognitive abilities
– Social skills
– Psychological traits
NO RELATIONSHIP
between these factors
and status as a star
performer
2. Individual Strategies for Success
Robert Kelley’s Bell Labs Study
Work Strategies of Stars
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Initiative
Networking
Self-Management
Perspective
Followership
Teamwork
Leadership
Organizational Savvy
Show-and-tell
Strategies of Average Performers
 Organizational Savvy
 Show-and-tell







Initiative
Networking
Self-Management
Perspective
Followership
Teamwork
Leadership
2. Individual Strategies for Success
Robert Kelley’s Bell Labs Study
Key finding:
Under the resulting training program,
women and minority knowledge
workers experienced the largest gains
in productivity – four times larger than
their white, male counterparts
2. Individual Strategies for Success
Whose Network is better, Richard’s or Susan’s?
See Rob Cross, The Most Valuable People in
Your Network, HBR Blog Network (2011)
3. Organizational Strategies for Success
Diverse groups are more
innovative and creative than
homogeneous groups
• Viewpoint diversity is key
• Requires trust
3. Organizational Strategies for Success
Anita Woolley & Thomas Malone
What Makes a Team Smarter?
More Women (June 2011)
In measuring Group IQ and Group
Performance, number of women is a
key predictor …
“What do you hear about great groups? Not that
the members are all really smart but that they
listen to each other. They share criticism
constructively. They have open minds. They’re not
autocratic. And in our study we saw pretty clearly
that groups that had smart people dominating the
conversation were not very intelligent groups.”
3. Organizational Strategies for Success
Project Management
Project
Managers
2. Technical
Skills
1.
Leadership
Limited
Authority
Team Goals
Individual
Goals
Budgeting
Scheduling
Logistics
“When I am asked what I consider to
be the most important attributes for
project managers to have, I always
say that people skills are number one
through three” (p. 30)