Only 49% believe legal leadership is inclusive: report
Less than half of lawyers believe that the senior leaders at their firm or company are inclusive, according to a new study from the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.
The Leadership Council, a group of more than 300 chief legal officers and law firm managing partners, commissioned the study, which also found that the vast majority of lawyers with diverse characteristics face disparities in their careers.
In-house attorneys are less likely to feel their senior leaders are inclusive compared with private practice attorneys, with 41% and 57% respectively, said the study.
According to the survey, conducted by think tank Coqual, only 43% of women attorneys see role models for themselves within their organisation’s leadership. For Black attorneys, that number is 33%.
In terms of leadership aspirations, 78% of both men and women want to become a leader at their organisation, but only 53% of women feel like that will happen, compared to 67% of men.
At the same time, the Leadership Council launched a new initiative calling on legal heads to make diversity, equity and inclusion commitments and implement organisational changes.
Members of the Leadership Council board launched the Leaders at the Front initiative last week with their own commitments.
Ellen Dwyer, chair of the LCLD Board and chair of Crowell & Moring’s executive committee, said that the Leadership Council has fostered diversity in the legal profession for more than a decade through its outstanding leadership development programmes.
She added: “The Leaders at the Front initiative responds directly to what we have heard from our diverse talent about the lack of representation, sponsorship, and paths forward for diverse lawyers.”
As part of her commitment, Dwyer will sponsor two Black lawyers at Crowell & Moring through the balance of 2020 and 2021.
“Our recent survey results confirm the importance of visible role models in senior leadership and that there remains a significant deficit in sponsorship of diverse lawyers,” said Dwyer.
While 85% of survey respondents believed that senior leadership’s support matters most in advancement to senior roles, only 22% had sponsors.
As of today, 18 people have made commitments, including legal chiefs from HP, Cummins, eBay, and BASF.
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