Law Firm Diversity

In the spring of 2000, the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin joined forces with the Austin Black Lawyers Association to evaluate the number of minority attorneys at the 14 largest law firms in Austin. That year, the Joint Committee found that, of the 719 attorneys at those firms, only 53 (or 7 percent) were African American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American. Using the statewide average of minority members of the State Bar of Texas as a goal (11 percent), the Joint Committee issued a Report Card on Minority Hiring, awarding an "A" grade to any law firm with 11 percent or more minority attorneys. That first year of the Report Card, the Joint Committee awarded one "A" grade, four "B" grades, two "D" grades, five "F" grades, and two "Incomplete" grades.

In 2001, the Joint Committee expanded its Report Card to include the 26 largest law firms in Austin. With minorities comprising 12 percent of the membership of the State Bar of Texas, the Joint Committee awarded eight "A" grades to Austin law firms, three "B" grades, five "C" grades, six "D" grades, and four "F" grades. Relying on information reported by the law firms themselves, the Joint Committee found that, of 1,211 attorneys employed by the 26 largest law firms in Austin, only 119 (or 9.8 percent) were African American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American.

The Joint Committee found that the number of minority attorneys in Austin's largest law firms continued to grow in 2002. As reported by the 26 largest law firms in Austin, 10.6 percent of their lawyers were minorities, compared to 11 percent of attorneys in Travis County and 12.5 percent of minority members of the State Bar of Texas. In the 2002 Report Card, thirteen Austin law firms earned "A" grades, two earned "B" grades, five were awarded "C" grades, two earned "D" grades, and five Austin law firms received an "F" grade for their number of minority attorneys. In a departure from previous years, the 2002 Report Card also graded the law firms' efforts in minority recruiting efforts, including participating in minority job fairs, providing mentors for minority law school students, establishing a committee within the law firm to promote diversity, and including minorities in the firm's Recruitment Committee. Nine law firms received a grade of "Excellent" for their minority hiring efforts, ten firms received a "Satisfactory" grade, and two law firms' efforts were deemed to be "Unsatisfactory."

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the University of Michigan Law School's diversity efforts, the Joint Committee issued its fourth Diversity Report Card in 2003. According to the State Bar of Texas, 12.9 percent of the 71,170 attorneys in Texas in 2003 were African American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American. In Travis County, just 11 percent of licensed attorneys were minorities, and, according to data compiled by the Joint Committee in 2003, 131 of the 1,128 attorneys (or 11.6 percent) employed by the 25 largest law firms in Austin were minorities. In 2003, the Joint Committee awarded eleven "A" grades to Austin law firms, six "B" grades, three "C" grades, three "D" grades, and two "F" grades. Additionally, nine law firms received a grade of "Excellent" for their minority hiring efforts, twelve firms received a "Satisfactory" grade, and four law firms received a grade of "Unsatisfactory" for their minority hiring efforts. Also in 2003, the Joint Committee issued a Progress Report comparing grades received by the law firms over the last four years.

Each year the Joint Committee has issued its Diversity Report Card, it has reiterated the commitment of the HBAA and the ABLA to help Austin law firms increase their hiring and retention of minority lawyers.

Committee Chair is Paul Ruiz at psr@ctw.com.

Click here to see the 2005 Progress Report. The Report Cards as well as the press releases that accompany each report card can be viewed by clicking on each below:

Press Releases

Report Cards