The Diversity Initiative

Many firms have implemented supposed "Diversity Initiatives" in recent years as a response to the underepresentation of minorities in the practice of law. How honest are these initiatives? How many firms honestly care about increasing diversity in the workplace? Lately, many firms have been taking supposed pro-active steps to foster an environment that favors diversity. But do the words "equal opportunity employer" on a firm's website really mean that they intend to hire visible minorities? Does hiring a Diversity Director exonerate a firm from it's duty to create a true and reflective environment where diversity can thrive?

In 2003, the Equal Opportunity Commission issued a report on the representation of minorities and women as professionals in law firms. The report found that the representation of women in the legal workforce has more than doubled since 1975, from 14.4% to 40.3% in 2002. Yet, although the representation of women in the legal workforce is relatively proportionate to the number of women receiving JDs, the representation of racial minorities has yet to follow such example. For example, the representation of African Americans and Hispanics in the professional legal workforce is still proportionate to approximately half of the number who earn JDs.

Statistics aside, I happen to know a few partners at prominent law firms who are from visible minority groups. Of course, I do benefit from living in San Francisco, where diversity is the norm. My one favorite example of diversity in action is the junior partner at a prominent litigation firm who happens to be a Muslim woman wearing the head scarf. Conversely, I also know people who left large law firms, claiming that they felt that their ethnicity made their chances of growth much harder. I remember asking an Asian attorney from another well respected litigation firm about the diversity at his firm. He replied by telling me that his coworkers would often confuse him with another Asian attorney who was a whole foot shorter than him!

As the economy continues to globalize, law firms across America will need to reflect this globalization by retaining attorneys from various ethnic groups. And if law firms are unprepared to do this, we will probably soon see many smaller practices and solo attorneys popping up across the nation, reflecting the diversity of law graduates.

Perhaps, then, it will be the small firms and solos who initiate the change.

Related Links

• The Diversity Initiative: Is it really making a difference in law firms? (Prudentpurse.com)
  

Lawyers Suffer the Highest Rate of Depression

The California Bar Journal recently published an article, written by Diane Curtis, on the correlation between the practice of law and depression. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that lawyers suffer the highest rate of depression- 19% of lawyers suffer from depression, where only 3-9% of the general population suffers from depression.

The article mentions the "telltale signs" of depression among attorneys, as noted by a member of the Lawyer Assistance Program of the California State Bar. These signs are generally fatigue, low energy and a sense of being overwhelmed. He interestingly enough calls this depression a "creeping paralysis".

So why is it, then, that so many lawyers suffer depression? One would assume that lawyers would feel pride and a sense of accomplishment. I believe that this sense of pride is exactly what may trigger depression for some attorneys. We struggle so hard to achieve heights in our career with minimal rewards. The article calls the profession of law a "lonely profession" due to the adversarial nature of the work.

Perhaps we need to change the nature of our practice. Perhaps we need to look into the way we practice and figure out what makes us happy. I've met plenty of people who are dissatisfied with the profession of law and I've also met plenty of people who are very satisfied with their career choice. I've noticed that the ones who are more satisfied are ones who have work-life balance and mostly, ones who run their own practices.

So, how do we acheive career satisfaction?

Preliminary Considerations: Why I chose to go solo.

People really don't understand the profession of Law. We spend years in school learning concepts that are ambiguous at best, write a three-day exam at the end of our studies and then are thrust into the legal world to practice as attorneys. Many of us end up in large firms with equally large salaries, only to work 70 hour work weeks performing riguourous research tasks. Others find themselves in public practice, working for government agencies or for Legal Aid Societies.

At the beginning, I always second guessed my decision to go solo. I had some experience behind me as a law clerk and I had firms who were willing to take me upon passing the bar exam. I suppose it really came down to the kind of practitioner I wanted to be. I've been an independant person from Day One. I was always able to take care of myself and often enjoyed being alone. I craved independence as a child and constantly questioned authority.

I was nine months pregnant when I wrote the California bar exam and I was a new mom when I was sworn in to bar. When my daughter was 5 months old, I decided that I wanted to go back to work. I just wanted flexibility. At the time, I had a few clients approach me to draft their wills. So, I decided to go into estate planning, thinking that it would be a simple area where I would draft wills from a template.

Was I ever wrong!

I accepted my first client and took her to the owner of a firm where I had clerked. Although I had worked at that firm previously, I had never worked in estate planning and I sat through the client meeting, trying to absorb everything that took place at that meeting. At that time, I knew nothing about revocable living trusts.

Two months later, I had drafted and funded my first revocable living trust entirely on my own and had already held a seminar on revocable trusts for financial planners.

Two months after starting, I not only broke even but I had profit.