How has the economy affected diversity programs in firms?
TE: I don’t have enough hard information to answer that question definitively, but I can say that I, and many of my diversity consultant colleagues, have seen a significant drop-off in interest in diversity issues. Could it be that investments in diversity are a fair-weather business expense? I’m also concerned that the massive layoffs in law firms may be having a disproportionate effect on diverse lawyers, since they are often in situations where their hours are lower than their non-diverse counterparts and many firms are using objective measures like hours production to define their layoff targets. I think those kinds of actions in response to the economy also will make recruitment of diverse lawyers tougher when times are better. Many diverse lawyers already believe that a successful career in a private law firm is not achievable, and if they’re going to be the first to be laid off because of low hours, it makes the notion of hanging out in a firm for even a few years questionable.
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