Biglaw's Jim Crow Caste Structure: Part 2

Are Firms Missing Out On a Diverse Talent Pool?
The Legal Intelligencer
By Gina Passarella

May 25, 2007

One of the most common reasons large firms cite as a cause for their lack of diversity is a limited talent pool from which to draw.

There are only so many qualified candidates and only so many of those are minorities, they say.

Could that pool be deepened by looking to the skills of contract attorneys? Some say yes. Others aren't so sure.

One black contract attorney from Washington, D.C., who has been working in the field for almost five years said the contract attorneys he's worked with on firm matters have been disproportionately diverse compared to groups of associates at those firms.

Part of that, he said, is due to financial constraints that keep students from all backgrounds out of the top-tiered schools, and subsequently out of the top-tiered firms.

Bob Nourian of Coleman Nourian, a recruiting firm that places both contract and permanent attorneys, said contract attorneys are naturally going to be more diverse because "you're pulling in from a greater percentage of a whole [graduating] class."

Katherine Frink-Hamlett of Frink-Hamlett Legal Solutions in Teaneck, N.J., said contract attorneys are more diverse because the larger law firms are losing minority attorneys at high rates and they have to go somewhere. She said contract attorney work is often used to fill in the gaps.

Not everyone has found it easy to find diversity in the contract-attorney ranks.

Cynthia Scott, founder of Choice Counsel in Pittsburgh, specializes in placing contract attorneys. She said she wishes there was a more diverse pool from which she could draw.

"Our percentage of minorities is not nearly what we wish it could be," she said.

Offering a rough estimate, Scott said minorities on the matters she staffs typically do not comprise more than 10 percent of the group. The Washington, D.C., contract attorney put that number at 50 percent in his experience.

Scott said she has found that it is more difficult in Pittsburgh to build diversity numbers because the larger cities woo talent away.

Ah yes, talent. Despite the most sincere efforts of firms to increase their diversity, talent and quality understandably remain the foremost criteria for hiring associates.

Nourian said firms are looking to find both diverse and nondiverse candidates, while maintaining the same criteria for talent.

The problem with looking to the contract-attorney field for candidates, minority or not, is that the hiring criteria for those attorneys are not as stringent as for associates, he said.

"Unless firms are going to dramatically change their hiring criteria for full-time, partnership-track associates, I don't think the contract attorney pool will help them," Nourian said.

He said his firm has done a lot of temporary-to-permanent conversions once contract attorneys work for a firm and prove they are associate material. It is difficult to stand out, however, when there are 30 or 40 attorneys doing document review, he said.

Frink-Hamlett, whose company handles diversity audits and offers diversity solutions for firms, said she recommends her clients look at contract attorneys to meet diversity needs, but said it might only be for a short-term solution.

"These are very often folks with Ivy League credentials or somewhere near there, but their resume doesn't meet the permanent-resume requirements," she said.

Attorneys with gaps in resumes or those with master of laws ( LL.M) degrees who are here from other countries are often viable permanent candidates who may have taken some time off to pursue other endeavors or are new to the country's legal system, Frink-Hamlett said. That often makes them unviable permanent candidates in the eyes of large firms, she said.

"I think it's going to be imperative for law firms and law schools to recognize [that] contract attorneys are a force in the industry," she said.

So if the war for talent is at an all-time high, some argue it might be worth training contract attorneys at large firms to help them meet the associate-hire criteria in order to increase the talent pool.

"You have this entire untapped pool of legal talent . . . and nobody's making the investment to train them," the contract attorney said, adding later, "In a global war for talent, no stone can be left unturned."

Another minority contract attorney in Washington said there is no training available on projects to help elevate her to the next level. She said there would always be someone to hire her, possibly at a smaller firm, but student loans often make large firms the only option.

Frink Hamlett said bar associations need to replicate for contract attorneys the committees or commissions on diversity or women in the profession that now exist in order to help with networking and empowerment.

Networking among other contract attorneys, however, doesn't help elevate their status, Nourian said. Contract attorneys need to affiliate themselves with the same groups as full-time associates in order to make contacts in hopes of finding a full-time position, he said.

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"Bar Associations need to replicate for contract attorneys the committees or commissions on diversity or women in the profession." Exactly.

Dear Tom,

I have spoken with Barry Kamins at ABCNY about setting up a contract attorney committee. ABCNY has a subcommittee of a larger executive committee, which deals with forming new standing committees.

The problem is that I, although I am barred in New York, I am {out of country/personal reasons}. My first impulse is to identify responsible people in New York who could spearhead this.

The next step is to submit a proposal to Mr. Kamins, which he would then forward on to the subcommittee. I would be delighted to help with the proposal. Do you have any ideas as to who might spearhead this? Obviously, we want responsible people organizing this committee. You have wide access to a number of contract attorneys, so I thought you might be a good person to ask.

I would be interested in participating in an ABCNY committee dealing with Contract Attorney issues?
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