ANALYSIS: Three Years of Bloomberg Law’s DEI Framework

Bloomberg Law has released its third annual DEI Framework. Submissions increased by approximately 25% over last year, validating both the importance of DEI in the legal industry and also the need for a program like the framework.

The DEI Framework lists 55 US-based law firms that meet or exceed an established threshold for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Participation allows firms to benchmark their progress year to year, and also allows in-house counsel to begin their outside counsel selection process with a list of firms they know are prioritizing DEI.

The data also allow us to track trends and movement in DEI throughout the legal industry, and now that we have three year’s worth of data, it’s time to look at a few of those trends.

DEI Framework—What to Know

But first, a little background on the program.

The DEI Framework has six main pillars:

• Firm Demographics;
• Leadership and Talent Pipeline;
• Recruitment and Retention;
• Business Innovation and Strategy;
• Marketing; and
• Diversity & Inclusion in the Community.

Looking at the overall pillar scores provides insights into the progress of DEI efforts in law firms. Each pillar is scored from 0 to 100, with points earned for exceeding industry standards, as well as for endorsing various diversity and inclusion policies and benefits.

While there’s certainly room to improve, especially in diversity at the top levels, the firms that submitted data this year are generally performing above industry averages in these areas:

• recruiting diverse new attorneys;
• creating and implementing retention practices;
• including diversity and inclusion in their business strategies; and
• marketing themselves as champions of diversity in their communities.

Framework Trends

Over the last two years, I’ve looked at those firms that are measuring DEI well, and I’ve dived into what makes up the D, E, and I sections of the framework. Now that we have three years of data, along with double digit increases in submissions year-over-year, we have the opportunity to look at some trends.

Firm Demographics

We haven’t seen much change at the partner level in terms of the racial and ethnic makeup of these attorneys over the past three years, and there’s only been about a 3.5% increase in the number of historically underrepresented attorneys at the associate level.

This data confirms what’s generally known to be true of the legal industry: There’s typically more diversity among associates than partners. We’ll see in the coming years if firms are able to retain this talent and promote diverse associates to partners.

Origination Credit

Last year was the first year we asked lawyers about origination credit. And while we only have two years of data for this, the difference is striking, interestingly enough, for the non-member firms (those firms that submitted data, but that didn’t make the list of firms meeting or exceeding industry standards for DEI.)

Last year, only about one out of five firms that didn’t make the list indicated they tracked the origination credit that diverse attorney receive. This year, non-member firms are on par with member firms, with fully half saying they’re tracking this credit. That’s a step in the right direction for equity!

Flextime

For the past two years, roughly three-quarters of all firms that submitted data indicated that they offer flextime (the option to control or vary the start or end times of the workday or workweek). That number dropped to 66% this year.

This change could be attributed to a difference in sample size due to the jump in submissions this year, but there may also be another explanation.

Many firms are requiring attorneys to be in the office more as Covid-19 has become endemic. Perhaps this is responsible for the decrease in offered flexibility for attorneys. Either way, decreases in flexibility tend to impact historically underrepresented groups, and also can lessen feelings of inclusion and belonging, which we know are important for talent retention.

What we’ve seen from the 2023 DEI Framework data is that there’s still a long road ahead to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion for all attorneys. But some firms are moving the needle and that is very encouraging!

For more information about the 2023 DEI Framework, including the listing of member firms and overall aggregate report, as well as information on the 2024 DEI Framework timeline, click here.

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