b y M a r i a K a n t z a v e l o s

Well before Hector Bove set outon a round of in-office interviews atmore than a dozen law firms inChicago, the student at NorthwesternUniversity School of Law had donehis homework.

Bove, who was seeking a summerassociate position, had studied thelaw firms’ demographics posted byNALP, the Association for LegalCareer Professionals, to get a handleon the number of minoritiesrepresented among the associate andpartnership ranks.

He had made a mental note ofthe firms that frequently showed upat the receptions and cocktail hours,job fairs, and other events aimed atrecruiting minority students. And hetook note of the firms that providedfunding for events hosted by hisschool’s Latino Law StudentsAssociation.

“I’d try to remember back andsee if these law firms were visible atthese recruiting events. I looked atwho were the sponsors at receptionsand events. Those law firms stood outfor me,” Bove said. “I looked atwho’s putting in the commitment,both time-wise and financially.”

Once he arrived at each firm foran interview, he’d take a good look athis surroundings.

“You walk the hallways of anylarge law firm and you are not goingto see a lot of people of color orminorities. When you walk around ininterviews, you get taken on tours ofthe offices and you don’t see a lot ofthat,” Bove said. “It’s important thatthese law firms are making efforts totry to change that.”

At first glance, he followed his

own rule of thumb.“One of the things I always

looked for was, who was interviewingme? And, did the firm haveminorities, women, gay and lesbianpeople — people other than middle-class white men? That sort of had arelevancy into a first impression,”Bove said.

“Occasionally, you may feel theyput the Hispanic attorney with mebecause I’m Hispanic, but I don’t seea problem with that,” Bove said.

“I think it’s important to showpeople interviewing at the firm thatthere are minorities within the lawfirm and that they’re making aneffort. If there is only one [minority]person they put you in front of, that’sgoing to become apparent. That’swhen you ask the questions, ‘What isdiversity like at the law firm? Whatefforts are you doing to encouragediversity?”’

For Bove, a rising 3L who wasborn in Mexico and raised in Texas,those initial observations andinquiries into diversity initiatives

during his visits to some of the city’slargest law firms were part of theprocess of choosing the best law firmfit for him — the place where hecould see himself launching a career,with aspirations of becoming apartner.

“Coming from that type ofbackground, I want to be able to seethat there are other people like me,”Bove said. “When people of thesame background have sort of ashared cultural experience, it makesit easier to relate to the person, to apartner who you’re going to learnfrom and work with, who’s giving youassignments and advice on the bestway to approach life as a lawyer.”

Bove, 29, is not alone. As lawstudents of color embark on aprofession that still lags behindothers in its minority representation,many of them are on the lookout forsigns that firms are taking steps toaddress the situation.

Chicago Lawyer recently talkedwith law students from historicallyunderrepresented racial and ethnic

Diversity matters as minority students aim for the big firms

NUMBER7VO

LUME 30

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Dana Brown Kevin Xu

backgrounds whose sights are on thebig firms, to get their take on whatmatters when it comes to diversity.

Bove, who spent last summer asan intern at Winston & Strawn,received 13 offers for a summerassociate position this year from the14 firms that had invited him to theiroffices for an interview. He choseKirkland & Ellis, which alsoawarded him a stipend through itsdiversity fellowship program.

The program, Bove said, is anexample of how firms can reach outto minorities in a tangible way.

“I was just looking for a placewhere I could start my career, learn,and grow as a lawyer,” he said. “Thediversity of a law firm is veryimportant to me. I do like to seefirms that are making tangible stepsto increase their diversity. It’s aproblem facing the legal industry; ittypically has not been diverse.”

Diversity survey

Chicago Lawyer’s 2007 DiversitySurvey shows gains in therepresentation of minority associatesand partners at the large firms inIllinois, but the numbers have beenslow to rise.

The 14th annual survey wasmailed to the 160 largest Illinois lawfirms, according to Sullivan’s LawDirectory. Some 77 firms respondedwith statistics about the gender, age,and race of their Illinois lawyers asof Jan. 31, 2007. (Please see relatedcharts beginning on page 12.)

Minorities now make up 16.3percent of associates at the largestlaw firms in Illinois, according to thesurvey, up from 15.5 percent in 2006and 15.2 percent in 2005.Meanwhile, 5.1 percent of firmpartners are minorities, up from 4.7percent in 2006 and 4.5 percent in2005.

African-Americans account for 5percent of associates, a rise from 4.7percent the previous year and from4.8 percent in 2005. But the surveyshowed little change in therepresentation of African-Americanpartners, who make up roughly 1.8percent of law firm partners,compared to 1.7 percent in the lasttwo years.

The number of Hispanic

associates and partners increasedslightly in the 2007 survey, up from2.9 percent to 3.1 percent, and from1 percent to 1.2 percent,respectively.

Asian-Americans account for 7.9percent of law firm associates,according to the survey, an increasefrom 7.4 percent in 2006. Therepresentation of Asian-Americanpartners also increased over last year,from 1.6 percent to 1.8 percent.

Cutting to the chase

“We’re collegial.”“Our doors are always open.”“We get along well.”That’s how Dana Brown, a recent

graduate of the University of ChicagoLaw School, recalled some of thecommon pitches she has heard fromlaw firms seeking talent.

Brown, an African-American whogrew up in Highland Park, said sheinterviewed with 12 Chicago firmsbefore finding her fit at DLA Piper,where she plans to join the insurancegroup as a new associate.

“The vast majority of firms, Ithink, do a good job of seekingdiverse candidates and managingthem effectively,” Brown said.

Still, she had some concernsduring her job search.

“Diverse law school candidatesare aware that clients are nowmandating that they see color acrossthe table in their legal represen-tation,” Brown said. “Sometimes youcan get a sense that some firms arelooking to get the status quo. Theyknow they need X number of diverse

candidates.”When it came to narrowing her

choices of firms that had made heroffers, Brown said she was looking forthe best fit all-around. Figuring outthe source of a firm’s commitment todiversity was part of it.

“A smart, diverse candidate hasto take a step back and say, ‘I’mlooking at all these offers. Who’s justtrying to get me in front of their topclient, and who wants Dana to be agood lawyer?”’

That is why, Brown said, it wasimportant for her to seek out minoritypartners or senior associates —people who knew the ropes of a firm— to learn more about their careerpaths. She wanted to find outwhether they were gettingchallenging work and what theirexperiences were like at varyingstages of their careers.

“If there were African-Americanpartners, especially African-American women partners, I loved tomeet with them,” Brown said. “If yousee them way down the line, they’redoing well, they’re happy, they’rethriving, it makes me — a first-yearassociate — feel it’s possible.

“Sometimes I’d try things outunofficially. I’d call or e-mail and seewhat things are like away from themicroscope of an interview.”

At DLA Piper, where she hadworked as a summer associate lastyear, Brown said she found thatwomen were not “just behind thescenes reading documents.”“It’s more about what you can do,versus who you are,” Brown said.

Neal PatelCalida Motley

While she sought out partnersand associates of color to gauge the“minority atmosphere” at a firm,Brown said it was equally importantfor her to network with majoritylawyers.

“I’ve heard stories whereminority summer associates getmistaken for secretaries,” Brownsaid. “It’s important to understandhow the majority members of the firmrespond to you as well.”

Brown, 28, said it’s her goal tomake it to the partnership level.

“I have to feel it’s attainable,which is why I chose carefully,”Brown said.

To further test the waters at somefirms in question, she asked to speakwith fifth- and sixth-year minorityassociates who were on the verge ofbecoming partner.

“They’ve been in the trenches.They tend to be a very untappedresource,” Brown said. “Judge a firmnot by the diverse candidates whoare relatively new to a firm, butjudge a firm by the minority talentthey’re able to retain and promote.

“If they have a hard time showingyou people of color who’ve beenthere for a while, chances are peoplehave been there but they didn’t stay.Why? Those are the questions youshould be asking.”

For Brown, the mentor relation-ships she has fostered throughnetworking at firm events, and as astudent attending events sponsoredby minority associations in theChicago legal community have beenan “invaluable asset,” Brown said.

“Most firms in the summerprogram set you up with mentors. Butyou can always take it further, if youchoose,” Brown said.

Today, she lists Peter Bynoe, theonly African-American equity partnerin the Chicago office of DLA Piper,among her “unofficial” mentors. Therelationship came about during herfinal round of interviews for hersummer associate job at the firm.

“He asked me, ‘What can we doto bring you to Piper?’ I mentioned itwas important to me to haveresources available. Basically, I waswondering if he would be available tome if I came to the firm. He was like,‘Give me something challenging;

that’s easy to do,’” Brown recalled.“He proved to be an invaluableresource to me throughout thesummer. Every time I requested tomeet with him, he made it happen.

“An equity partner of color isquite powerful. I just wanted to knowit wasn’t a game, it wasn’t a joke, itwasn’t a selling tool, I wasn’t beingpitched.”

You’re not alone

Kevin Xu was nearing the end ofhis freshman year in the college ofengineering at the University ofMichigan when he had a revelationthat ultimately led him to law.

“I realized the only reason I wentinto engineering was to fulfillsociety’s expectations. It wasn’treally something I had a passion for.I was good at math and everyonesaid, ‘Oh, you’re going to be anengineer, because you’re good atmath and you’re Asian,’” said Xu,who moved to the U.S. fromShanghai, China when he was six.

“I realized this wasn’t my career.It wasn’t something that interestedme.”

Today, Xu, 21, whose parents areboth engineers, is a summerassociate at Reed Smith Sachnoff &Weaver. Armed with a degree inindustrial engineering, he is enteringhis second year at the University ofMichigan Law School.

“I’m someone who likes morepeople-interaction in my daily life.That’s something engineering doesn’talways provide,” Xu said. “I justkind of wanted to break thestereotype myself. I wanted to showpeople that not all Asians have to beengineers. We can have interests inother fields.”

Like the others, he looks forevidence of a firm’s commitment todiversity.

“It’s definitely one of the factorsI look at when deciding to work at alaw firm. If a law firm does not haveany minority lawyers it means they’renot being realistic about how theworld works,” Xu said. “If I had twoequal firms with equal compensationand all the things being equal, I’dpick the one with the better diversityeffort.”

Xu was among some 80 new

summer associates from an array ofcity firms who gathered recently atthe Chicago office of Skadden, Arps,Slate, Meagher & Flom for an eventorganized by the Chicago Committeeon Minorities in Large Law Firms.There, diverse partners offered tipsto help guide aspiring lawyersthrough the summer at theirrespective firms.

The panel covered a lot ofground, from the importance ofsubmitting quality work, to protectingtheir reputations within a firm, andbecoming their own entrepreneurs.

Xu, who is one of five summerassociates in the Chicago office ofReed Smith, said the event — whichwas aimed at minority summerassociates — was helpful.

“In a class of five, I wasn’t surehow many other minority summerassociates there were in Chicago,”Xu said. “Just to know that I’m in aroom full of people dealing with thesame situation, it’s good to knowyou’re not alone.”

As for the rounds of interviews hehad at the half-dozen firms hechecked out for a summer associatejob, an interview with an Asian-American partner at Reed Smithresonated with him.

“The attorney I interviewed withvoluntarily gave me information —e-mail addresses and phone numbersof other minority attorneys [inChicago]. She also mentioned that ifI was ever interested in attendingevents of the Asian AmericanLawyers Association to feel free toask her,” Xu said. “None of the otherfirms did that. I was impressed bythat.”

Numbers game

Calida Motley, a summerassociate at Mayer, Brown, Rowe &Maw who is entering her second yearat Harvard Law School, said it didn’ttake much to gain the attention oflaw firms when she started theapplication process last winter for asummer job.

A 2006 graduate of PrincetonUniversity who grew up in Chicago’ssouth suburbs and attended middleschool and high school in Peoria,Motley, who is black, submitted herresume to Harvard’s Black Law

Students Association.From there, she was contacted by

firms. As a 1L, Motley attendedseveral receptions on campus, wherediversity recruiting coordinators frommany firms made it a point toapproach her.

“I didn’t do much. The Harvardname is very magical in the legalcommunity,” Motley said.

For Motley, 23, law firm diversityis a factor in deciding where she’llhang her hat as a new lawyer.

“When it’s time for me to decide,it’s location, then practice area, probono opportunities, then I’ll look atthe composition of the firm — evenbefore the pay,” Motley said. “I justfind that the firms tend to be prettysimilar, depending on location andsize, with what they pay.”

She, too, keeps tabs on thenumbers.

“No one has a lot [of minorities],but some have close to none,” Motleysaid. “If there’s a firm that’s over-whelmingly white I think, ‘What’swrong with them?’ I go to school witha ton of minorities and women. I’mthinking, ‘I’m going to school withthese people. I know they’re brilliant.Why aren’t you recruiting them?’ Or,‘Why aren’t you keeping them?’

“I’m looking to go to a place thatsees the value in having incrediblysmart crops of lawyers who look andsound like the variety of smartpeople that exist in this country.When I don’t see that reflected in thenumbers, it makes me pause and say,‘What’s going on? Is it the culture?The old boys’ network? If I get achance to interview, I dig,” Motleysaid.

She also seeks input from outsidethe circles of law firms.

“I definitely make a point to talkto people and find out where firms’reputations are. I make it a part ofmy search,” Motley said. “The worldis pretty small, especially when itcomes to black lawyers. It’s a decentchain of gossip. It can be a prettyclose connection.”

She has heard stories of some ofthe challenges that could come withlaw firm life as a minority.

“Some people have told me thatat some firms, when it comes down tomaking partner, a lot of people

benefit from those menteerelationships formed earlier. Oneperson told me that it’s so mucheasier for a partner to mentor a youngassociate who reminds them of theirchildren, or their niece or nephew.Just from the sheer nature of ourrace, you can’t emulate that,” Motleysaid. “It’s so important to find amentor. Informally, you’ve got to findsomeone who’s going to fight for youwhen it comes down to becomingpartner. They say that is easier to dowhen you’re white and you’re male.Some people also say they don’t getvery good work assignmentscompared to their peers,” Motleysaid.

For Motley, the stories are notshocking. And while she is notentering the field expecting to facethe same struggles, she is preparedfor that possibility.

“If I’m going to run into itanyway, why run into it when I’m theonly [black] person there? Whywould I choose to go to a firm wherethere’s no one else there who hasovercome that?”

It’s one thing for a firm to professits commitment to diversity on itsweb site and in brochures, Motleysaid. She searches for moresubstantial clues.

“The law firms have the samestatements on their web sites that I,honestly, don’t read. Pretty much it’s,I’ve read one, I’ve read them all,”Motley said. “Granted, if there was afirm that didn’t have a diversitystatement on its web site it wouldraise a red flag. But I like to see it inpractice.”

Home-grown partners

Retention of minorities in lawfirms is an issue that BrittanyHamelers, who is African-American,often discusses with her friends.

Hamelers, a summer associate atMcGuireWoods who is entering herthird year at the University ofChicago Law School, said she digseven further than the statisticsprovided by firms.

She tries to find out not justwhether firms have African-Americanor minority partners, but where thosepartners came from.

“It’s important to have home-

grown partners that start with youand get the experience they need atyour firm and are able to makepartner at that same firm,” saidHamelers, 24. “If you have to leaveand go somewhere else to get thoseexperiences, that could beproblematic.

“A lot of firms, if they have goodstatistics, they’ll give you the beststatistics they have. If they have fiveminority associates who made partnerlast year, that’ll be on theirbrochures,” Hamelers said. “It’susually the things they aren’t talkingabout that are problematic. It’simportant to do your own research.That one statistic is not the wholestory.

“I think that one of the hardestthings about being a law student isknowing the right questions to ask,”Hamelers said. “You have to ask thetough questions. Sometimes it can beuncomfortable because they’reinterviewing you. You don’t wantthem to come away with a negativereaction to you.”

Timing is key, she said.“It’s like when you have a job

interview and you want to know howmuch they’re going to be paying you,you don’t ask that right out of thegate,” Hamelers said. “I don’tnecessarily press people immediatelyabout their numbers. Usually, at acall-back, that’s when I’ll start to askthose questions: ‘I saw you had fourminority associates that left last year— could you tell me about that?”

Bove, the summer associate atKirkland & Ellis, said it became hispractice to address the issue ofdiversity with his third or fourthquestion in an interview.

“Initially, I would ask, ‘Is there adiversity committee? What is thediversity committee responsible for?What efforts are you doing atrecruiting and retaining minorityattorneys in the law firm?”’ Bovesaid. “Sometimes, you’d ask thatquestion and there wouldn’t be aspecific answer. Other times, therewere very specific efforts they weredoing at both of those.

“What I hear is that a lot of firmsmake a very concentrated effort atthe recruiting process, and then oncethe attorney gets in the door, that sort

of falls by the wayside,” Bove said.“It’s important to have businessdevelopment training aimed atminority attorneys within the lawfirm. Once you get in the door, haveevents, networking opportunities,business development trainingprograms for them. All the large lawfirms should have a diversitycommittee with two focuses — oneon the recruiting end and one onretention.”

A new world

Before setting out for law school,Neal Patel spent a year as a paralegalat New York’s Paul, Weiss, Rifkind,Wharton & Garrison, where he gothis first taste of law firm life.

“It was a very intense firm.People worked really long hours, butI liked the excitement of being in alaw firm, where a lot of stuff washappening all the time. I foundthe law firm environment wasexciting,” said Patel, now a 3L atNorthwestern.

Patel, whose parents immigratedfrom India in the 1970s, pointed outthat none of his family members workin law. His father is an engineer andhis mother works in businessmanagement.

Patel said his year at the NewYork firm before law school gave himan advantage in his search for theright place for him as he launcheshis own career in law.

“A lot of minority students don’thave relatives in the law or otherpeople who they can ask for advice,”Patel said. “That’s where thosediversity initiatives come in handy.

“Being a minority in the law, it’slike a new world for a lot of people.They don’t have fathers or uncleswho are lawyers,” Patel said.“Diversity initiatives are aninstitutionalized way of making sureminorities don’t fall through thecracks. It’s an institutionalized way

of getting someone to look out foryou. That’s kind of nice.”

For Patel, a summer associate atSonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, thejob search was about finding a placewhere he would feel comfortable, “anenvironment where anyone, despitetheir background, can come into alegal environment and feel like theycan express their opinions. A veryrelaxed, friendly atmosphere whereyou can be yourself.

“I like diversity in ideas andthoughts, and openness,” Patel said.“You need the different perspectivesyou get from different races andcultures, but just having the numbersdoesn’t mean you necessarily havethe environment. It’s more of anattitude that’s got to come from thesenior people on down.

“The key is, if you’re a minoritywho feels a little lost, it can be ascary, lonely process if you’re not ina place where you feel comfortable.”

Pipeline programming

Alfred Murray, a summerassociate at Swanson Martin & Bellwho is entering his third year at TheJohn Marshall Law School, said he isa walking example of how initiativesto recruit minorities have beenworking.

“I would have no accesswhatsoever to really apply for a jobwith Swanson Martin & Bell and getthe consideration I did had the typeof pipeline programming not beenavailable, nor the commitment fromSwanson Martin & Bell,” saidMurray, who connected with the firmthrough a minority job fair organizedby the Cook County Bar Association.“I would’ve been another law studentapplying.”

Murray, who is African-American,had worked as a social developmentdirector for the James Jordan Boysand Girls Club for more than threeyears after graduating with a degree

in political science from Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“While my work before lawschool has definitely been beneficial,I wasn’t a paralegal or an office clerkat a law firm … I don’t think I was intune with the whole network,”Murray said. “Having access tosubmit my resume to that job fair andhave all these different firms take alook at my resume, that type of thingat least opened the door to providean opportunity.

“It’s something that is organizedto provide students who, like me, arekind of outside the loop and don’thave an in or a connection,” Murraysaid. “I don’t have a relative or afamily friend that is in a position torefer me to a specific job. The jobfair opened up that door not only formyself, but for a lot of people.”

A firm’s presence, coupled withits actions, at job fairs and otherevents aimed at recruiting minoritiesis telling, Murray said.

“I do think, ultimately it comesdown to what the firm’s commitmentis, and what the firm truly isdedicated to,” Murray said. “Mostfirms recognize the value andrecognize the need for diversity. Youcan kind of get the sense fromtalking with the key players of a firmwhether they’re legitimatelycommitted to that. If they say they’recommitted to diversity, but they’renot hiring outside the traditional,white-male pipeline from major lawschools, that calls [that commitment]into question.”

Murray, 27, said he wants to seemore firms take the initiative evenfurther, with programs aimed atexposing minorities to the professionwell before law school.

“It’s all about opening up accessto opportunities that students wouldnot otherwise have,” Murray said.�

mkantzavelos@lbpc.com

Reprinted with permission from Chicago Lawyer, July 2007.