Many law firms in London have made concerted efforts to hire racial minorities as a way to shake the stuffy and exclusive stereotype that has come to characterize the legal field there, reports The Guardian. However, new statistics reveal that the minorities that have been hired are most likely to be Asian or from a higher socioeconomic background than they are to be Black. Blacks make up 1.2 percent of lawyers in London, compared to Asians who make up 5.6 percent—an amount that is far more than their overall representation in London’s general population.
Source: “Not Quite Black and White: The Truth About City Law Firms and Diversity,” by Alex Aldridge, The Guardian, December 17, 2010.
This article was featured in the December 22, 2010 issue of Diversity Best Practices’ email newsletter, Diversity in the News. To subscribe to Diversity in the News, register on the newsletter page of this website.
