Diversity in the Legal Profession

Diversity in the legal profession is more than just an additional benefit. It’s a necessity that enhances the overall usefulness of the legal profession. All players in the legal profession should aim at creating a favorable working environment for all employees, irrespective of their culture, gender, or lifestyle.

Why Diversity Matters

Diversity is crucial in the legal profession as it impacts the industry both internally and externally. It is recognized that diversity:

Promotes Innovation

Innovation is an important aspect of the success of any business. An idea that is presented to a diverse group of individuals will elicit a more meaningful discussion compared to the one that’s presented to a homogenous group of people. Given that people from diverse backgrounds have different personal experiences, they are likely to have different perspectives.

These perspectives can lead to disagreements among lawyers regarding the best way to approach a case. Disagreements are a cornerstone for innovative ideas and a known preventer of groupthink. Lawyers who must convince colleagues that their approach is the best would have to assess their positions more carefully than they would if their views were not opposed. On top of promoting innovation, diversity also fosters seamless collaboration, allowing law firms to earn higher margins.

Attracts Skilled Talent

Studies reveal that young, talented lawyers prefer working for firms that boast high diversity statistics. Focusing on the qualifications of candidates rather than race, gender, or background is a great strategy for boosting diversity statistics. When a firm has a diverse staff, talented candidates will view it as a business that respects different views and hires the best talent.

Expands Client Base

A diverse group of lawyers is likely to bring in more clients than a homogenous one. The ability to converse in several languages enables a firm to reach a bigger client base that would be otherwise unreachable.

Having lawyers who are members of different networking circles and engage in different networking activities can be helpful. As an added advantage, diversity could help firms win clients instantly because many government and corporate clients nowadays have a policy of working with only diverse law firms.

Fosters Economic Growth

Diversity results in a growth in revenues for law firms and economic benefits for Chicago and the U.S. at large. Studies have revealed that the higher the number of minorities in the workforce, the higher the human capital in the U.S.