The focus should be on hiring the best attorneys, regardless of whether they are minorities and they say legal advice from a minority lawyer should not be different than advice from a white male lawyer. That rationale rings hollow to many corporate counsel who say companies can expand their recruiting base without lowering standards. General counsels are really, really busy, and there are some that would probably do more to increase diversity in their departments and put pressure on their outside law firms if it was a higher priority. While some consider diversity a political rather than a business issue, proponents say an ethnically mixed legal department brings a variety of perspectives and experiences that are critical for advising corporate clients, and for evaluating and resolving legal problems. Having attorneys who reflect a company's customer base is vital, particularly with global expansion.
Many companies now require outside counsel to assign minorities to their matters.
In the past year, MCCA has acknowledged the efforts of a dozen companies that have emphasized hiring and promoting minorities. But convincing other companies to embrace similar diversity programs has proven to be a significant challenge for MCCA, the American Bar Association's Minority In-House Counsel Group and others. The MCCA's first law department survey, conducted last year and reflecting 206 of the Fortune 1,000 companies, indicated one in four had no minority attorneys on staff and nearly half had no minority attorneys responsible for managing other attorneys. Nearly two out of three had no minority attorneys who reported directly to the general counsel and fewer than half participated in bar association programs designed to increase diversity. The MCCA will distribute its second survey later this month.