Insights

July 26 is National Disability Independence Day, a federally recognized day to celebrate the 1990 signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is "a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public." While its...

For a while now, some of the most passionate advocates for greater equity, inclusion and diversity in the legal industry have questioned how firms with no representation of certain minority groups could be receiving the highest scores on ALM’s annual “Diversity Scorecard.”

As anyone who closely watches trends in law firm DEI knows, “progress” is about a lot more than just the demographic numbers. Beyond increasing representation across...

“I feel like we had a lot of conversations, and moms were very honest about how stressed we are and how burned out we are, and nothing has changed from a policy level, from a public health standpoint.”

This quote comes from a working mother featured in a recent NBC News article about the role of...

Modern law firms know that fostering a culture of inclusion is key to retaining top talent, especially lawyers from underrepresented groups. In recent years, many firms have made changes to areas like recruiting, mentoring and professional development programming to increase the sense of belonging for all members of the firm. These are good first steps.

But true inclusion requires an assessment of all aspects of the...

More law firms than ever before are finally starting to get it: Inclusion is a key value and must be the thread running through every aspect of firm management. In the past few years, we’ve seen many firms take substantive action to improve policies and practices. It’s not perfect, but very slowly, our profession may be moving in a positive direction.

However, this greater understanding does not always translate to internal and external communications around inclusion or equity...