Law Times

Law Times • June 20, 2011 NEWS PAGE 5 Some firms whiter than others: report author BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times fi rms are whiter than others, ac- cording to a report released ear- lier this month that showed wide divergences in visible minority representation among partners. Th e DiverseCity Counts re- B port, released by the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, surveyed visible minorities in leadership positions in the le- gal fi eld in the Greater Toronto Area. It found that visible mi- norities make up just 6.6 per cent of partners at the city's 20 largest law fi rms. But report author Wendy Cukier tells Law Times that in- dividual tallies at the 20 fi rms ranged from 0.9 per cent to 10.8 per cent. "What was quite striking was the variation within the sector. Th e gaps are very interesting, and when you break it down, there are huge diff erences among Bay Street fi rms," says Cukier, who declined to name and shame the worst performers. "It suggests that some have made diversity a priority and have put processes in place to ensure better representation," she adds. Th e report surveyed 3,300 leadership positions in the cor- porate, public, elected, educa- tional, and non-profi t sectors. Th is year, for the fi rst time in its three-year history, it included more than 2,000 senior positions from the legal fi eld. It surveyed law schools, governing bodies, major law fi rm partners, judges, and Crown attorneys. Overall, visible minorities rep- resented 14.5 per cent of leader- ship positions in the Toronto area, up from 13.4 per cent in 2009. But that's still way off representa- tion in the general population at almost 50 per cent. Th e legal fi eld fares even worse, with just 6.8 per cent of its leadership roles fi lled by people from visible minority groups, despite the fact that they account for 14.4 per cent of the profession in the city. Cukier hopes the results will spur more action in the profes- sion. "Legal fi rms are not gener- ally at the cutting edge of human resources processes. Th ey tend to be a bit behind the curve in terms of thinking about man- agement issues. Th e fact that some of these organizations don't publish this information, and we had to really dig for it in some places, may be some indication that tracking the numbers is not high on their priority list." Julia Shin Doi, president of the Federation of Asian Cana- dian Lawyers, welcomed the report. "For the last 20 years, minorities have been underrep- resented in the profession, and this raises further awareness," she says. "Clearly still a long way to go, but it puts the issue top of mind, which is really helpful." Julia Hanigsberg, vice presi- dent of administration and fi - nance at Ryerson and the uni- versity's former general counsel, Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 6/14/11 11:12:43 AM Executors need your good counsel – and E&O insurance. 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Th is gives us some num- bers and a sort of baseline reading from which to start building." She says eff orts like A Call to Action Canada and the Le- gal Leaders for Diversity and Inclusiveness that commit general counsel to considering diversity in hiring and purchas- ing practices show the legal profession is taking the issue seriously. She adds that with major global growth centres shifting to places like India and China, large law fi rms have an incentive to increase diversity. "I feel like there's momentum building up around this issue and it's important to capitalize on it," Hanigsberg says. "If we just wait for the progress to hap- pen, it's going to be at a snail's Hanigsberg says she was par- 'There's a sense of disappoint- ment but not surprise,' says Julia Hanigsberg. pace, not the quantum leap that we want. You can't just wait for the demographics to catch up because the experience with women shows us that you could be waiting forever. We've had 50 per cent women at law schools for decades now and progress hasn't happened naturally." ticularly surprised by the lack of visible minority representation among provincial Crown at- torneys and judges. None of the GTA's fi ve Crown attorney posi- tions or its nine deputies were fi lled by people from visible mi- nority groups. Among judges, the Ontario Court of Justice had the best representation at 15.9 per cent. In the Superior Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal, the number was just over four per cent. Among justices of the peace, visible minority representation leaps to 44.4 per cent. Ministry of the Attorney Gen- eral spokesman Brendan Crawley said that while the ministry doesn't keep statistics on the ethnic back- grounds of staff , it has a "very di- verse group of people within the Crown attorney system, which includes visible minorities." Crawley also said the judicial appointments advisory commit- tee is required by law to recognize the province's diversity in its rec- ommendations. But Cukier says the problem isn't with the ap- pointments process but the small number of visible minorities in the selection pool that largely looks to the upper echelons of the private bar. "It's not overt discrimina- tion but it's systemic," she says. "Th ose who don't self-select out may lack some of the networks or an understanding of how to attract and retain clients, which are the core skills of moving up at a law fi rm." As a result, Cukier recom- mends greater transparency in the processes for judicial and Crown attorney appointments. She notes targets for visible minority repre- sentation will help boost numbers and says mentoring is essential for young lawyers. For her part, Shin Doi says her group will play a vital role. "We assist in providing a net- work for visible minority legal professionals," she says. "We all have something to contribute, and it's incumbent on all of us to champion diversity." www.ERAssure.com

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