Law Firms
Law firm diversity benchmark sees drop in participation
The National Association for Law Placement, a source of information on diversity in the legal industry, reports fewer law offices provided demographic data this year for its survey. (Image from Shutterstock)
Nearly one-third fewer law offices provided demographic data this year to the National Association for Law Placement, a longtime source of information on diversity in the legal industry, Bloomberg Law reports.
The decrease in participation comes as the Trump administration has targeted diversity programs at law firms.
The NALP’s annual report states that the steepest drop in law firm participation in 2025, when compared with 2024, came from the largest firms, those with more than 700 attorneys.
Even with fewer responses, there are signs the profession is backsliding when it comes to diversity. More than 30 percent of law firm associates in 2025 were people of color, a slight decrease from the previous year and the first decline since 2010. The percentage of Black partners at law firms also dropped for the first time since 2014, according to Bloomberg Law.
NALP will offer to make the data anonymous moving forward to try to boost response rates. But that means law students and lawyers vetting potential employers, along with researchers, won’t get to see complete firm-by-firm demographic data, according to Bloomberg Law.
The Trump administration has been focusing on diversity recruiting programs used by a wide range of employers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year launched probes into 20 large firms, resulting in some firms striking deals with the White House before the probes were dropped in the face of litigation.
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