The Legal Profession
and Diversity,
Part II
Law Firms Are Striving to Preserve and Promote
More Women and People of Color. Here”s How.
When Clara Saafir entered the legal profession five years ago, she was well aware of
the career challenges that she would face
while raising her then 10-year-old daughter. “
Naturally, my daughter is my priority,” insists the single
mom. “But I've never accepted that I had to choose
between a meaningful relationship with her and a successful career.”
SHUTTERSTOCK
Fortunately for Saafir, she has not had to make
that choice. Over the years, she has worked at two
law firms in Texas that have valued her talents and
recognized the importance of work/life balance for
employees. When Saafir’s daughter was young, for
example, she sometimes did her homework in a law-firm conference room while Saafir and her colleagues
debated litigation strategies for the client-of-the-hour
nearby. Today, after moving on to another major
firm, the sixth-year associate finds continued career
support and encouragement to build professional con-
nections through involvement in local
bar associations and professional groups.
Saafir is not alone in her desire for work/life balance. According to a national survey of more than
1,400 law-school graduates, nearly half of the female
respondents reported that work/life balance was the
No. 1 reason for choosing their current employer.
And as corporate America increasingly demands that
the demographic makeup of outside counsel be in
sync with the nation’s population, more private practices are rethinking their traditional business structures
to retain women, people of color, gays and lesbians,
Gen-X and Y employees and aging boomers who
want to prolong their careers.
Moreover, “as more women and minority in-house
counsel rise to positions of hiring outside counsel,
they will look for outside counsel with whom they
share values,” reports the Project for Attorney Retention (PAR), a research organization that studies work/
