by Marla R. Butler

Partner and Patent Infringement Litigator
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.

Im a trial lawyer. I am a partner in an AmLaw 150 law firm. And I am a woman of color. I have spent my entire 14-year career at my law firm. I love my job. I love the law firm environment. And I have never considered going inhouse. And there are many, many others like me: women of color who appreciate and enjoy those aspects of the legal profession that you only get at a big firm. Yet there is a near 100% attrition rate among women of color associates at big firms. That means that, for all of our diversity efforts, for all the women of color we bring in through our summer associate programs and as first year associates, almost none of them makes partner. These women leave to hang their own shingle, to leave the profession altogether, or quite often to go in-house. And too many of them are leaving because they’ve given up. They wanted to join a law firm and they wanted to be successful there. But once there, they often feel marginalized, excluded and misunderstood. Accompanying those feelings is the observation that there are few, if any, women partners of color in their firm, from which they reasonably conclude that their chances of partnership are close to zero. I want to stop the bleeding.

“I want to stop meeting women associates of color who are telling me that they’re on the verge of giving up or that they have recently given up.”

I want to stop meeting women associates of color who are telling me that they’re on the verge of giving up or that they have recently given up. As to those who go in-house because they enjoy the corporate environment and want to do the very important job of counseling business teams from the inside, I am happy for them when they seek out and find those opportunities. But as to those who are leaving because they don’t feel they have any chance to succeed, here’s what I think can help:

  • Women of color partners have to extend a hand to women of color associates, whether it be mentoring, working to ensure quality case assignments, or–perhaps most importantly–working with firm management to ensure that inclusion is not just a goal, but is instead practiced in every conceivable way.
  • Law firms serious about diversity should hire a business development coach for one-on-one training for their high-potential women of color.
  • If you are an in-house lawyer with a relationship with a woman of color at a big firm, consider sending her business. If she does not have the level of experience you may need, identify the more seasoned lawyer from her firm who you want on the team, but send her the work.
  • If you are a woman of color and don’t have a more senior woman of color in your law firm with whom you’ve connected for mentorship, then look outside your firm. Find a woman of color at another firm, call her up, and ask her to lunch. Also, find a white male partner in your firm whom you admire, and ask him to lunch too. It just may be the most rewarding professional relationship you’ll ever have.

This article has been sponsored by:
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP

Marla R. Butler

Marla R. Butler

Partner and Patent Infringement Litigator
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.

Marla R. Butler is a partner and patent infringement litigator in the New York office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Her technology focus is high tech electronics and computers, including routers, semiconductors, hard disk drives and medical devices. She is a member of the firm’s Executive Board and Chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee.