Washington Lawyer - September/October 2020 - 5

YOUR VOICE

Missing Piece in
Diversity Conversation
FEATURE

HIGHER AMBITION

Unfortunately, your concept of "diversity" is
shockingly narrow. . . . It is puzzling that your
June 2020 article "Moving the Needle on Law
Firm Diversity" did not reference persons with
disabilities.

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Moving the Needle
on Law Firm Diversity

While it is indeed heartening to see that law
firms are paying attention to diversity in their
workforce, I was extremely disappointed that
no mention was made of including individuals
with disabilities as part of a focus on diversity.
As a former disability rights advocate, when
I think of inclusion, I automatically think of
individuals with disabilities. Persons with
disabilities should be included in any conver-
sations about inclusion.
Nancy Reder
McLean, Virginia
The June 2020 edition of Washington Lawyer
focused on increasing diversity in law offices,
public and private, yet provided no answers
except for the confusing suggestion that firms
should stop recruiting graduates based on
class standing and GPA. All well and good, but
what, pray tell, should law firms actually be
looking for?
Michael J. Barrett
Ashburn, Virginia

In 2010 the U.S. Census Bureau reported that
one in five Americans has a disability. Of these
57 million Americans, many have law degrees
but have been systematically shut out of the
legal profession. Your article cites the efforts
of law firms to increase the representation of
women and minorities among their staff and
leadership. For unexplained reasons, the article
did not cite the abysmally low rates of employment for attorneys with disabilities. Specifically,
the rate of employment in law firms for disabled
attorneys has now risen to a level of one-half of
1 percent, down from two-tenths of 1 percent
in the prior decade. This change is paltry given
that persons with disabilities are the largest
minority group in the United States.
The same Census report proves that the rates
of poverty and unemployment for persons with
disabilities are vastly larger than those for other
Americans. Specifically, 41 percent of Americans
with disabilities were employed compared to 79
percent of able-bodied Americans. Moreover,
the rate of persistent poverty for persons with
disabilities is 10.8 percent compared to 3.8
percent for Americans with no disability.
Redefining diversity to exclude economically
marginalized people is a slur against the
concept of social justice.
While you are to be encouraged for your initial,
tentative efforts to highlight diversity among
private law firms, it is unconscionable that your
article does not address the plight of attorneys
at the lower socioeconomic scale. You really
need to do better.

JULY/AUGUST 2020

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Washington Lawyer - September/October 2020

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