Just wanted to shout out this bowl for giving me the nudge to start researching black attorney representation stats at the top law firms in the country. I’ve been handling the research in my free time for the past few months and have finished reviewing 19 firms so far. I came across Sullivan & Cromwell’s black Associate numbers a couple days ago and was taken aback. It’s really hard to surprise me on this but I’ve been really disappointed with their numbers specifically (7/407 Associates): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brysonmalcolm_sullivan-cromwell-llp-one-of-the-most-activity-7216838270641418241-RQ4d
I came across this on my linked in today. Thank you for posting! My firm year didn’t have ANY black summers but yet had “diverse” ones (aka women and white gay men). Even our 1L diversity scholar was from Eastern Europe. glad to know that this trend isn’t just in my head
They probably hired one and let them go within a week. I had a bad similar experience this summer and learned this is not uncommon for us. To be the only and then let go right at the start. Similar reasons, we “asked too many questions.”
Enthusiast
This may also be of interest to you:
Per the New York Times, Sullivan recently announced a policy that “participation in a protest — on campus or off — could be a disqualifying factor” for a job.
Even attending a protest could disqualify an applicant. “Candidates could face scrutiny even if they weren’t using problematic language but were involved with a protest where others did. The protesters should be responsible for the behavior of those around them.”
If a firm doesn't accept me for being apart of blsa, then that's not a firm I will accept. Blsa was one of my best experiences in law school and some of my best friends I met through blsa!
Thanks for your research. I’d be interested to know how many of of those 7 are junior associates. For example, my current firm looks like a mecca for black associates within BigLaw but the minute you jump to 3rd year and above whatever existing diversity existed at the lower years all but vanishes.
(1) 2023, (2) 2021, (4) 2019 and that’s it. There’s one Associate who is technically 2018 but they’re treated as a class of 2019 because S&C refused to give them class credit for both their year long clerkship and year long public interest role. There are 4 class of 2023 law clerks who are Black as well but aren’t on the firm site and aren’t admitted to the bar.
Even as a black foreigner you know firms to avoid regardless of “prestige”. Biglaw is hard for everyone and especially hard for black people. But I promise you that it’s a whole nother level of insanity for black folks in some of these firms.
Enthusiast
SW1: Can you share the firm’s vault ranking range or other non-specific info, like city, size, and industry specialty? I’m so sorry you experienced this. I hope you found a better job.