WHY ARE THERE SO FEW BLACK LAWYERS IN CORPORATE-LAW FIRMS - AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS

Although the number of black students graduating from law schools has increased significantly in recent decades, blacks still make sip a ver y small minority of the lawyers working in large corporate law firms. Available data indicate that these firms hire few blacks, and that tho se they do hire are more likely than their white peers to leave the fi rms before becoming partners. Conventional explanations blame the unde rrepresentation of blacks in corporate firms on either the racism of f irms and their clients, or a shortage of qualified, interested black c andidates. While acknowledging that in some instances these factors ma y help to explain the problem, this Article looks behind them to exami ne institutional factors that tend to perpetuate the existing underrep resentation. Specifically, the Article shows how the ways in which lar ge corporate firms recruit and train lawyers tend both to shield discr iminatory choices between black and white candidates from any competit ive disadvantage, and to discourage black law students and lawyers fro m investing in skills that will enable them to succeed within corporat e firms. Thus, the Article argues, firms' hiring and training decision s both shape and are shaped by the strategic choices of black candidat es, with the net effect of keeping all but a few blacks from being hir ed and succeeding in the firm setting. Finally, this Article explores the implications of these incentives for five commonly proposed tools for diversifying corporate law firms: anti-discrimination laws, race-n eutral institutional reforms, diversity education within firms, demand -creation initiatives, and supply-side initiatives to encourage hiring and promotion of black lawyers.