According to a recent analysis from Above the Law, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the legal industry remain heavily skewed toward attorneys. While law firms have made measurable strides in diversifying their lawyer ranks, the same attention has not been extended to paralegals, legal assistants, and other non-lawyer professionals. The report suggests this disparity is not accidental but reflects where firms choose to invest time and resources.
The piece notes that non-lawyer staff often face different hiring, promotion, and retention challenges, yet DEI committees and training programs rarely address them. Even when firms publicly tout inclusive policies, the implementation tends to focus on the attorney pipeline, leaving support roles with fewer mentorship opportunities and less accountability for diversity outcomes.
No conflicting data or counterarguments appear in the source. The author’s main point is consistent: the legal industry’s DEI progress is uneven, and the non-lawyer side lags behind. The article does not offer specific statistics but frames the gap as a systemic issue that firms have yet to confront directly.