Evaluations of law firms on diversity as good, adequate, or poor

In 2008, the law department of Waste Management asked every one of its outside firms to produce a two-page plan that assesses its people and their assignments to Waste Management matters. The law department graded every plan as “good,” “adequate,” or “poor.”

According to Diversity & the Bar, Vol. 10, Nov./Dec. 2008 at 33, this year, 18 percent of Waste Management’s firms had good plans, 56 percent had adequate plans, and 26 percent had poor plans. Firms that have poor plans resubmit them until the firm shows “demonstrative progress.” That requirement puts some teeth into the effort to encourage more use of diverse lawyers (See my post of June 17, 2008: diversity with 29 references.).