Statistics would not dispute the fact that the typical law firm was very nearly homogenous fifty, or even twenty years ago. According to the American Bar Foundation, in 1980, only 8 percent of lawyers in the United States were female. In 1991, a mere 20 percent of lawyers were female, while only 3.3 percent were African American and 2.5 percent Hispanic or Latino. Locally, the lack of diversity was even more pressing. As recently as 2000, 24.6 percent of Kansas City lawyers were female, 4.4 percent were African American and less than 1 percent were Hispanic or Latino, all percentages lower than the national average according to the U.S. Census. A call to action on diversity came from clients and companies throughout the United States. Understanding the importance of diversity to their clients, the legal professionals of Kansas City acknowledged the imperative and responded.

“Law firms across the country started paying attention to what they were doing to recruit, retain and promote diverse attorneys,” recalls Mischa Buford Epps, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon and a current member and former chair of its diversity committee. “In Kansas City, individual law firms started to step up diversity efforts.” A major part of this “stepping up” involved the creation of the Diversity Initiative that twenty-seven area law firms signed in December of 2003. The intention of the action plan, which was created by the Diversity Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, was to implement “best practices” to recruit and retain a workforce diverse not only in race and ethnicity, but also in gender, religion, sexual orientation and disability status.



While the Diversity Initiative does not set numbers goals for its signatories, it does outline proactive measures. The seven objectives of the document cover hiring initiatives, mentoring programs, recruitment, training programs, and the appointment of a diversity director. Law firms have developed minority scholarships at local law schools and summer internship programs, while flexible schedules and the inclusion of “part-time partners” encourage female attorneys to balance their careers and families.

“The Diversity Initiative represents the first time that competing law firms banded together to address this issue,” says Sylvester “Sly” James, Jr., who was president of the KCMBA at the time of the signing and the second African American president of the organization. He is current chair of the KCMBA Diversity Committee. “In short, there is a greater awareness, a concentrated focus on diversity.” James praises the Diversity Initiative for uniting law firms and students. A legacy of the initiative is the Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair, which will conduct its fourth annual session this summer. Last year, the job fair hosted 130 students from 44 law schools around the country. Participants had the opportunity to interview with 30 law firms and agencies in the area. On average, each student participated in seven interviews, and 70 percent were called back for an additional interview. Of these call-backs, 40 percent resulted in a job offer. While Kansas City may not yet offer as diverse an attorney population as cities like Atlanta or Chicago, the job fair underlines our welcoming attitude toward diverse candidates about to begin a career. “Diversity in Kansas City, on a number of levels, is lacking,” says James. “Instead of us sitting around talking about why people wouldn’t want to come here, we should talk about why people should want to come here.”