Numbers of Diverse Chief Legal Officers at Top U.S. Companies Increase

Numbers of Diverse Chief Legal Officers at Top U.S. Companies Increase
MCCA Releases Annual General Counsel Survey Results

WASHINGTON D.C. – According to the results of Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s (MCCA) annual survey of Fortune 1000 women and minority General Counsel, 72 attorneys of color (7.2 percent) are serving in the rank of their company’s chief legal officer. This is an increase from last year’s survey, but still pales to the proportion of diversity in the general U.S. population, which is currently 35 percent non-Caucasian.

Other highlights from this year’s survey include:

• There are 48 General Counsel of color in the Fortune 500, 29 men and 19 women, compared with 45 (27 men and 18 women) from last year’s survey.
• The race/ethnicity of these 48 are:  25 African Americans, 13 Asian Americans, and 10 Hispanic Americans.
•  In the next tier of companies, the Fortune 501 -1000, there are 24 additional diverse chief legal leaders, 17 men and seven women.
• There are 11 African Americans, 8 Hispanic Americans, and five Asian Americans in this group of 24.

“This year’s survey results show positive steps,” said Joseph K. West, MCCA President and CEO, “but not enough. We need to ensure that more diverse students are entering law school, graduating and succeeding at their legal careers, and progressing on to leadership roles in the profession. MCCA continues its work towards this goal.”

MCCA bases its survey on Fortune magazine’s annual list of America’s largest corporations, which was released in May. MCCA then independently verifies the race of each General Counsel. The full survey of Fortune 1000 women and minority General Counsel and accompanying analysis appears in the September/October 2013 issue of Diversity & the Bar, MCCA’s bi-monthly publication, and is on the MCCA website, www.mcca.com and in this link here.

MCCA was founded in 1997 to advance the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse attorneys in legal departments and the law firms that serve them. MCCA accomplishes its mission through publishing, research and training, pipeline initiatives and networking. MCCA’s work has been recognized with awards from the National Minority Business Council, Inc., the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National LGBT Bar, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. MCCA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. For more information, go to mcca.com.