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Diversity fleeting at tip of top law firms

By Linda A. Moore
Commercial Appeal | Sunday, May 16, 2004


Five months ago attorney Christopher Campbell became a partner at Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh, PLLC - and joined an exclusive club. Of the 256 partners, or owners, in Memphis's top 10 law firms, nine are African-American.

Campbell, one of two black partners at Harris Shelton, made the typical six- or seven-year trek to an ownership stake in the firm in five years.

"I may be an aberration," he said.

Making partner isn't easy, regardless of race.

But in a city as diverse as Memphis, why do African-Americans represent such a small percentage of partners at the city's top law firms?

Some say they don't want to. Others don't view integrating the inner sanctum of Memphis's top white law firms as a professional priority.

"Some African-American lawyers see it's in their economic best interest to not aspire to be a partner in a majority firm," said Elijah Noel Jr., the other black partner at Harris Shelton.

Larger firms usually focus on business law.

"A lot of African-Americans who go to law school go to affect change and a lot of them choose work on the plaintiff side or they do public interest work," said Bruce McMullen, the only black partner at Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey, Johnson & Mitchell.

And in Memphis, there is more work for black lawyers in criminal, bankruptcy or personal injury law.

Also, black lawyers who start at majority firms often build their business doing government work, said Sandra McQuain, a partner with Howell McQuain Strategies, a marketing and consulting firm to the legal and medical professions.

"Government work doesn't pay top-dollar rates like corporations," McQuain said, and firms aren't supportive of practices that don't bring in top dollars.

As a result, those lawyers can make more working for themselves.

The National Bar Association, the oldest association for lawyers of color, doesn't see encouraging black lawyers to diversify white firms as partners as an objective.

"That's not our primary concern," said John Crump, the association's executive director. "We're more interested in minority lawyers establishing their own firms.

"We would be much more interested in the other side of the coin, looking at who those (white)firms represent and inquire why they don't hire some of the minority firms to do the same thing."

Still, it's a career path some want to pursue. It's also not impossible.

"I think the challenges are somewhat the same, no matter what race you are," Campbell said.

Older lawyers might also say that Campbell is working in a different world.

"The challenges are not as great today as they were in 1972 when I started practicing law," said Noel, who in 1975 was a partner at Ratner Sugarmon & Lucas in Memphis, the South's first integrated law firm.

"At that time there were no Africa-American partners and for that matter no African-American lawyers at major firms. So certainly the situation has improved over time," Noel said. "Firms now say it's in our economic best interest to have African-American partners where they would not have said that when Henry Loeb was mayor of Memphis."

But being hired as an associate doesn't guarantee a partnership.

"The different phases in the legal profession require different skill sets," McMullen said. "At the partnership level you get more into your entrepreneurial type of skill sets."

It's at that level that you "eat what you kill," McQuain said.

Partners are paid based on the business they bring to the firm. With an absence of African-Americans at the decision-making level in corporations, black lawyers may also be without the connections to bring business to the firms.

"I think that's changing, but it's a slow process," she said.

And while race is a delicate issue to address, it is also a factor within law firms, said Cheryl Patterson, a partner in Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs and the only African-American female partner among the top nine firms.

"We're all putting our heads in the sand if you think that on a daily basis you don't run into people who think race matters," Patterson said. "I think we probably don't run into as many who think it is the only thing that matters, as they did years ago."

How diverse law firms become will depend upon their clients.

"I think there are still some partners in some firms who feel like they will have to diversify to the extent that their clients require it. But if their clients don't require it, it's not an issue," Patterson said.

It's up to the law firms to diversify their lawyer pool, said Ben Adams, managing partner at Baker, Donelson Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz.

"We just think it's good business that our firm should more closely resemble our client base and the communities that we serve. And it's the right thing to do," Adams said.

The firm recruits from a range of law schools, including several schools with predominantly African-American student populations, like Howard University.

But Memphis firms are competing with firms from larger cities.

"The pool is somewhat biased toward major markets like Atlanta, where they perceive their opportunities to be greater," Adams said.

But firms can do more, said McMullen, who understands the challenge, both as a student, young lawyer and a partner involved in recruiting and hiring.

"Take more chances," he said.

When selecting candidates, law firms decide on arbitrary cutoffs like the top 10 percent in a class.

"A lot of times an African American may have come from a different environment and the grades may not be at the top 10 percent or the top 20 percent, but that person may perform well at your law firm," he said. "Don't be afraid to offer more opportunities and if it doesn't work, don't be afraid to say it didn't work out."

Firms can also work on retention.

"I don't think it's anything slanted against black lawyers in general," said Alan Wade, who was a partner at Baker Donelson for 21 years before starting a practice of his own last year.

"I don't think firms have any adversity, I just think the nature of the process in big firms really alienates black lawyers in general," Wade said.

A big part of the problem is that lack of mentoring.

"Law firms are terrible at mentoring young professionals, regardless of race," McQuain said. "When you bring in a minority attorney and even women attorneys, that gets exaggerated," she said. "I think those firms that have been successful in recruiting talented black lawyers lose them because they don't have good mentoring programs."

Ultimately, much lies with the lawyer.

Former Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division president Herman Morris joined Baker Donelson this spring and is the only African-American partner in the Memphis office.

"One of the things that made it very attractive to me was the scale and footprint of the firm," Morris said.

With 10 offices around the South and Washington, 369 lawyers, and its work in energy and utilities law, the firm offered the kind of environment Morris said he couldn't find at a black firm in Memphis or elsewhere in the state.

"This one, frankly, fit my particular needs at this time better," said Morris, also a veteran of Ratner Sugarmon.

And while Wade does not regret his time at Baker Donelson, leaving was the right thing for him.

"It was the appropriate time to do it," he said. "And for me, the cost of doing business is a leaner, meaner kind of deal, whereas over there, you subsidize a whole big enterprise."

And, times have changed.

"The whole landscape has changed," Wade said. "You don't need to bust doors down anymore. You can create them yourself."



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