West Michigan Black Legal Summit prepares inaugural event

A first-of-its-kind event in West Michigan next month will showcase and bring together Black legal professionals, as the biggest law firms in the area continue to sharpen their talent recruitment strategies to attract more diverse employees.

Organizers say the inaugural West Michigan Black Legal Summit could provide a crucial opportunity for Black legal professionals to network and grow as employers address the historical lack of diversity in the field, particularly in West Michigan.

Mandice McAllister, DEI manager at Warner Norcross + Judd LLP and a member of the summit planning committee, said the idea for the event stemmed from discussions about continuing “progress as a place where all legal talent can thrive” as West Michigan continues to grow.

“We thought: Wouldn’t it be great to create a dedicated space where Black attorneys and legal professionals can come together, learn together and brainstorm how to chart that path forward toward representation in our area?” McAllister said.

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The Sept. 5 event takes place at Warner Norcross + Judd’s downtown Grand Rapids office, and includes a keynote address from Deesha Dyer, founder and CEO of consulting firm Hook & Fasten who previously served as the social secretary for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Breakout sessions will examine the historical and current representation of Black professionals in the legal sector, the need for self-care and stress management, and actionable ways to grow West Michigan’s Black legal community.

“If we want to build a legal community where diverse attorneys, Black attorneys, women, and attorneys of all backgrounds are able to thrive, we have to be intentional,” McAllister said. “By coming together as a collective to put on this summit … not only are we strengthening the individual careers of attorneys who will attend, but we’re contributing to the broader movement of equity in our profession.”

According to a 2022 report from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, a survey of 214 U.S. law firms found that 79% of attorneys were white, followed by attorneys with an Asian background (9%), Hispanic/Latinx (5%) and African American/Black (4.5%). Women also are underrepresented in the industry, accounting for less than 40% of all attorneys “when they should be half to reflect the balance in the U.S. population,” according to the report.

However, representation of women, people of color and LGBTQ attorneys continues to improve. The National Association of Law Placement found that — for the first time ever — women made up the majority of associates in 2023 and saw record growth at the partner level. As well, associates of color had the largest ever year-over-year gain since the NALP began tracking law firm diversity data in 1991.

Organizers of the Black Legal Summit aim to create actionable strategies that further improve representation in West Michigan.

Michelle Crockett, chief diversity officer and principal at the Detroit office of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC, which is among six large firms co-sponsoring the event, underscored the importance of “action” coming out of the summit.

“Summits are great, we can talk about things all day long, but we have to put something into action,” Crockett said.

“I think (the event) is particularly important in West Michigan because we’ve historically had some challenges with identifying Black talent in that area of the state and retaining that talent,” Crockett said. “To the extent we can come together, collaborate and hopefully come up with some different initiatives or ideas as to how we can better retain and identify and attract Black talent to the area, I’m all in.”

Recruiting strategies

While representation of people of color in the field is improving overall, the National Association of Law Placement also found that the representation of summer associates of color declined in 2023 after five years of year-over-year increases.

To improve the diversity of the legal profession’s talent pipeline, law schools and firms are taking more proactive recruitment steps to reach undergraduate students.

For example, Warner Norcorss + Judd for the past few years has issued a $20,000 diversity scholarship for first-year law students who may identify by race, as LGBTQ or with a disability.

“Debt is such a huge barrier to law school in general. (The scholarship) is a game changer,” said Carin Ojala, Warner Norcross + Judd’s director of recruiting and professional development.

Warner Norcross + Judd also participates in the Mansfield Rule, a certification process for law firms that “encourages us and mandates that we consider people from under-represented groups when doing our hiring process,” Ojala said.

Crockett said Miller Canfield was the first Michigan law firm to be Mansfield-certified when it adopted the rule in 2017.

The Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule started as a pilot program in 2016 as a structured certification process that helps law firms build more diverse teams and C-suites. As of this year, the program has more than 360 U.S. and Canadian law firms participating.

The Mansfield certification is “really important in how we go about recruiting,” Crockett said, adding that the firm ensures that at least 30% of its applicant pools for all attorney and executive-level positions are women, people of color, LGBTQ or individuals with disabilities.

“From there, we select the best qualified people to fill vacancies,” Crockett said. “That’s been a real game changer.”

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