Ethnic minorities in the US legal profession are faring far worse that in other professions, a report by the American Bar Association (ABA) revealed last month.

Lawyers from ethnic minority backgrounds make up less than 10% of the profession, the research revealed, compared to more than double that figure in accountancy and medicine.


Less than 5% of partners in the top 250 US law firms were from ethnic minorities, with non-whites also at a disadvantage in winning judicial positions.


The report's author Elizabeth Chambliss, professor of law at New York Law School, said: 'The legal profession is more rankings conscious than other professions, so that class rank, school rank, and firm rank become the only criteria for judging professional potential and success. Such a system tends to promote inbreeding, which benefits the members of the already-dominant group.'


She added: 'Most recently, the US legal profession has been singled out as a target of litigation by opponents of educational affirmative action. The attack on affirmative action in law school admissions clearly has slowed the progress that we saw in the 1980s.'


The report said that for progress to occur, firms needed to show 'a visible and sustained commitment', for example by including diversity concerns in business plans and ensuring that responsibility for diversity initiatives is given to people with authority.