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    October 03, 2022

    ABA partners with Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals to enhance Model Diversity Survey

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2022 — The American Bar Association today announced its collaboration with the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP) to bolster data gathered through ABA’s Model Diversity Survey to assess diversity, equity and inclusion among law firms.

    The survey was adopted by the ABA in 2016 to review firm policies, practices and outcomes regarding hiring, attrition, promotion, leadership, work schedules and compensation based on responses from law firms nationwide. It encourages legal service providers to expand and create opportunities for attorneys from diverse backgrounds and urges buyers of legal services to direct a greater percentage of their legal spending toward diverse attorneys.

    The new partnership will help ensure that the most reliable data is available to advance diversity and equity in meaningful ways and strengthen diversity for law firms and their clients.

    “We’re confident this collaboration will help the ABA Model Diversity Survey stay current and prove even more useful to clients and law firms in their pursuit of greater diversity in the legal profession,” said ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross. “Expanding the use of and reliance on the survey is vital to supporting those seeking reliable data while decreasing the number of survey variants.”

    ABA Resolution 113, adopted in 2016, encourages legal departments to ask law firms to complete the survey and consider the information as a factor in deciding whether to retain a law firm for significant matters. ALFDP represents more than 350 law firm professionals working in diversity, equity and inclusion who seek to advance diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

    ALFDP Board President Karlie Ilaria, said, “We’re thrilled to partner with the ABA in bolstering the vital impacts of the Model Diversity Survey and underscore its place as the leading barometer that every law firm and legal department should ascribe to. The survey will uniquely provide clients and law firms with vital data, strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the legal profession.”

    The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.