2023 Bright Insight: The 2023 National Legal Sector Benchmark Survey Results

Like many industries, the legal sector still has room to improve their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices for attorneys, leadership, and staff. The sector has made significant strides from where it once was prior to the American Bar Association’s

Resolution 113 which urged legal service providers to incorporate DEI practices into their business. However, results are varied across demographic areas and all areas have ample room for improvement.

In line with previous surveys, gender diversity is where firms rated their firm most highly in terms of DEI with 73% of respondents rating themselves as diverse (4 on the scale) or very diverse (5) with respect to gender . Diversity surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity has improved slightly YoY with the biggest gains seen in the 33% of firms ranking themselves as diverse, up from below 20%, while the rate of firms which consider themselves very diverse have essentially stagnated at 11%. Diversity surrounding race has also shown improvement with 39% of firms rating themselves as diverse or very diverse when it comes to racial demographics. A significant difference in religious diversity can be seen YoY with only 11% of firms ranking themselves as diverse or very diverse this year as firms rated themselves as diverse (3) on average, down from more than 40% last year.

On a scale from 1–5 (with 1 being not diverse at all, and 5 being very diverse), how would you rank your firm’s attorney diversity in each of the following areas?

5 (very diverse) 4 3 2 1 (not diverse at all)

100%

4%

4%

6%

10%

15%

23%

16%

12%

22%

24%

80%

34%

50%

60%

45%

31%

52%

40%

40%

33%

28%

24%

20%

25%

19%

33%

5% 6%

4% 3%

11%

11%

9%

0%

Gender

Sexual orientation / Gender identity

Race

Religion

Veteran status

Disability

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

28 | BRIGHT INSIGHT