News release and findings “The latest NALP [National Association for Law Placement] findings on law firm demographics reveal that the overall representation of women and minority lawyers in law firms declined between 2009 and 2010, likely a casualty of massive lawyer layoffs during the 2008-2009 recession. In 2010, the percentage of women and minority partners in law firms across the nation was actually slightly higher than in 2009. Among associates, however, representation of women and minorities declined slightly, for the first time since NALP started compiling this information in the 1990s. The net effect was that, for lawyers as a whole, representation of both women and minorities declined slightly. Minorities now make up just 12.40% of lawyers at these law firms, compared with 12.59% in 2009. Just under one-third of lawyers at these same firms are women — 32.69% in 2010 compared with 32.97% in 2009. Minority women now account for just over 6% of lawyers at these firms — 6.20% in 2010 compared with 6.33% in 2009.”