According to a recent article at The Am Law Daily, just 30 percent of the 493 new partners named by 51 Am Law 200 firms at the beginning of this year are female – down from 24 percent in 2013 and 32 percent in 2012.

In five of the firms, not one female lawyer received a promotion to partner.  Two of the firms – Locke Lord and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher – categorized their all-male partnership class as an “anomaly” and said they were committed to gender equality.  Two other firms -- Edwards Wildman Palmer and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan – refused to discuss the matter with The Am Law Daily and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton did not respond.

Jaffe PR, which provides public relations services to law firms, had a post on its blog yesterday on how PR can help law firms boost their gender diversity profile.  Jaffe recommends that firms committed to demonstrating gender diversity should conduct an audit to determine their firm’s “PR diversity ratio”. 

The audit should collect data on the firm’s media quotes, speaking engagements and thought leadership efforts (articles, blogs, etc.) and then parse that data by gender, practice area and industry groups.  This will provide management with the firm’s PR diversity profile.

If the profile points up the need for improvement, firms should use these insights as a base for structuring a PR program aimed at boosting their PR diversity profile.  This may require some investment in media and public speaking training as well as additional efforts toward professional networking.