Ballard Spahr Ranks Among Best Firms for Minority Lawyers

Ballard Spahr has been ranked as one of the top 10 law firms of its size for minority lawyers by Law360's Diversity Snapshot.

Law360 surveyed more than 300 firms and divided them into four groups based on number of lawyers as of December 31, 2017. For firms with 300–599 attorneys, Ballard Spahr tied for the tenth best firm out of 14 that were ranked for minority lawyers—with 18.8 percent of non-partners and 10.5 percent of the partnership composed of equity partners of color.

"Our lawyers at all levels—from associate to partner—recognize the value and importance of diversity to our clients, our firm, and our profession," Ballard Spahr Chair Mark Stewart said. "We have made meaningful strides in creating a workplace in which every lawyer has opportunities for professional achievement and advancement and we will not veer from that path. Although we are grateful for the recognition, we know that much more needs to be done, and we will use this survey result as motivation to do better."

The firm sponsors an affinity group for diverse lawyers, which includes minority attorneys. It hosts yearly resume writing and interviewing skills workshops for first-year diverse law students, diversity fellowships to attract and recruit diverse law students, and diverse lawyer networking events.

In addition to the Law360 distinction, Ballard Spahr was ranked in the top 20 percent of Am Law 200 firms for minority equity partners last year.

The firm also is consistently recognized for its support of women attorneys. Last year, it was sixth among all major law firms for percentage of female equity partners, according to a report by The American Lawyer. It was listed as one of the top 50 law firms for women lawyers by the National Law Journal's Female Scorecard, which ranks the nation's largest law firms according to their percentages of women attorneys. For the last two years, the firm was named one of the 100 best U.S. law firms for women attorneys in Law360's Glass Ceiling report.