letter from Rick Palmore Chair of the LCLD Board of Directors

The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity builds on the work of many others in our field who saw the need to advance diversity and began the work to meet that need. The 1999 document, "Diversity in the Workplace—A Statement of Principle," is early evidence of a concerted effort to break down barriers and encourage new thinking. Chief Legal Officers of at least 500 major corporations signed it.

But diversity—in any profession—demands sustained effort. In fact, it requires increasing levels of commitment, at higher and higher levels of leadership.

That will be the legacy of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity: the active, sustained and increasing engagement of the top leaders of the legal profession.

It is at that level—with the involvement of the managing partners of the nation's leading law firms and of the general counsels of the nation's leading corporations—that great and significant improvements can be made, measured, and multiplied.

It is also imperative that the LCLD work in collaboration with other organizations committed to diversity in the legal profession. Much more can be accomplished as we look for ways to partner, share wisdom and experience, and celebrate the wins, wherever they are initiated.