Quotas: Alternatives to government intervention

USA law firms and students have taken an interesting approach to resolve the painful and divisive issue of diversity and opportunity in their industry. The students grade them on the level of workforce diversity and publish the report card. Then it is up to the student community and the clients to decide if they wanted to do business with a particular firm.

The students have ambitious plans, including asking elite schools to restrict recruiting by firms at the bottom of their rankings. They also plan to send the rankings to the general counsels of the Fortune 500 companies with the suggestion that they be used in selecting lawyers.

“Firms that want the best students will be forced to respond to the market pressures that we’re creating,” said Andrew Bruck, a law student at Stanford and a leader of the project.

In a globalized world where there is international concern about caste based discrimination such report cards might be exactly what the doctor would prescribe to Indian industry.