Miami firm Steel Hector & Davis has been rated the top firm in the US for the diversity of its employees for the third year in a row, with nearly 37 per cent of its associates from ethnic minorities.
According to the Diversity Scorecard, a survey by US publication The National Law Journal, non-New York firms dominated the top five, with Miami and California well represented.
Two Californian firms made new entries into the top 20: San Francisco-based Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, which moved up eight places to thirteenth this year, and Los Angeles firm Irell & Manella, which jumped 31 places to twentieth.
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, which was rated fourth, was the highest-ranking New York firm, with some 20 per cent of its associates coming from ethnic minorities.