Irell & Manella has a new managing partner: Ellisen Turner. When I first read that news, I thought ho-hum. Another man for the top job. But then I glanced down at the page and saw Turner's photo, and my reaction was: Wow. He's African-American!
Anyone who pretends that she didn't react the way I did is, well, pretending. I know I'm suppose to do the P.C. thing and act like Turner's race is irrelevant. Which, I guess, is why a lot of the coverage about his elevation focused on his clients and previous roles on the firm's executive committee.
But let's get real: Being a black leader of a top firm is Y-U-G-E. (Irell & Manella ranked No. 1 on Am Law's A-list in 2016 and had $2.98 million in profit per partner.)
So I decided to go straight to Turner to talk about just that: race and how that figures in his career. Below is an edited version of our conversation.
It s a big deal for anyone to be elected head of a firm. But you must feel everyone is paying extra attention because you're the first black leader at this very elite firm. Do you feel the pressure?
For anyone whether women or minorities you feel this additional pressure. You don t want to fail that community. Even if someone says, "I don t feel that pressure," there's pressure.
Are colleagues and friends saying things like, "You'd better not screw up."?
No, it s more self-imposed. If you re part of a group, you know people are looking to you for success. You feel the pressure for the firm to do well, and you want to feed your family. But this is different pressure. My dad was one of the Norfolk 17 who integrated public schools in Norfolk, Virginia. I know what real pressure is like. And this doesn t compare to what my dad went through. They were spat upon, and people tried to stab them.
You're 41, and you're a generation away from legendary black lawyers like Ted Wells. Do you think you had a much easier time than your predecessors?
Absolutely. I know what their experiences were like. The original six black lawyers who made it in major firms among them, Irell partner Henry Shields, O'Melveny partner Gil Ray and Skadden partner Michael Lawson came out to LA because New York firms wouldn t hire them. It s better now because it's a different question. It's not whether you can be hired but how can you succeed.
So have you faced prejudice in your career?
Yes! I live in the United States, after all. When I was interviewing at firms, a partner invited me to go to the firm's box at a Lakers game. When I went showed up, one of the first things a partner there said to me was, "We have enough soda." He assumed I was there to serve them. I didn t go to that firm. That attitude is there. There are people who have not interacted much with blacks, who can't imagine that a young black man could be a lawyer.