More and more law firms are turning to behavioral psychology and artificial intelligence in their hiring and recruiting processes, including Shearman & Sterling, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The practice is meant to help bring some empirical science into the hiring process and bring on more gender and racially diverse attorneys—but the process is not without its pitfalls, which can include reinforcing biases themselves.

Companies such as Suited, Thine and Parker Analytics are using machine learning, artificial intelligence and behavioral psychology to create better-informed systems for recruiting attorneys. Firms are turning to these companies to recruit more diverse classes of attorneys who, theoretically, are more likely to become successful lawyers down the road.