Only nine of the 250 new partners brought into Chicago's 21 top law firms since 1987 were members of minority groups, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Chicago Reporter.

Minorities make up only 1.2 percent of partners in those firms, making the firms as "white today as they were three years ago," according to the survey by the non-profit monthly, which looks at racial issues in the Chicago area.

However, in the past many prestigious firms, both locally and nationally, have responded to criticism of their hiring practices by saying they only take those ranked in the top 25 percent of their class in the top 15 law schools in the nation.