Diversity in the Legal Profession: A Problem that Persists
Part Two
**On June 4, 2020 the Washington Supreme Court issued an open letter to the judiciary and legal community recognizing deep-seated and continuing institutional racial injustice and calling for action to address systemic inequities. The Washington State Law Library is dedicated to furthering the Court’s goal by publishing stories that highlight the historical context surrounding systemic racism and efforts to dismantle it.**
In Part One of Diversity in the Legal Profession: A Problem that Persists we reported on the lack of diversity in the practice of law and explored some of the reasons this is the case. In this post we will explore efforts that are being made to diversify the profession and offer resources for further reading.
Mentorship
The lack of diversity in the legal field is persistent and pervasive, requiring new approaches to the problem. Mentoring has been a standard tool in the profession’s toolbox for increasing diversity. Innovative and careful approaches to mentoring have been recognized to achieve better results than traditional methods.
In Washington, mentorship opportunities are available through cultural and community affiliation bar associations and programs and programs such as the Washington Joint Minority Mentorship Program and Washington Leadership Institute. Fellowship programs such as the Gregoire Fellows Program and the Legal Employers Advancing Diversity (LEAD-WA) program also bring participating employers together with diverse law students to provide mentorship and guidance for a summer.
Efforts are also being made around the country to introduce the possibility of legal careers to high schoolers and college undergraduates through programs such as Georgetown Law’s Early Outreach Initiative and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity’s many pre-law programs.
Regulation of the Profession
In light of a renewed focus on racial justice and the fact that existing diversity initiatives have had only moderate success in bringing diversity to Washington’s legal profession, we are seeing an active resolve to find innovative ways to bring underrepresented groups into the field. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Immediate Past President Rajeev D. Majumdar proposed a 2 year charter for an Equity And Disparity Work Group whose mission would be “to review the rules, regulations, and laws related to the practice of law and the administration of justice, and identify the ones that facilitate injustice and propose remedies that the WSBA can advance pursuant to our mandate in GR 12.2.” The group is in the early stages of its work.
Alternative Pathways to Licensure
In its response to the national dialogue on racism the WSBA Board of Governors also recently affirmed their support of Washington State’s APR 6 Law Clerk Program. This successful program was established under the Washington Supreme Court’s Admission and Practice Rule 6 and is intended as an alternative to law school. Program participants work and study under the supervision of an experienced attorney or judge. The WSBA not only recognizes the program as a viable path to a legal career for those who cannot afford law school but also as a means of cultivating a diverse group of attorneys who can serve underserved populations through pro bono or moderate means legal services without the burden of repaying law school debt.
The State Supreme Court has also dedicated itself to looking for possible pathways to diversifying the legal workforce. In November the court created the Washington Bar Licensure Task Force in an effort to “examine current and past bar examination methods, passage rates, and alternative licensure methods, assess disproportionate impacts on examinees of color and first generation examinees, consider the need for alternatives to the current bar exam, and analyze those potential alternatives.” The idea of the task force stemmed from the larger discussions surrounding the court’s decision to grant diploma privilege to bar admission applicants who were registered to take the July or September 2020 bar exam during the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force charter runs through December 2022 when recommendations will be made regarding licensing of new attorneys in Washington.
Here are some resources for further reading on diversity in the law:
Washington Court Rules Promoting Diversity in the Legal Profession
General Rule 12.1, Regulatory Objectives
General Rule 12.2, Washington State Bar Association: Purposes, Authorized Activities, and Prohibited Activities
Studies and Reports
2020 Report on Diversity in US Law Firms (2021), National Association for Law Placement
Vault/MCAA Law Firm Diversity Survey (2019)
American Bar Association Profile of the Legal Profession 2020 (2020)
American Bar Association Profile of the Legal Profession 2021 (2021)
ABA Profile of the Legal Profession Resources
ABA Model Diversity Survey Reports
Left Out and Left Behind: The Hurdles, Hassles, and Heartaches of Achieving Long-Term Legal Careers for Women of Color (2020), American Bar Association
State Supreme Court Diversity (2019), April 2021 update, and May 2022 update, Brennan Center for Justice
Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report (2015), Washington State Bar Association
Diversity Research Project Literature Review (2015), Washington State Bar Association
Who’s Going To Law School? (Policy Brief) (2020), American Bar Foundation
After the JD, American Bar Foundation longitudinal study
Building a More Inclusive Federal Judiciary (2019), Center for American Progress report
Analyzing Pathways to the J.D. (2021), AccessLex Institute
Justice For All: Who Prosecutes in America? (2015) and update (October 2019), Reflective Democracy Campaign
The Pursuit of Inclusion: An In-Depth Exploration of the Experiences and Perspectives of Native American Attorneys in the Legal profession (2015), National Native American Bar Association
A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law (2017), Yale Law School and National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Everyday Injustice: Latino Professionals and Racism by Dr. Maria Chávez, Pacific Lutheran University Associate Professor of Political Science (2011). Published and sold by Rowman & Littlefield
Research Organizations
National Association for Law Placement, Inc. (NALP) (Lawyers with Disabilities, LGBTQ Lawyers & Graduates, Race/Ethnicity & Gender)
Student and Bar Associations
University of Washington Gallagher Law Library’s Organizations page
American Bar Association Diversity and Inclusion Center
Washington State Bar Association Diversity & Inclusion page
Washington State Bar Association Minority Bar Associations page
Washington State Law Schools
Gonzaga University School of Law Commitment to Diversity
Seattle University Judicial Institute partnership
Seattle University School of Law Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page
University Washington School of Law Diversity page
University of Washington School of Law LGBTQIA+ Resources
Diversity Initiatives
The Black General Counsel 2025 Initiative
LSAC Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Programs
ABA Women of Color Research Initiative
Georgetown Law’s Early Outreach Initiative
Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. (CLEO) programs
Law School Admission Council’s Discover Law
Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project
Washington Race Equity & Justice Initiative (REJI), REJI Commitments, REJI members
JustLead Washington’s Leadership Academy
Articles
Advancing Diversity in Legal Employment: Program Offers Support for Employers and Students, 70 NWLawyer 38 (2016)
Washington’s Alternative to Law School, 74 NWLawyer 40 (2020)
The Importance of Student and Faculty Diversity at Law Schools: One Dean’s Perspective, 96 Iowa L. Rev. 1549 (2011)
Access Law Schools & Diversifying the Profession, 92 Temp. L. Rev. 799 (2020)
Reimagining the Bar Exam and Other Paths to Licensure, Raising the Bar: Vol. 4 — Issue 2 (Spring 2021)
Bar Exams May Soon Be Easier to Pass, as States Eye Changes, Bloomberg Law (March 29, 2021)
‘Where Are All the Latino Lawyers?’: Hispanics Scarce in the Legal Profession, NBC News (2017)
The Need for More Black Lawyers, Lincoln Derr PLLC (Mar 1, 2021)
Black Lawyers Matter issue, Seattle University School of Law Lawyer Magazine (Fall 2020)
Why the Legal Profession is the Nation’s Least Diverse (And How to Fix It), 47 Mitchell Hamline L. Rev. 129 (2021)
For additional resources check out the University of Washington Gallagher Law Library’s excellent research guide Diversity in the Legal Profession! (SC)
