A recent study sponsored by the American Bar Association paints a dismal picture showing the marked lack of enthusiasm for becoming attorneys. The study shows that in 2010, enrollment at law schools was 150,000. In 2019, that number dropped dramatically to 113,000, which was actually what they described as a “bump” over previous years from 2010 to 2018. From initial indication, that bump appears to have receded in 2020.

On one hand, the number of Hispanic law students has just about doubled between 1999 and 2019 at the same time that white law student population dipped both in raw numbers and in the percentage of total law students. On the other hand, according to this study Hispanics have a long way to go to achieve true representation. In 2019, while more than 60% of law students were white, the number of Hispanic law students was just under 13%. There has also been a steady increase in the number of female law students across all demographic groups. Law schools, once a bastion of male students, has seen female students eclipse their male counterparts. As of last year, almost 60% of Hispanic and Asian American law students are women.

The place where white and male law students are still dominant can be found in the top tier law schools. According to the American Bar Association sponsored survey as reported in U.S. News & World Report where 30 top law schools were surveyed, only 9% of students are Hispanic, 10% are Asian American and just 6% are Black. Consider that among the “lowest ranked” law schools (some of which aren’t accredited) almost 60% of the student population are women. The ethnic demographic breakdown (excluding whites) is 23% Hispanic, 16% Black and 4% Asian American.

Pipelines

The good news is that help is on the way to flood the “pipeline” with resources to add much-needed legal advocates to serve an increasingly diverse American community. One group providing that help, as reported by U.S. News & World Report, launched a program last year with “free resources such as weekly application workshops, mentorship by law students and lawyers, LSAT test prep classes and access to diverse legal professionals.” The group is called LEAP for Legal Education Access Pipeline, and it serves Southern California. LEAP, in its second year, is working with law school applicants with socioeconomic disadvantages, are students of color or who self-identify as LGBTQ. The object of LEAP is to increase diversity of perspectives, ethnicity and personal experiences in the legal community. Diversity, they reason, is needed to best serve America. U.S. News & World Report quotes LEAP founder Cindy Lopez this way, “Legal clients, criminal or corporate, want to look across the room and see that people understand them. If they look across the room, and everyone looks the same, it’s not going to be a just society.”

And LEAP is not alone in the fight. The Diverse Attorney Pipeline Program (DAPP) is one pipeline program that Vinson & Elkins, an international law firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, supports to further diversity in the legal industry. DAPP aims to diversify the profession by expanding opportunities for women law students of color to secure summer positions at law firms and corporations following their first year of law school. By infusing the attorney pipeline with talented women of color, DAPP works to increase the statistics of women of color who are hired, retained and promoted at law firms in the United States.

Jason Grant, in an article written for The New York Law Journal, cites a study of 675 Black and Hispanic law students involved in diversity-pipeline programs. That study led the New York City Bar Association to conclude that the previous failures in diversifying the legal profession could be corrected if the pipelines adopted six actions to strengthen and support their diversity protocols. First on the list is making students of color more aware that pipeline programs and support is available to them. And that means working with high schools, undergraduate schools and law schools to offer informational assemblies to help prospective law students of color to know how to navigate and pursue a law school career and education before they even prepare for, apply to or step foot on a law school campus. Applying this to New York pipelines, the report explained, that there should be a centralized location for all such pipelines that should be organized by educational level of each student in the program. The study also called for the development of pre-law seminars designed to inform and “acclimate” Black and Hispanic students to succeed in law school. The report recommends establishing a network of Black and Hispanic alumni as part of the pipeline. Following up on the actions described, the report suggests flexibility in program schedules to make sure “non-traditional” students can take advantage of these pipelines. Finally, the report recommends that a “task force” to evaluate on an ongoing basis how well the program is working.

California LAW

In October of this year, Mesa College stepped up to this challenge by announcing a partnership with California LAW that will create a pathway for Mesa College students to complete their education and enter the legal profession. The announcement from the school’s office of communication explains that Mesa College will begin accepting interested students into its Pathway to Law School program in Spring 2021.

“As the leading college of equity and excellence, San Diego Mesa College is intentionally committed to breaking down social barriers and ensuring the success of underrepresented students at Mesa and beyond,” stated Dr. Isabel O’Connor, vice president of Instruction at Mesa College. “The partnership with Cal-LAW will provide Mesa students with a clearly defined path to exploring the legal profession while receiving support services and mentoring, as well as easier access to transfer to a university and then to a participating law school.”

California LAW (Leadership – Access – Workforce) is an organization created to be the foundational structure that connects, communicates, collaborates and coordinates with programs working to help diverse students enter the legal profession. It consists of 22 high school law academies created under the California Partnership Academy model in a unique collaboration between the State Bar of California and the California Department of Education.

Mesa students from all majors will be welcome to complete the interdisciplinary set of courses designed to build the skills required for success in the legal profession.  They will also be paired with a mentor and participate in activities like a pre-law club, law school visits and Mesa’s annual Constitution Day celebration.

Additionally, it includes members of the Community College Pathway to Law School initiative with 29 community colleges throughout the state, as well as 10 undergraduate institutions and their law schools, resulting in an educational pipeline into the legal profession created under the leadership of the State Bar of California’s Council on Access and Fairness.  Participating undergraduate institutions and law schools include: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCI, UC Davis, Stanford, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, University of San Francisco and USC.

Conclusion

Regardless of how many pipelines are created, attitudinal changes need to also happen in society at large for more Hispanic lawyers to successfully navigate legal circles. In an article for the Grand Canyon University News Bureau, Mike Kilen reported on a panel discussion presented by the GCU Pre-Law Society and the Latino Student Union Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association’s panel discussion, “Unique Challenges and Opportunities for Hispanic Practitioners of Law,” where the term ‘impostor syndrome’ was explained. Panel participant, Casey Arellano, who attended The George Washington University Law School, told a story about appearing in court as an advocate and being mistaken as the court interpreter.

“As a Latina from Arizona, I spent the first two years of law school with impostor syndrome,” Kilen reported that Arellano told the audience. “I felt like I didn’t belong. Even though I was there, maybe they made some decisions based on diversity goals. It took a really long time to accept that I deserved a seat at that table. But sometimes that feeling of impostor syndrome as a Latina translated to my career. Did I deserve to be here?”

The best programs and pipelines can only do so much to let prospective lawyers of color that they do deserve to be part of the legal community. Society has to welcome them as well and that might be the greatest challenge of all.