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Federal clerkships, for better or worse, are often seen as a gateway to many of the country’s top-tier legal jobs. Sadly, it comes as no surprise that diversity among law clerks in the federal judiciary is disproportionately low. Even though minorities increasingly make up a growing percentage of law school graduates nationwide, and
The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade brought long overdue conversations about anti-Black racism—and police brutality against Black communities—into the mainstream. But at the University of Michigan Law School and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, it took hundreds of emails from
We’ve all been there. The social version of a “cold call.” Your friends ask about a headline you haven’t had any time to read about. Maybe you were working, or maybe you were just enjoying time away from reading lengthy opinions. Whatever the reason
July 5, 2019, I came to the striking realization that I’m a trans woman. And since that day I’ve lived the life I’ve always wanted to live. Albeit sober and in law school—which are challenges in and of themselves. So. Yay me. Starting London Tipton.
Bright students pay on average $43,020 dollars annually to become the world-changing attorneys they see in the news—those creating stay-at-home orders to halt the spread of COVID-19 or calling for the end of the qualified immunity doctrine to reduce police brutality against communities of color. To get into law school, these students
I’m your classmate, and I’m Black. I was Black before I enrolled, and I will be Black after we graduate. Can you count how many Black classmates you’ve had throughout the years? Can you name them? I can count how many Black students I’ve
The words “diversity” and “inclusion” (as well as “equity” and “justice”) are often buzzwords in today’s workplace, on social media, and in classrooms across law and other graduate schools across the country. For those who come from historically (and currently) marginalized backgrounds, especially people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities,
How I’ve learned and been motivated by those who break from tradition.
As a first-generation college graduate, I did not know what kind of doors a college degree or a graduate degree could open. Coming from an economically disadvantaged background, I did not have the resources or the tools to leverage a college degree or graduate degree. At my local
The ABA Law Student Division is proud to announce the winners of the yearly Law Student Division Awards. Congratulations to this year's winners, who will be recognized at our ABA Annual Meeting awards breakfast held in conjunction with the Young Lawyers Division on
As bar leaders, lawyers can successfully integrate diversity into your bar, into your leadership, and into your future plans for your organization. Today, I’m happy to talk about how you as bar leaders can successfully integrate diversity into your bar, into your leadership, and into
For the third year in a row, women once again outnumbered men in law school classrooms across the country in 2018, according to the most recent data released by the American Bar Association. At Enjuris,
What unique challenges to people of color face in the legal profession and what can be done to effectively address these issues? In this episode of the ABA Law Student Podcast, host Kristoffer Butler talks to Jerome Crawford and Tiffany Buckley-Norwood about how the legal profession can become more welcoming for
How does one tell if a firm is truly committed to diversity and inclusion? While many firms tout their commitment to service, diversity and inclusion, and professional development of its junior attorneys, law students should consider the following tips when evaluating a firm’s culture to determine if it is the right fit.
All ABA presidents are sworn to follow the policies of our Association, adopted by our House of Delegates. We value due process and democratic input with the consensus of state and local bar associations from every state, plus specialty bar associations and the ABA’s full range of expertise from all our sections and divisions. Yes, we are driven by ideology, but let’s be clear what our ideology is.
Learn all about "Increasing Diversity Competence: How Office Culture Promotes Good Working Relations" on Friday morning at 9 a.m. during annual meeting events with the Law Student Division. Come and listen to this panel of attorneys talk about their experiences with diverse workplaces, office relations, client connections, and how the legal
Let me tell you a story about implicit bias. In 2009, I married a man I met the first day of law school. He is white. I am black. In 2010, we moved to Chicago. By various measures, Chicago is the most segregated city in the United States. Specifically, for
Implicit bias is pervasive. It is a consequence of our brains’ quest for efficiency. Instead of laboring over every decision we need to make each day, our brains take shortcuts when making routine decisions. For example, each time you stop at a red light you don’t contemplate what that means
Barbara Grutter was a successful business owner with excellent academic credentials. In 1997, Grutter applied to the University of Michigan Law School. Grutter was ultimately rejected from the program. Grutter, who was white, argued that the denial amounted to racial discrimination.
Once again, 2017 data reveals that female enrollment in law schools has outpaced male enrollment. 2016 was the first year women made up the majority of law school attendees, and now 51.3% of women are attending in comparison to 48.7% of men. It is a significant achievement that women have caught up in terms of law school enrollment – for the second year in a row.
Most civil disputes settle or are resolved out of court, which creates space for more young lawyers and law students to pursue careers in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). There is also a need to increase opportunities for diverse lawyers to serve as neutrals and represent people in ADR processes. This article explores the barriers to inclusion for diverse attorneys in the legal profession and means to overcome them. It also discusses practical steps diverse young lawyers and law students can take to access opportunities in mediation practice. Discussions on these topics will continue during the Section on Dispute Resolution’s 20th Annual Spring Conference April 4-7 in Washington, DC.
We, the American Bar Association Law Student Division Council affirm that the American Bar Association can and should do more to protect potential law students and current law students as they seek to enter the legal profession. We also affirm that greater transparency, achieved through accreditation rules, will ensure that students can make informed decisions. We, thus, call for the Council of the Section of Legal Education (“Council”) to increase the reporting requirements already authorized under Standard 509.
Black History Month, to me as an African-American, is a time for reflection on and celebration of past accomplishments (and planning for future achievements) of our community. I have heard more than one person comment that February 2018 was “the blackest Black History Month ever” thanks in significant part to the
Yesterday, Google terminated a Googler who wrote a “manifesto” against “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber.” This is not surprising. That said, the belief that Google only did so because of its “politically correct monoculture” either fails to see the significant problems in the memo or intentionally glosses over them
The Future Is Now. Not only is that title prophetic, it was also the name of a conference hosted by my organization, the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, last month. Held in the Art Institute of Chicago, we welcomed almost 400 attorneys to a series of TED talks
Before the Bar is the blog of the ABA Law Student Division. It brings together a diversity of opinions, experiences, and voices from those associated with the law anywhere in the world and is targeted to law students, current, past and future.
Unless stated, the opinions shared by our writers do not reflect the official position of the American Bar Association.
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