Biglaw, Law Schools, Minority Issues

Minorities In The Legal Profession Have Increased By Less Than One Percent Since 2000

In 2020, do you think you will be happy about or disappointed by the diversity in our profession?

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“The whole industry been in shambles / Everybody fugazi, I’m just changing the channel.” – Kendrick Lamar

In 2010, 88.1 percent of lawyers were white. In 2000, 88.8 percent of lawyers were white. These percentages were taken from the U.S. Census Bureau reports for 2010 and 2000, respectively. In other words, minorities in the legal profession have increased by less than 1 percent since 2000.

Over this same time period, minority enrollment in the J.D. programs of ABA-approved law schools increased by 6,752 students, or 1.8 percent (from 20.6 percent in 2000-2001 to 22.4 percent in 2009-2010). What do you predict the percentages of white and minority lawyers will be in 2020?

As I have previously noted, according to the National Jurist, overall law school enrollment dropped 15 percent from 2011 to 2013, but it has not been consistent among races. Asian students had the largest drop in law school enrollment – 16 percent. White enrollment dropped 14.8 percent, black law students fell 1.6 percent, and Hispanic enrollment held steady. It would be interesting to discover why there is such a large variance in the change in enrollment.

For a better diagnosis of future diversity in legal areas such as Biglaw, it may be practical to track the shifting demographics among the top 14 law schools and other traditional Biglaw feeder schools. The specific change in demographics among these top-tier schools is likely to be the biggest indicator of potential diversity in Biglaw.

How will the change in the law school population affect the legal industry? I have already noted how diversity among Biglaw partners doesn’t reflect law school diversity. Since the late 1980s, the percentage of minority law school graduates has more than doubled (going from 10 percent to 23 percent), yet 92 to 94 percent of current Biglaw partners are white.

From 2000 to 2010, minorities in the legal profession have increased by less than 1 percent. Surely, when the 2020 U.S. Census is released, there will be a somewhat better minority representation in the legal profession overall. No doubt, change at the top will come much more slowly, if at all.

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In 2020, do you think you will be happy about or disappointed by the results of the diversity efforts of our profession during this decade?

Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn. 

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