Law Schools

Black Harvard Law School Graduates Flock To Biglaw, Then Flee In Droves

It's a trap, my brothers and sisters.

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(Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

Harvard Law professor David Wilkins –the guy who should have been dean of the law school but isn’t — publish a fascinating study on black Harvard Law Alumni outcomes from 2000-2016. At a top level, add this report to list of things that proves Amy Wax’s and Larry Alexander’s arguments about the black community are drowning in dumb.

Black Harvard Law graduates are more than a canary in a coal mine for the black legal experience. The only law school that graduates more black lawyers than Harvard is Howard.

And those outcomes are beautiful and terrible, all at the same time. From the ABA Journal:

Nearly 72 percent of black Harvard law grads start their careers in private practice, mostly at larger law firms, the Careerist reports. Seventy percent of female black Harvard law graduates started at the largest firms, with 251 or more lawyers, compared to 53 percent of male black law graduates.

But the percentage of Harvard law grads in private practice dropped by 63 percent, compared to a 38 percent drop among black lawyers and a 28 percent drop among white lawyers surveyed in a national study, according to the study (PDF) by Harvard law professor David Wilkins.

It’s easy to explain why black people go into Biglaw at higher rates than others. Black people and white people both go into Biglaw because of the money. But for black people, you’re often talking about more money than anybody else in their family. It’s hard to put that in the correct context: I was making more money as a summer associate than my mother and father… and my mom and dad both have college degrees and were working full time. I owed it to them to at least try to enjoy making that much money. They sacrificed so much. OF COURSE I was going to take the Biglaw job.

I needed to try to make Biglaw work. For myself, for my entire family, for all my “peoples” who invested in my opportunity to make all the money I could.

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And then, I owed it to my people to throw it all away. It’s easy to explain why black people run screaming from Biglaw at higher rates than others. My educated, activist, black family did not work so hard and sacrifice so much so I could be a soulless drone making the world safe for Big Oil to go rape Nigeria without running afoul of international trade agreements. They didn’t put me in this position so I could spend 10 pro bono hours helping an indigent with his federal appeal, after spending 80 hours making sure BigBox could crush its labor organizers who dared to agitate for a living wage.

I don’t think that black people are more socially conscious than others. I certainly don’t think black Harvard alums are necessarily more “woke” than the general population. But I do think that when you are a black person who is blessed with more opportunities than most people in your community, you are forced to think longer and harder about how you’re using those opportunities. “Am I part of the solution… or am I the other thing? Cause they have a term for me if I’m the other thing.” You have to be able to go home and sit at your Thanksgiving table and feel like you are not a sellout, and that hits minorities a little differently than others.

You’ll note that I can explain the shocking high rates of black turnover in Biglaw without even getting into racism and prejudice at the Biglaw firms that can turn a willing associate into a former colleague. But we know that’s also a factor.

The top line is that black Harvard Law alums go into Biglaw, then leave. But it’s nearly as important to recognize that black Harvard Law graduates probably get more of a “bounce” from their degrees than their white peers. From Vivia Chen on American Lawyer:

One takeaway from the report is the impact that going to a highly prestigious law school has on a black lawyer’s career. (The report cites a study that finds that nearly half—47 percent—of all black partners “obtained their law degrees from either Harvard or Yale, with over three quarters having attended one of the country’s 12 most prestigious law schools.”)

In fact, respondents to the survey rated HLS’s prestige factor (the “H-Bomb”) as “extremely important” to their career advancement, outranking all diversity initiatives. “It provides credential and network—and those things are way more important if you’re black,” says Wilkins. “When you say you went to Harvard, it tends to put people at ease.”

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Folks… this is as close as you are ever going to come to seeing statistical evidence for the proposition that black people have to work harder than white people to get the same benefit. Jesus, “47 percent—of all black partners ‘obtained their law degrees from either Harvard or Yale'”? “‘Over three quarters went to a T-12 school'”? CAN THEY FREAKING FLY TOO?

I can personally and professionally attest to the utility of the “H-bomb.” People make fun of me sometimes, but there’s a reason why I lead with it. Personally, it really does put white people “at ease.” I can’t explain it. I can’t explain why a white person who went to freaking West Southeastern Central feels more “comfortable” talking to my Harvard ass than she does if she doesn’t know where (or if?) I went to college… BUT SHE IS.

Professionally, Harvard is just one of those things that gets your foot in the door. That’s important for everybody, but black people are more likely to have no other way to get into the room where it happens.

“Matt, thanks for coming in for an interview, man, your uncle and I really had some times when we worked out of the D.C. office… Tracey wow, couldn’t get through the day without your mom, we’re so lucky to have her… Hi, Tyrone is it? You graduated from Harvard, right? Nice to meet you. Okay, let’s begin.”

It helps. Harvard helps a lot.

Again, it’s a really interesting report: 88 percent of black HLS alums say they would go to law school again, but only 66% would recommend going to law school to a young person. Black women trail black men in career satisfaction. There are just a lot of good nuggets here.

If you absolutely must send your black children to law school, consider Harvard if you haven’t already.

Report on the State of Black Alumni II [Harvard Law School]
Study of black Harvard law grads finds many leave private practice; 66% would recommend legal career [ABA Journal]
Black Harvard Law Grads Are Doing Fine (Mostly) [American Lawyer]

Elie Mystal is the executive editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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