Minority Issues, Women's Issues

Random Neural Firings About Diversity And Discrimination 

Although misery loves company, it shouldn’t be that way, either here or across the pond, and yet, it is.

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Alexandra Wilson, a young barrister in London who handles criminal and family law defense matters, experiences the same types of conduct that women lawyers, especially women lawyers of color, are subjected to there and everywhere: being mistaken for a defendant on three separate occasions on the same day, being told by a courtroom clerk to wait outside until her case was called, being chastised by an older white male prosecutor who chided her for wanting to speak with her client and requesting details in court documents. Any issue about failure to zealously represent her client if she didn’t do so? I guess in the mind of the older white male there was no need to vigorously defend her client. In the minds of the three persons who made unwarranted assumptions about her, a woman barrister of color and a defendant look the same.

Outrageous? Of course. The British court issued an apology and said it would be investigating as a “matter of urgency.” While appreciative of the apology, the issue, as Wilson put it, is whether anything would change because of the three separate incidents on the same day. What do you think? Any more credence than the poll numbers in the election?

I have been mistaken for a court reporter on numerous occasions, a social worker and a client, not to mention the number of times I was mistaken for a secretary, a note taker, a copy/file clerk, or coffee Sherpa. What is especially galling is that men (and I call out men on this) don’t seem to see women as equals in the profession. That is changing, albeit slowly, certainly not fast enough for those who are impacted by the discrimination.

Just as here, in England, Blacks compose a majority of the incarcerated population, while representing only a minute percentage of the lawyer population. As Wilson notes, it’s so important for kids to see Black female lawyers; growing up, she didn’t and she wanted to.

It’s just as important for citizens to see people on the bench that look like them. And as part of a full court press (sorry, I couldn’t resist), the Los Angeles Superior Court is establishing a judicial mentoring program. For years, there have been various programs put on by various bar associations under the rubric “So you want to be a judge” or words to that effect. This program will, I think, carry a lot more gravitas because it has the court’s imprimatur and participation. California Supreme Court nominee Justice Martin Jenkins, who has been Governor Gavin Newsom’s appointments secretary, has “guided the Newsom Administration’s efforts to build a judiciary that reflects the people they serve.” Yay!!!

There will be a standing committee composed of a diverse group of judges to identify, encourage, and provide mentors for all individuals considering a judicial career. Here in California, attorneys must have been in practice for 10 years before they can even apply for an appointment to the Superior Court or to run for a judicial office.

The court says that the “…goal of the program is to convey to the legal community the uniform message of Governor Newsom’s commitment to appointing a highly capable bench reflective of the rich diversity of the state.” How diverse? California is a minority-majority state.

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No race or ethnic group constitutes a majority of California’s population: 39% of state residents are Latino, 37% are white, 15% are Asian American, 6% are African American, 3% are multiracial, and fewer than 1% are American Indian or Pacific Islander, according to the 2018 American Community Survey. Latinos surpassed whites as the state’s single largest ethnic group in 2014.

A judicial mentoring program is overdue. For years, lawyers, bar associations, and others have wrung their hands over the lack of diversity in the lawyer population and thus, among the judicial population. There have been efforts to fill the diversity pipeline, even starting as early as high school. Did you know in high school that you wanted to be a lawyer?

The American Lawyer Diversity Scorecard for 2020 shows some improvement, but it’s nothing to jump up and down about. The AMLAW scorecard looks at the top 200 firms. Seventy-one firms had at least 20% minority lawyers, so, by my rough calculation, that’s one in three. Seven percent (not a typo) had at least 20% minority partners for a grand total of 14 firms. (Go ahead, check my math.) Not a very impressive track record for those firms who try to position themselves as welcoming diverse professionals.

And if we needed to be reminded yet again of the disparities between men and women, majority and minority lawyers, recent findings of the National Association for Law Placement show that men are still paid more than women (no surprise there), and Black law graduates still have lower levels of success in the job market than other graduates. Also no surprise.

“Shonda” in Jewish usage means “shame,” “disgrace.” Let’s use “shonda” in a sentence: It’s a shonda that the legal profession is still so far behind where it should be in terms of diversity and inclusion. What is so difficult about all this? The lack of progress mystifies me as I am sure it does many others. Race and gender, as Alexandra Wilson’s story shows, still permeate what we do and how we do it. That’s a “shonda.” The Superior Court’s judicial mentoring program will help. Identifying talent is an important first step toward a bench that will look more like California.

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Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

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