Where are all the Black and Hispanic Law Students…?
In the National Law Journal, Aaron Taylor, an assistant professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law, examined this question and his findings will surprise some but not all. What he found was that a 
disproportionate number are at the lower tiered law schools and his analysis hits home with a conversation we just had at the Twin Cities Diversity in Practice recent Board meeting. Our Board Chair, Mary Ranum, of Fredrikson and Byron, shared a story about a young man she met who was at a lowered tiered school and had not done as well as he had hoped. Her frustration was that this young man interviewed well, had a great background, all the right skills and had connections to the Twin Cities, however, he did not fit the criteria most of our member firms have for hiring.
What Professor Taylor found impacts so many of our diverse talent, compounded with the lack of 
support or resources at the law school level based on the current law school pipeline crisis AND as Professor Taylor posit it does have a direct impact on access and opportunities for these students down the line. So, while others have addressed the injustice, which I believe it is, I want to discuss some solutions or alternatives to help these students. At Twin Cities Diversity in Practice we are putting together a working group to analyze and create opportunities for these students that will help us broaden our pipeline.
I want to be clear, no one is discussing “lowering standards”! I am talking about giving highly talented law students the tools necessary to compete in an ever changing and highly competitive market. We are talking about increasing experiential learning opportunities and getting to students early in there law school careers to “school” them on how to succeed in law school. We are also having meaningful conversations on whether our criteria is actually a good predictor of success in a law firm or law department. Several years ago we had a organization, called Lawyer Metrics present their research on leading indicators in making partner at the large law firms they had studied. Surprisingly one of key findings was that law review was not a key factor in making partner and further, an Ivy League education was also not a key indicator in making partner.” Thus, the questions to firm leadership are, why do we keep hiring for these things? And what are the actual attributes that make for a successful partner and how do we screen for them?
Now do not get me wrong, the issues presented by Professor Taylor are troubling, especially if the suggestions above, stay just that, suggestions! We need to be asking where is the Bar leadership, the ABA which is the accrediting body, stand on all this? As with all educational issues in this country, who will be paying for the 150,000+ debt of these students? It is up to every one of us in the profession to question these practices and to have an honest conversation on how we create real access and opportunity to all law students and lawyers.
