Furthering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
What We Do
The State Bar’s mission includes the express goal of advancing inclusion and diversity in the legal profession. That begins with a lead-by-example commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the State Bar itself. To reach its mission aims, the Board of Trustees has defined the ultimate goal as a statewide attorney population that reflects the richly diverse demographics of California. Recognizing that this is an ambitious objective that touches many areas of underrepresentation and inequality in society, the State Bar has focused its work on the agency’s key areas of influence: strengthening diversity in the pipeline into the profession and addressing disparities in retention and advancement.
Yolanda Jackson discusses the importance and challenges of promoting diversity in California's legal profession.
State Bar’s biennial Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
The State Bar issued its second report on diversity, equity, and inclusion in California’s legal profession in 2021. While demographics for existing licensed attorneys are disproportionately white, and people of color are vastly underrepresented, data of new attorneys shows a much more diverse field, though much more work is needed.
The chart below and other updated data on the diversity of California's legal profession will soon be published in the State Bar's second Diversity Report Card.
As the report shows, the State Bar is proudly front and center in expanding equitable representation in the legal field. Among programs proposed in the report: a State Bar Diversity Leadership Seal, which will be awarded to law firms and other organization who commit to specific actions to further DEI in their arenas.
Law School Retention Study focuses on retaining diverse students
Students from under-represented demographic groups leave law school before they graduate at higher rates than majority students. How can law schools change these attrition patterns and better support diverse students as they meet the challenges of law school? The State Bar undertook a study in 2020 and 2021 to answer this question. Current data about law school enrollment and retention was gathered and analyzed, and ways that law schools work effectively to improve retention among diverse students were identified. The study, to be published in 2022, is the first of its kind to compare enrollment, attrition, and current recruitment and retention practices across the three law school types in California. The process also involved engaging actively with those institutions to better understand the opportunities and challenges in recruiting, retaining, and supporting a law school student population that reflects the diversity of California.
Doubling Elimination of Bias training for licensees
2021 saw the fulfillment of an effort to increase training for California attorneys on elimination of bias (EOB). The plan, which originated with the Council on Access and Fairness, was added to the State Bar’s strategic plan in 2020 and implemented in 2021. The updated rule increases from one to two hours every three years the training required of every California attorney on elimination of bias topics. The updated rule also requires additional implicit bias training requirements and rules ensuring the appropriate experience of instructors. The State Bar then developed a free e-learning course on EOB, which debuted in early 2022.
