Something to Celebrate

As we reflect on the important milestone of the impending confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first female Black Supreme Court Justice, it is worth noting the great strides that Black lawyers have made within legal academia.  Many readers will be aware of the letter from Black law school deans unanimously supporting KBJ's nomination.  In reading the letter, I was struck by the fact that there were 37 signatories.   And we can add one more Black law school Dean to the list -  Nicky Boothe, recently named Dean of UIC Law School.  According to the most recent ABA demographic report:  "4.7% of all lawyers were Black in 2021 – nearly unchanged from 4.8% in 2011. The U.S. population is 13.4% Black."   In contrast, 38 of the 199 ABA-approved law school now have Deans who identify as Black, 19.1%.   And 23 current law school Deans are Black women, 11.6%.   In contrast, the ABA reports that only 3% of law firm leadership positions are held by women of color (which includes multi-racial, Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native-American/Pacific Islander).  So, while there is undoubtedly much more work to be done to diversify the legal profession, it appears that legal academia is offering excellent opportunities for men and women of color to attain leadership positions.  And that is worth celebrating!

Comments

[ever and anon]

Your post is hard evidence for non-cognitivism.