Press Room

NEW YORK – May 12, 2014 – Minority underrepresentation in law schools remains a critical problem despite creative initiatives to remedy it, according to a special supplement on legal education published in today’s issue of ALM’s The National Law Journal and online at www.nationallawjournal.com.

The report finds that even minority students who succeed at reaching law school face continuing challenges. It includes a first-person article by an African-American student describing his pervasive “discomfort and alienation” under what he perceives as pressure to conform to a majority culture and submerge ethnic and racial differences.

“As our stories by Karen Sloan illustrate, the dearth of minority students in law schools doesn’t only concern the schools. It means less diversity in the profession,” said Beth Frerking, editor in chief of The National Law Journal.

Besides laying out the state of law school diversity and its challenges, The National Law Journal looks at a number of leading “pipeline” initiatives, whose goals range from sparking early interest in the profession to gaining law school admission and supporting law students through graduation and beyond.

Among the innovative programs profiled in the issue are:

• A legal-themed summer camp for minority high school students.
• A “pre-law boot camp” to expose undergraduates to legal careers and prep them for law school applications.
• Help for minority law students wishing to land federal judicial clerkships.

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