In Arizona, Almost All Lawyers Are White

The state of Arizona is becoming increasingly diverse. Significant numbers of African Americans are joining large minority populations of Hispanics and American Indians. Yet the legal community in the state is almost entirely white. According to the Arizona Bar Association, there are 161 black lawyers among its 19,420 members.

As a result, the Arizona Bar Association has appointed an 80-member committee to develop plans to increase racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the legal profession. Among the plans under consideration are the hiring of a full-time diversity coordinator, the establishment of a leadership conference for minority attorneys and pipeline programs to steer minority students into legal careers. The association is also considering the establishment of support programs for law school students and for minorities who have already passed the bar.

JBHE’s latest count shows that blacks make up less than 4 percent of the student body at the law schools at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.