Access to Justice for Emerging Attorneys of Color

The law is supposed to be equal, just, and objective. In a perfect world, the people who help shape it would be as diverse as the nation itself. News flash: We don’t live in a perfect world! And far from representing America, the legal profession is still way too white and male. In 2021, Black lawyers made up just 4.8% of the profession. Indigenous people accounted for half a percent. 

Those bleak numbers mean that even though practicing law can be an incredible tool to advocate for better policies and outcomes, the profession as a whole is still stuck in the past. 

Equal Rights Advocates (ERA)—an organization that fights for gender, racial, and economic justice in workplaces and schools across the country—believes that its law clerk program can help. It wants to recruit and support the next generation of lawyers, targeting candidates from underrepresented communities. ERA will use our grant funding to expand its outreach program and to provide mentorship for its clerks to help in their long-term career development. 

Want the law to work better for the people? Let more people help influence the law.