Article: The Educational Pipeline to Law School--Too Broken and Too Narrow to Provide Diversity

Sarah E. Redfield*

Table of Contents

I. Introduction349

II. The Leaking Pipeline and Its Causes and Results357

III. The Legal Community and the Pipeline371

IV. Acknowledging the Problems, Moving Forward376

E

America's Perfect Storm



There is little chance that economic opportunities will improve among key segments of our population if we follow our current path. To date, educational reform has not been sufficient to solve the problem. National test results show no evidence of improvement over the last 20 years. Scores are flat and achievement gaps persist. . . .





We must raise our learning levels, increase our reading and math skills and narrow the existing achievement gaps, or these forces will turn the American Dream into an American Tragedy--putting our nation at risk. ¹



Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession



Beyond the moralistic responsibility, it also makes good business sense for the legal profession to invest time and resources in the diversity pipeline. Law firms, corporate legal departments, government, and the judiciary cannot recruit attorneys of color who do not exist. Diversity efforts will encounter inherent obstacles as long as there remain too few people of color who decide to enter the profession in the first place. Forward-thinking legal employers have already accepted this reality, and label their diversity pipeline "donations" as recruitment expenses . . . .





. . . We are . . . an action-oriented profession of problem-solvers and deal-makers. Let us make this project the most important case on our calendar, the biggest deal ...