The Least Diverse Profession: Comment on Blanck, Hyseni, and Altunkol Wise’s National Study of Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-90
Author(s):  
Elyn R. Saks
Keyword(s):  
Legal Profession ◽  
National Study ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Bias And Discrimination

Diversity and Inclusion in the American Legal Profession: Discrimination and Bias Reported by Lawyers with Disabilities and Lawyers Who Identify as LGBTQ+ (“Blanck et al.”) is an incredibly careful, thoughtful, and powerful article, and may and should lead to changes in the stigma, bias, and discrimination landscape in the legal profession.1

Beyond Diversity and Inclusion: Understanding and Addressing Ableism, Heterosexism, and Transmisia in the Legal Profession: Comment on Blanck, Hyseni, and Altunkol Wise’s National Study of the Legal Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-87
Author(s):  
Shain A. M. Neumeier ◽  
Lydia X. Z. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
National Study ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Do So ◽  
Bias And Discrimination

Far too many—if not most—of us in the legal profession who belong to both the disability and LGBTQ+ communities have known informally, through our own experiences and those of others like us, that workplace bias and discrimination on the basis of disability, sexuality, and gender identity is still widespread. The new study by Blanck et al. on diversity and inclusion in the U.S. legal profession provides empirical proof of this phenomenon, which might otherwise be dismissed as being based on anecdotal evidence.1 Its findings lend credibility to our position that the legal profession must make systemic changes to address workplace ableism, heterosexism, and transmisia.2 They also suggest possibilities as to where and how it might start to do so through providing information on who employers discriminate against most often and in what forms.3

Erasing Workers’ Identities: Comment on Blanck, Hyseni, and Altunkol Wise’s National Study of the Legal Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-75
Author(s):  
Ryan H. Nelson ◽  
Michael Ashley Stein
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
National Study ◽  
Workplace Diversity ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Additional Work ◽  
Lgbtq Rights ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

“Bring your whole self to work” remains a common mantra of supporters of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”).1 For example, disability rights advocates have long contended that hiding or downplaying one’s disability from one’s colleagues at work “create[s] an invisible layer of additional work for the individual” in being accepted at the job and negatively affects productivity.2 LGBTQ+ rights advocates have raised similar points, noting that hiding or downplaying one’s sexual orientation or gender identity from one’s colleagues hinders internal advancement of LGBTQ+ workers.3 As recently as 2019, however, a Deloitte study found that sixty-one percent of workers hid or downplayed one or more of their identities from their colleagues at work.4

scholarly journals Diversity and Inclusion in the American Legal Profession: Discrimination and Bias Reported by Lawyers with Disabilities and Lawyers Who Identify as LGBTQ+

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-61
Author(s):  
Peter Blanck ◽  
Fitore Hyseni ◽  
Fatma Altunkol Wise
Keyword(s):  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Relative Risks ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Incremental Step ◽  
Minority Identities ◽  
Multiple Minority

AbstractPurposeThis article is part of an ongoing body of investigation examining the experiences of lawyers with diverse and multiple minority identities, with particular focus on lawyers with disabilities; lawyers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (“LGBTQ+” as an overarching term); and lawyers with minority identities associated with race and ethnicity, gender, and age. The focus of this article is on discrimination and bias in their workplaces as reported by the lawyers experiencing it.MethodsWe employ survey data from the first phase of this investigation, gathered from the survey responses of 3590 lawyers located across all states in the United States and working in most types and sizes of legal venues. The data were collected between 2018 and 2019, before the 2020 pandemic. We estimate differences across three categories of discrimination reported—subtle-only discrimination, overt-only discrimination, and both subtle and overt discrimination. We estimate the nature and magnitude of associations among individual and organizational variables, and we use multinomial logistic regression to illustrate relative risks of reports of discrimination for intersecting identities.ResultsAs compared to non-disabled lawyers, lawyers with disabilities show a higher likelihood of reporting both subtle and overt discrimination versus no discrimination. Similarly, lawyers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (“LGBQ”) show a higher likelihood of reporting both subtle and overtdiscrimination, and subtle-only discrimination, as compared to lawyers who identify as straight/heterosexual. Women lawyers and lawyers of color are more likely to report all three types of discrimination. In general, younger lawyers are more likely to report subtle-only discrimination when compared to older lawyers. Lawyers working at a private firm are less likely to report all types of discrimination, while working for a larger organization is associated with a higher relative risk of reporting subtle-only discrimination versus no discrimination.ConclusionsThe current study represents a next, incremental step for better understanding non-monochromatic and intersectional aspects of individual identity in the legal profession. The findings illustrate that primary individual and multiple minority identities, as identified by disability, sexual orientation, gender, race/ethnicity, and age, are associated with reports of discrimination and bias in the legal workplace.

LGBTQ+ Lawyers Experience Breakthroughs and Setbacks: Comment on Blanck, Hyseni, and Altunkol Wise’s National Study of the Legal Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Wesley Bizzell
Keyword(s):  
Legal Profession ◽  
National Study ◽  
The Past

The past decade has seen numerous positive developments in both legal and policy protections for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (“LGBTQ+”). Progress in this area has been decidedly uneven, however, and significant barriers still exist which thwart the full legal and societal acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals. Unfortunately, as the groundbreaking study by Peter Blanck, Fitore Hyseni, and Fatma Altunkol Wise shows, LGBTQ+ identifying lawyers, especially those with intersectional identities, continue to experience discrimination and bias in their workplaces.1

Reflections on a New Study that Examines Discrimination and Bias Reported by Lawyers: Comment on Blanck, Hyseni, and Altunkol Wise’s National Study of the Legal Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-99
Author(s):  
Kellye Testy ◽  
J.D. Bodamer Elizabeth
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Legal System ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Law School ◽  
National Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Driver's License ◽  
Making Friends

Haley Moss was diagnosed with autism at age three. At the time, her parents were told that achievements such as obtaining a driver’s license, graduating from high school, or even making friends were unlikely. Even after she proved the experts wrong and gained acceptance to law school, Moss saw continued challenges for students with disabilities. “I remember in my first year of law school, there was a blind student in my section, but she did not return for the second semester—and I wondered why,” she told us.1 “Law school is not always as accessible as it could be for people with disabilities.”2 But those people are essential to the functioning of our legal system, she added: “We need all types of minds to get all kinds of jobs done.”3

scholarly journals Upending “Normal”: Toward an Integrated and Intersectional Approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Legal Profession: Comment on Blanck, Hyseni, and Altunkol Wise’s National Study of the Legal Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Angela C. Winfield
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Study ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) in the workplace is a complex issue at any time and in any organization. However, in this time of great upheaval—COVID-19, a renewed racial reckoning in the United States, and increased climate consciousness and social justice awareness—profound issues about work and the role of organizations are being raised simultaneously. This confluence of systemic issues highlights three critically important broad concepts that can help evolve our approach to addressing workplace inequities.

scholarly journals Bias in the Legal Profession: Perceptions and Experiences

1969 ◽  
pp. 747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Brockman
Keyword(s):  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Law ◽  
Bias And Discrimination

Brockman presents the results of a survey conducted in 1991 for the Law Society of Alberta that was designed to determine to what extent gender discrimination actually exists within the legal profession in Alberta. It is one of many surveys that have been conducted since the 1970s. The survey was extensive: it asked general questions on bias and discrimination, and it considered how problems have developed and how they have been perceived. The results show, as Brockman explains, that there is definitely a problem with gender discrimination within the legal profession which is complicated, for both men and women, by marital and family commitments.

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