Page 14 - Delaware Lawyer - Summer 2022

FEATURE | RESTORING JUSTICE
The legacy of racism in our nation — and yes, in the law — is more than our past; it is, to a greater degree than many of us fully realize, still part of our present.
• Creating alternatives to the bar exam modeled on a successful initiative in New Hampshire, a similarly small state with a close-knit legal commu- nity that can be leveraged to not only improve access to legal job opportu- nities, but to pair those opportuni- ties with excellent, hands-on legal training.
• Expanding — and for that matter es- tablishing — pathways to admission for students who attend Delaware State University and other institu- tions that serve significant numbers of potential law school applicants from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
• Providing direct mentorship oppor- tunities between judicial officers and diverse members of the bar and stu- dents (law, college and high school) interested in a judicial career.
• Considering the feasibility of a loan repayment program for attorneys, which is particularly important in light of the fact that many of our most diverse potential candi- dates have stunningly high student loan debt that serves as a further deterrent.
• Exploring the feasibility of offering two bar examinations annually, rath- er than the current model in which someone who misses the cutoff by even one point has no recourse for an entire year.
• Collecting racial and ethnic data of bar candidates and attorneys, which will be non-negotiable if we intend to measure progress.
• Conducting a study of minimum competence and of the bar exam cut score. Of particular note here is data showing that Delaware had one of
Confronting the Legacy of Racism
Still, it does not discount those good works to state the obvious: none of us believes that our work is done. The legacy of racism in our nation — and yes, in the law — is more than our past; it is, to a greater degree than many of us fully realize, still part of our present. Openly racist precedents and practices stood for decades at a time; some persisted into our lifetimes and have a directly causal relationship with the modern experience of Black com- munities. Their pervasiveness is pre- cisely why representation needs to be more than a buzzword for the entire legal community; we have to be just
as deliberate about restoring justice as some of our predecessors were about denying it.
That’s why I was so grateful for the work of Chief Justice C.J. Seitz, the National Center for State Courts, the AccessLex Institute, and the members of the bar who helped develop Dela- ware’s strategic plan for improving diversity in the Delaware bench and bar, which I believe is the most thought- ful, comprehensive and solutions- focused assessment I have seen of our legal community’s racial makeup and its relationship with the communities it serves. Among the report’s pages are dozens of detailed, concrete and actionable recommendations, including:
12 DELAWARE LAWYER SUMMER 2022