Black attorneys matter— law firms must diversify

Prior to 1950, if a Black Texas resident wanted to become a lawyer, they had to leave the state and study at a Northern law school or serve as an apprentice under a willing white Texas lawyer in order to become licensed. They had to do this because, at that time, none of the Texas law schools admitted Black students no matter their qualifications.

This year, we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court opinion Sweatt v. Painter, the case that led to the desegregation of Texas law schools. We feel the best way to honor Heman Marion Sweatt is to continue to expand the number of students of color who are ready to be trained and join the ranks of practicing attorneys in Texas — a state that sorely needs to bolster that racial diversity. Co-hosting the Black Lawyers Matter Conference on Oct. 30, a Zoom-style webinar, will allow us to take stock of this challenge and share best practices to solve them.

Sweatt’s journey informs us and inspires us. A postal carrier, he was initially denied admission to the University of Texas Law School solely because of his race. Upon receipt of Sweatt’s application, UT spent millions of dollars to uphold the

“separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation by establishing a separate law school solely for Blacks. UT then argued that there was now separate but equal legal education so Sweatt need not be admitted. Instead, Sweatt brought an equal protection claim to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately compelled his admission because the newly created law school failed to provide a substantially equal legal education.

Sadly, Sweatt never achieved his goal of becoming a lawyer because of poor health and the racially hostile environment he endured at UT during that era. As we look back on these 70 years, we must acknowledge that much has changed for the better since then. But we must acknowledge we still have much work to do.

The law school created by the Texas Legislature for Blacks is now known as the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. Each year, it enrolls and graduates the largest number of Black law students in the state. We and the other law schools have much more work to do in diversifying our faculties, staff and student bodies. Without a critical mass, how do we ensure that students of color are not isolated, marginalized or tokenized? Moreover, without sufficient diversity, how do we ensure that all students are learning from a broad range of opinions and cultural experiences imperative for them to become leaders in our profession and our communities?

But it’s not just the law schools; there isn’t a Black judge currently serving on the Texas Supreme Court, and the very first appointment was only in 2001, decades after many other states. The state’s most prominent law firms are largely lacking in diversity when it comes to Black representation as well as other minority groups. The America Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard reports that the ranks of Black attorneys are small and have remained stagnant for the past decade, despite the efforts firms have put into their diversity programs.

We want Texas to ensure that we have both excellence and diversity in the profession.

That’s why we decided to co-convene the Black Lawyers Matter Conference. Here is a snapshot of what some organizations are doing:

The Law Firm Antiracism Alliance is comprised of 260 law firms in every state “committed to using litigation and advocacy to overturn policies and laws that result in negative outcomes for people of color.”

Baker Botts has formed a strategic collaboration to provide $10 million in free legal services for the next three years to Official Black Wall Street, a global membership organization of more than 5,500 Black-owned businesses.

• Five law firms, more than 25 general counsel and community leaders created “Move the Needle” to incubate bold diversity programs. They will set “measurable diversity goals, experiment with research-based and data-driven ways to achieve them, and publicly report their progress.”

At the conference, participants will learn about other best practices with pipeline programs, employer recruitment and retention, as well as the role of historically Black law schools in the modern era.

Studies show that more diverse organizations make better decisions and are more profitable. We want what is best for our state. We’re committed to working with the judiciary, law firms, corporations, other legal employers and law schools to find ways to move the needle to increase diversity in our profession. We want Sweatt’s circumstances to be a relic of our history, not part of our future.