The Marginalization of Black Aspiring Lawyers

Taylor, Aaron N.

doi:10.25148/lawrev.13.3.8

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Black students score about 11 points lower on the LSAT than their White and Asian counterparts, which leads to their exclusion from law schools based on a metric that does not predict lawyer success or even bar success well. See Taylor (2015Taylor ( , 2019 for an extended discussion of this dynamic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, law student demographics do not reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the applicant pools from which those students were selected (AccessLex, 2020). Overreliance on LSAT scores and UGPAs in the law school admission process is a principal driver of the persistent dearth of diversity in the legal profession (ABA, 2019;Rhode, 2015;Taylor, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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It’s Not Where You Start, It’s How You Finish: Predicting Law School and Bar Success

2021

JHETP

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In this study, we examine the extent to which academic and student engagement factors explain law school grades and first-time bar exam performance. Applying fixed effects linear and logit modeling, our analysis leverages law student transcript data and responses to the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) among students from a diverse group of 20 law schools to estimate academic performance and odds of bar passage. Most notably, we find that GPA improvement during law school is associated with greater odds of passing the bar exam, particularly among students who struggle the most during the first semester. Furthermore, while we find that LSAT scores and undergraduate GPA are predictive (p < 0.05) of both law school performance and bar success (as in previous research), these effects are quite modest. Based on these findings, we propose and discuss several recommendations. These should be helpful to higher education scholars and practitioners, particularly law school deans, administrators, faculty, and academic support staff.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s Not Where You Start, It’s How You Finish: Predicting Law School and Bar Success

2021

JHETP

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“…In 2017, 18% of the 200 accredited U.S. law schools enrolled half of all Black law students (Taylor, 2019). Only 17% of faculty and administrators at law schools are People of Color (Association of American Law Schools, 2020), and research has suggested that student exposure to same-race instructors may contribute to increased academic performance (e.g., Fairlie et al, 2014).…”

Section: Factors That Shape Disparities Within Law Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The historical dimension of the MMDLE pertains to how legacies of racial exclusion influence students' experiences (Hurtado et al, 2012). Students, faculty, and administrators within the legal education environment continue to navigate the remnants of a system that included segregated Jim Crow law schools (Longa, 2007), racist gatekeeping practices (Taylor, 2019), and disregard for the unique needs of Students of Color (Robbins, 2020). These histories influence the present law school climate and the broader learning environment, which then affect outcomes for Students of Color.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Graduation Outcomes for Racially Minoritized Law School Students

Bowman

Stroup

Fenton-Miller

2022

JPSS

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Despite decades of efforts to diversify the legal profession, White lawyers in the U.S. remain substantially overrepresented. As a necessary step for fostering equity in the workplace, law schools must work to reduce or eliminate the current racial disparities in their persistence and graduation rates. Therefore, this study explored the link between various institutional factors and graduation outcomes among students from several racially minoritized identities using school-level data from 2011-2019. The results indicate that the ingroup racial representation within the state (in which the law school is primarily housed) was positively related to graduation outcomes among Asian, Black, Latinx, underrepresented racial minority, and all law Students of Color; the percentage of Faculty of Color was also significantly related to graduation when examining most of these racial identities. Within subgroup analyses among lower- versus higher-ranking law schools, finances (e.g., financial aid provided, total tuition and fees, and estimated cost of living) were more consistently associated with graduation outcomes at law schools outside of the top 100, whereas racial representation (among faculty, other students, and within the state) and rankings were more often related to graduation among Students of Color within the top 100 law schools.

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“…Today, some compellingly argue that “overreliance” on standardized tests tends to disadvantage the populations that are underrepresented in law schools (Kidder, 2000; Sampson & Boyer, 2001; Taylor, 2019; Taylor, Scott, & Jackson, 2021). Indeed, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), which provides the LSAT, reported in 2014 that “African American” (Black) test takers scored a 142 on average, while that “Caucasian” (White) test takers scored a 153 on average (an 11‐point difference, which was nearly double the standard deviation) (Dalessandro et al, 2014; see also Dalessandro et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

JD‐Next: A valid and reliable tool to predict diverse students' success in law school

Findley

Cimetta

Burross

et al. 2023

J Empirical Legal Studies

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Admissions tests have increasingly come under attack by those seeking to broaden access and reduce disparities in higher education. Meanwhile, in other sectors there is a movement towards “work‐sample” or “proximal” testing. Especially for underrepresented students, the goal is to measure not just the accumulated knowledge and skills that they would bring to a new academic program, but also their ability to grow and learn through the program. The JD‐Next is a fully online, noncredit, 7‐ to 10‐week course to train potential JD students in case reading and analysis skills, prior to their first year of law school. This study tests the validity and reliability of the JD‐Next exam as a potential admissions tool for juris doctor programs of education. (In a companion article, we report on the efficacy of the course for preparing students for law school.) In 2019, we recruited a national sample of potential JD students, enriched for racial/ethnic diversity, along with a sample of volunteers at one university (N = 62). In 2020, we partnered with 17 law schools around the country to recruit a cohort of their incoming law students (N = 238). At the end of the course, students were incentivized to take and perform well on an exam that we graded with a standardized methodology. We collected first‐semester grades as an outcome variable, and compared JD‐Next exam properties to legacy exams now used by law schools (the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), including converted GRE scores). We found that the JD‐Next exam was a valid and reliable predictor of law school performance, comparable to legacy exams. For schools ranked outside the Top 50, we found that the legacy exams lacked significant incremental validity in our sample, but the JD‐Next exam provided a significant advantage. We also replicated known, substantial racial and ethnic disparities on the legacy exam scores, but estimate smaller, nonsignificant score disparities on the JD‐Next exam. Together this research suggests that, as an admissions tool, the JD‐Next exam may reduce the risk that capable students will be excluded from legal education and the legal profession.

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The Marginalization of Black Aspiring Lawyers

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

It’s Not Where You Start, It’s How You Finish: Predicting Law School and Bar Success

It’s Not Where You Start, It’s How You Finish: Predicting Law School and Bar Success

Promoting Graduation Outcomes for Racially Minoritized Law School Students

JD‐Next: A valid and reliable tool to predict diverse students' success in law school

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