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State Bar Releases Annual Report Card on Diversity

The State Bar of California released today its 2022 Report Card on the Diversity of California’s Legal Profession. The report—based on survey responses from a majority of active California attorneys—highlights trends in the diversity, workplace settings, leadership roles, and workplace satisfaction of California’s attorney population across multiple demographic groups and employment sectors. It points out that while the legal profession is growing increasingly diverse, it still does not reflect the demographic diversity of the Golden State’s population.

Specific findings include: 

• White people account for 39 percent of the state’s population, yet comprise 66 percent of California’s active attorney population.
• Hispanics/Latinos are particularly underrepresented, comprising 36 percent of the state’s population but only 6 percent of all California’s licensed attorneys. 
• Asian attorneys comprise 14 percent of all attorneys, while Asian people make up 16 percent of the state’s population.
• Black people represent 6 percent of the adult population in California and comprise 3 percent of all attorneys.
• Attorneys who identify as multiracial comprise 8 percent of all attorneys; this is four times more than the share of adults statewide who identify as multiracial. 
• Women of color now comprise the largest group of newly admitted attorneys, yet are underrepresented in leadership positions in all employment settings.
• Women are overrepresented in government and nonprofit sectors, comprising 55 percent and 67 percent respectively. Attorney salaries are among the lowest in these sectors.
• Most (80 percent) of California attorneys work in the private sector. Increasing the diversity of this sector alone will have a transformative impact on the profession.
• Nonbinary attorneys consistently report the lowest levels of satisfaction with workplace experiences.
• Compensation and benefits are ranked as the top area of desired improvement by all attorneys and demographic groups analyzed.

"The State Bar offers this report as both a resource and a call to action," said Leah Wilson, State Bar Executive Director. "While new entrants to the profession increasingly reflect the rich diversity of our state, we still have a long way to go towards the goal of demographic parity. We see also that once ‘in the tent,’ not all lawyers are experiencing the profession in the same way, with some, particularly women of color, facing disparities when it comes to career advancement and satisfaction. We look forward to working with the legal community and other partners to continue to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in our profession."

The report also shows that the percentage of newly admitted attorneys in some underrepresented demographics is increasing. Hispanics/Latinos, for example, represented 11 percent of California's newly admitted lawyers in 2021. 

For the first time, the report is available to the public digitally, complete with key findings highlighted with interactive data visualizations. Over the coming months, the State Bar intends to produce additional analyses that drill down into specific demographic groups and sectors and to make the data widely available for analysis by others.

Information about survey methodology and response rates can be found here. The State Bar is committed to ensuring the research included in the diversity report card will translate into results. To that end, employers and attorneys are encouraged to take the steps outlined in the “Calls to Action” section. These prompts and recommendations were derived from a review of diversity and inclusion best practices across legal employment sectors. Sector-specific Calls to Action will follow soon.

The State Bar’s mission includes the express goal of advancing inclusion and diversity in the legal profession. The Board of Trustees has defined the ultimate goal as a statewide attorney population that reflects the richly diverse demographics of California. Recent efforts toward this goal have included:

• Permanent funding for the Strategies and Stories program, which has proven to increase bar pass rates;
• An independent analysis of questions on the bar exam for potential bias and an ongoing process to remove any potential bias from bar exam questions and scoring; and
• Development of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Seal Program, to launch later this summer, which will recognize California legal employers that commit to implementing certain research-driven Calls to Action.  

​Other initiatives outlined in the State Bar's new Five-Year Strategic Plan include: 

• Sharing best practices for diversity pipeline programs that support aspiring attorneys in graduating from law school and passing the bar exam.
• Conducting an equity and cost-focused analysis of the impact of various options for administration of the bar exam on pass rates, including remote and open-book formats. 
• Identifying data-supported practices that promote retention and advancement of a diverse and inclusive legal profession and sharing those practices through toolkits and other resources.

Watch the “State Bar Stories” video with Yolanda Jackson, Executive Director of the Bar Association of San Francisco and its Justice & Diversity Center. Ms. Jackson speaks about the challenges she faces daily as a woman of color and a leader in the legal field and the importance of diversity in the legal profession, and the State Bar’s role in promoting it.   

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The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.