New research by Supreme Court correspondent Tony Mauro found coveted clerkships at the Supreme Court continue to mostly still go to white male lawyers. Mauro discussed the findings with former clerk and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. The two also took questions from callers about why the numbers of diverse lawyers are so low, and what the court could — and is or isn't — doing about it.

Some excerpts:

Neal Katyal on Breyer's commitment to hire equal numbers of male and female clerks:

“It would be, I think, a good thing if more judges started to think about that. Not just along gender but along race and, in addition — we haven't talked about this yet — but also religious diversity and sexual orientation also, I think, are two things that are really missing in the data and in the conversation.”

Katyal on the students that get put on the path:

“One thing to get on the table for the conversation is the responsibility of law schools. … You have the superstar in your class who is raising his hand or her hand and asking all the right questions, and making all the right points — and other people may take a little longer to blossom…. They may be minorities and women, they may not be.”

Listen to the whole conversation (45 minutes) here: