Our ongoing Hot Topic page rounds up the latest stories about efforts to improve diversity in the legal profession, plus the specific challenges and milestones of that journey.
“By our calculations, Ms. Majors-Lewis has appointed about 30 percent minority judges, which is about equivalent to Gov. [Gray] Davis’ appointments,” said Christopher Arriola, judicial chairman of La Raza Lawyers of California. “There’s a long way to go until the judiciary reflects the diversity of California. But we’re very encouraged.”
JNE numbers released Wednesday also show a high percentage of Hispanic candidates � 46.8 percent � received top ratings of “well qualified” or “exceptionally well qualified” in 2007. Those figures for other ethnic groups were: 38.8 percent for Caucasians, 38 percent for Asian-Americans and 27.5 percent for African- Americans. Slightly less than 42 percent of the men received “well” or “exceptionally well” qualified ratings or better, while just 25 percent of the women did.
