Inclusive Legal Spaces: The Importance of Diverse Mentoring

Creating inclusive spaces and developing a diverse team is critical to any industry. However, diversity and inclusion are particularly important in the legal profession to ensure that judges, prosecutors, and lawyers are just as diverse as the millions of Americans they serve. Lawyers of color are imperative in advocating for disenfranchised clients who often come from communities of color and are shuffled through the legal system without much regard for the institutional bias they face. Professionals of color within the legal system shed light on laws that disproportionately affect communities of color—such as state laws that fine women who braid hair without a license. These laws negatively impact women of color and immigrant communities that rely on hair braiding as a means of financial support. It often takes someone from a diverse background to recognize the bias in such laws and bring them to their local legislature’s attention to be struck down.