A Thought Provoking Article: Paulette Brown, More than Equity Is Required: The Enhanced Impact of Racism on Women of Color in the Legal Profession

This article got me thinking about the future of the legal profession: Paulette Brown, More than Equity Is Required: The Enhanced Impact of Racism on Women of Color in the Legal Profession, 105 B.U. L. Rev. 1321 (2025). Here is the abstract:

This Essay examines the experiences of women of color in the legal profession and the manner in which they are treated differently, adversely affecting their career trajectories. Women of color in the legal profession have a long and tortured history of facing unique barriers to the kinds of opportunities that lead to successful careers. One of these barriers is exclusion from leadership roles in law firms, bar associations, academia (until recently), government, and corporations.

At a time in our history when Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (“DEI”)initiatives are not only scrutinized but also weaponized in unprecedented ways, when opponents are actively deploying concerted efforts to completely dismantle DEI, we should be concerned about the heightened adverse impact anti-DEI efforts will have on women of color.

Incorporating evidence from studies published by the American Bar Association Commission of Women in the Profession, such as “Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms” and “Left Out and Left Behind: The Hurdles, Hassles, and Heartaches of Achieving Long-Term Legal Careers for Women of Color,” and from my own personal experiences as well as those of other women of color in the legal profession, this Essay argues in support of the premise that equity, rather than equality alone, is necessary to finally provide women of color in the legal profession with the opportunities they have earned and deserve.

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It seems that not much has changed for women of color lawyers in too many years.

About the Author

Kevin R Johnson

Kevin R. Johnson is a Mabie-Apallas Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Aoki Center. Johnson also has an appointment as Professor of Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis. He joined the UC Davis law faculty in 1989 and was named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in 1998. Johnson then served as Dean from 2008 to 2024, the longest term in UC Davis School of Law history. He has taught a wide array of classes, including immigration law, civil procedure, complex litigation, Latinos and Latinas and the law, and Critical Race Theory. In 1993, he was the recipient of the law school’s Distinguished Teaching Award.