Issues of race and discrimination are in the forefront of problems confronting today’s society. Lawyers and the legal profession must take the lead in how to address and overcome inequities emanating from bias in these areas. On the one hand, it is crucial for the legal profession to celebrate and encourage diversity at all levels, while, on the other, it must lead in combatting bias on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or other differences. These principles should guide lawyers in fulfilling their professional responsibilities as members of the bar generally, as well as in their representation of clients. One way in which the legal profession can sensitize itself to the scope and extent of these problems and potential avenues for remediation is through continuing legal education (CLE). Two states, California and Minnesota, already require attorneys to meet diversity and inclusion requirements. Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, New York’s mandatory CLE requirements includes a Diversity and Inclusion component. Attorneys due to re-register on or after July 1, 2018 must meet the new CLE requirements. In February 2016, the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates unanimously adopted a resolution entreating those regulating authorities that have a mandatory or minimum CLE requirement to also include a diversity and inclusion component. ABA Resolution 107. In New York state, the resolution gained overwhelming support from a number of local and specialty bar associations.
In July 2016, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore received a letter signed by 13 bar associations urging New York state to mandate that diversity and inclusion be included as a CLE requirement. The bar associations that signed the letter were: the New York City Bar Association, the Amistad Long Island Black Bar Association, Association of Black Women Attorneys, Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals, Dominican Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association, Jewish Lawyers Guild, LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York (LeGaL), Long Island Hispanic Bar Association, Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Muslim Bar Association of New York, Puerto Rican Bar Association, and South Asian Bar Association of New York.
