The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.
Issue link: https://kentuckybenchandbar.epubxp.com/i/213936
YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION Kentucky Legal Education Opportunity (KLEO) Program is a Crucial Component of Efforts to Improve Diversity in the Profession Diversity matters. As the United States Supreme Court has observed, "[e]ffective participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups in the civic life of our Nation is essential if the dream of one Nation, indivisible, is to be realized."1 Given its unique position as a training ground for our corporate and civic leaders, the legal profession must embrace diversity as a positive and indeed necessary goal. "In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity."2 22 Diversity is about more than racial and ethnic groups. The American Bar Association diversity initiatives target "racial and ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and the LGBT community."3 True diversity embraces the blend of traits, backgrounds, and experiences that makes America the melting pot of the world. A diverse community, for example, includes individuals of differing religious, socioeconomic, geographic, and political backgrounds. There are several reasons why achieving a more diverse legal profession is important. In its 2010 report on the state of diversity in the profession, the American Bar Association Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity identified four rationales: democracy, business, leadership, and demography.4 First, the commission noted that democracy works best when a broad mixture of individuals are involved in the political and legal processes. "Without a diverse bench and bar, the rule of law is weakened as the people see and come to distrust their exclusion from the mechanisms of justice."5 Second, a diverse legal profession is good for an increasingly globalized and complex business environment.6 Understanding this, many corporate clients require outside counsel to demonstrate a commitment to diversity.7 Third, society draws much of its leadership from the ranks of the legal profession, and thus the profession must have a diverse pool of talented individuals to fill these roles.8 Finally, the American population is becoming increasingly diverse, and the profession should reflect the population at large.9 B&B; • 11.13 Locally, there is much work to be done. In the most recent demographic survey of the approximately 17,500 members of the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA), approximately four percent identified themselves as a member of a non-Caucasian racial group.10 In comparison, approximately 15 percent of Kentuckians identified themselves as a member of a non-Caucasian racial group in the 2010 census.11 Statistics examining measures of non-racial diversity among Kentucky lawyers are not readily available, but national numbers confirm a similarly gloomy status.12 The KBA recognizes diversity as important and, through its Diversity in the Profession Committee, is working to improve the inclusion of minorities in the profession. Similarly, the Young Lawyers Division Diversity Committee works to increase awareness of the importance of diversity and promote the full and equal inclusion of all diverse individuals in the legal profession. One program that has been particularly successful in improving diversity in the profession is the Kentucky Legal Education Opportunity (KLEO) program. Patterned after the national Council on Legal Opportunity (CLEO) program, KLEO was founded in 2003 from the vision and determination of former Chief Justice Joseph Lambert and state Rep. Jesse Crenshaw of Lexington. The KLEO program seeks to improve diversity in the profession by helping individuals of diverse background to attend and succeed in law school. Each year, five individuals from each of the Commonwealth's law schools are designated KLEO Scholars. In addition to a scholarship provided by the law school, each scholar attends the KLEO Summer Institute. The institute is a two-week residential program held during the summer before the 1L year; it provides a pre-law preparatory program to introduce the scholars to the curriculum they will encounter during law school. The institute also equips the scholars with study skills and strategies to help them successfully navigate the rigors of law school. Former KLEO scholars serve as mentors to each year's class of new scholars. The KLEO program works. To date, well over 100 scholars have completed the KLEO Summer Institute. Participants in the program exhibit an 82 percent law school graduation rate – bringing additional diver- By: Carl N. Frazier, YLD Chair sity to Kentucky's legal profession. With tightening budgets, there is no longer public funding for the KLEO Summer Institute. Since state appropriations were eliminated in 2009, the program has continued thanks to the generous support of Kentucky lawyers individually and through law firms, the Kentucky Bar Foundation, and the foundations of local bar associations. The KLEO program needs our help. One way to support the program is by making a contribution on your annual KBA dues statement. Another way is to make a financial contribution directly to the KLEO fund at the Kentucky Bar Foundation. Your donation will be used to keep the KLEO Summer Institute going for years to come. Diversifying the legal profession is up to all of us. While the KLEO program alone will not fully accomplish this important goal, it has a demonstrated track record of preparing new lawyers of diverse backgrounds for the practice of law. The KLEO program deserves our support. I hope you will join me and the Young Lawyers Division in helping to ensure that the KLEO program remains strong for future generations. 1 Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 332 (2003). Id. ABA Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity, Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps at 9 (2010) 4 Id. at 9-10. 5 Id. at 9. 6 Id. 7 Minority Corporate Counsel Association, A Comprehensive Examination of Diversity Demographics, Initiatives, and Policies in Corporate Legal Departments at 16-20 (2011). 8 ABA Presidential Commission on Diversity, Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps at 9 (2010). 9 Id. 10 The respondents chose from the following categories: African American; Native American; Asian; Hawaiian; Hispanic; Other; and White. 11 See Kentucky State Data Center, 2011 Census Profile, available at ksdc.louisville.edu/. 12 See, e.g. American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights, An Annual Report on the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in ABA Leadership Positions (2013); American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession, A Current Glance at Women in the Law (2013). 2 3 Donations to support KLEO can be made payable to the Kentucky Bar Foundation and "KLEO" in the memo line and mailed to the Kentucky Bar Association, 514 W. Main St., Frankfort, KY 40601.