Why are there so few blacks in corporate law? Forum

[key2thasom]

Just read through this article. Thought it might be relevant to the forum's interests if it already hasn't been posted.

The link: http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/vie ... cholarship

[dingbat]

It's too bad I steer clear of discrimination/bigotry bait, because I could troll this so freaking bad...

I'm just gonna say Socio/cultural reasons
(maybe I'll be willing to give this a detailed response when I wake up, bu probably not)

[MrPapagiorgio]

For the same reason they are under-represented in all professional fields.

[key2thasom]

its also interesting the article argues that more minorities go into litigation as opposed to other specialties.

sorry if this is considered inflammatory, but i'm black, and thought it was a good read

[dingbat]

I don't consider the question inflammatory, just the potential responses.

I think a lot of it is for socio-cultural reasons.
Consider how many black people distrust the police, politicians, the system (and lawyers) relative to white people.

Consider how many black people come from a background that doesn't value education to the same extent (consider the difference in high school graduation rates and how it gets worse as you go up the food chain) or from a poor background that can't fathom spending a quarter million dollars on a law degree.

As for why more go into litigation, that again could be because those who do go through with it and become lawyers are more often driven by a purpose other than making a lot of money, which means they're more likely to end up in litigation than in, say, corporate.

[wiglaf1228]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence

Corporate work requires a high IQ. Read that article for why black people tend not to have high IQs, and for the ten million arguments as to why that is the case.

[fingerscrossedxx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence

Corporate work requires a high IQ. Read that article for why black people tend not to have high IQs, and for the ten million arguments as to why that is the case.

IBTL

[dowu]

[Ludo!]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_intelligence

Corporate work requires a high IQ. Read that article for why black people tend not to have high IQs, and for the ten million arguments as to why that is the case.

I don't get it. It's cool that you crossed this out I guess, but why did you even post it in the first place?

[Starscream15]

The reality is fewer graduate from high school. Therefore less blacks are able to attend and graduate from college. Then even fewer blacks attend law schools. Why? Socio-economic reasons. Black families are historically more likely to face discrimination, more families live in poverty, many deal with subtle segregation/discrimination in employment/salaries etc.

To attend law school you must have access to a strong primary and secondary education. You must have the income necessary to apply to colleges and pay for college. You then must have the resources to apply for the LSAT, Law School Applications and pay for law school. To go to better schools you need more support and resources. (ie- college prep classes, AP Classes, SAT prep, LSAT Prep, tutoring, extracurricular activities etc.)

Then when you graduate from law school quite often there is subtle discrimination in the hiring of corporate law. Ie - if we have nothing in common due to different ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds, I am less inclined to hire you.

But it is not only african americans. How many Native Americans, Hispanics, first generation immigrants, poor/rural whites do you see in corporate law? It kind of speaks for itself.

[Bucket]

Blacks are jay z

[starlight007]

Wiglaf & Bucket...two trolls on one thread? What are the odds of this?

[lisjjen]

My prediction is this turns into a shitshow and gets banned.

[Napt]

Idk bro, why are there so blacks with Fields Medals? Prob racism.

[lobolawyer]

I don't consider the question inflammatory, just the potential responses.

I think a lot of it is for socio-cultural reasons.
Consider how many black people distrust the police, politicians, the system (and lawyers) relative to white people.

Consider how many black people come from a background that doesn't value education to the same extent (consider the difference in high school graduation rates and how it gets worse as you go up the food chain) or from a poor background that can't fathom spending a quarter million dollars on a law degree.

As for why more go into litigation, that again could be because those who do go through with it and become lawyers are more often driven by a purpose other than making a lot of money, which means they're more likely to end up in litigation than in, say, corporate.

Save for the bold, most of what you said makes sense.

[lisjjen]

OK, I'll play. The history of racial repression and oppression in the United States means that historically, fewer Blacks have had an exposure to high end professions. There is what sociologists call a "conceptualization gap." That is, even if Blacks and Hispanics have high ambitions, they don't understand how to get to their end goal. That means fewer Black students saw their Dad work 70 hour weeks with a horrible office culture. That means the few Blacks who can figure out how to get into biglaw feeder schools and then go on to get biglaw grades get into biglaw and decide they hate the lifestyle after a few years because they had no way to conceptualize how bad it really is.

[dowu]

OK, I'll play. The history of racial repression and oppression in the United States means that historically, fewer Blacks have had an exposure to high end professions. There is what sociologists call a "conceptualization gap." That is, even if Blacks and Hispanics have high ambitions, they don't understand how to get to their end goal. That means fewer Black students saw their Dad work 70 hour weeks with a horrible office culture. That means the few Blacks who can figure out how to get into biglaw feeder schools and then go on to get biglaw grades get into biglaw and decide they hate the lifestyle after a few years because they had no way to conceptualize how bad it really is.

I see what you did there. Well played.

[roaringeagle]

Pardon my ignorance, but do black people dislike law more than white people? I recently had a long discussion with a very well educated black dude who said that he could not imagine representing a guilty client or a dishonest client. It would be against his morals and what he stands for.

Obviously discrimination and socio/economic issues play into this heavily, but I have seen many black successful people in business, but less in law. Is there an aversion to this profession?

I mean my boss in black and is awesome, and he's proud that I'm going to law school. So is my black District boss. I just never really talked to them about the law and what it means to them personally.

[Tom Joad]

My thoughts:
--ImageRemoved--

[FantasticMrFox]

My prediction is this turns into a shitshow and gets banned.

[lisjjen]

Pardon my ignorance, but do black people dislike law more than white people? I recently had a long discussion with a very well educated black dude who said that he could not imagine representing a guilty client or a dishonest client. It would be against his morals and what he stands for.

Obviously discrimination and socio/economic issues play into this heavily, but I have seen many black successful people in business, but less in law. Is there an aversion to this profession?

I mean my boss in black and is awesome, and he's proud that I'm going to law school. So is my black District boss. I just never really talked to them about the law and what it means to them personally.

OK, I'll play. The history of racial repression and oppression in the United States means that historically, fewer Blacks have had an exposure to high end professions. There is what sociologists call a "conceptualization gap." That is, even if Blacks and Hispanics have high ambitions, they don't understand how to get to their end goal. That means fewer Black students saw their Dad work 70 hour weeks with a horrible office culture. That means the few Blacks who can figure out how to get into biglaw feeder schools and then go on to get biglaw grades get into biglaw and decide they hate the lifestyle after a few years because they had no way to conceptualize how bad it really is.

Part of working biglaw is rationalizing the fact that you are working for terrible people. That's uncomfortable. I'm not coming from left field on this.

[TrialLawyer16]

OK, I'll play. The history of racial repression and oppression in the United States means that historically, fewer Blacks have had an exposure to high end professions. There is what sociologists call a "conceptualization gap." That is, even if Blacks and Hispanics have high ambitions, they don't understand how to get to their end goal. That means fewer Black students saw their Dad work 70 hour weeks with a horrible office culture. That means the few Blacks who can figure out how to get into biglaw feeder schools and then go on to get biglaw grades get into biglaw and decide they hate the lifestyle after a few years because they had no way to conceptualize how bad it really is.

As a young black man myself I have to say the bolded is huge. A large amount of us have high ambitions, but don't truly understand how to go about attaining them because nobody around us has done what we're attempting to do. By the time many of us find out what we should have done, in a lot of cases, it's too late (i.e. going to college while already having a family to support, etc). As you said it's not necessarily a black thing, it's a socio-economic one. It's a big desire of mine to make some sort of impact in our community regarding this issue in particular by the time it's all said and done.

[marlo45]

OK, I'll play. The history of racial repression and oppression in the United States means that historically, fewer Blacks have had an exposure to high end professions. There is what sociologists call a "conceptualization gap." That is, even if Blacks and Hispanics have high ambitions, they don't understand how to get to their end goal. That means fewer Black students saw their Dad work 70 hour weeks with a horrible office culture. That means the few Blacks who can figure out how to get into biglaw feeder schools and then go on to get biglaw grades get into biglaw and decide they hate the lifestyle after a few years because they had no way to conceptualize how bad it really is.

As a young black man myself I have to say the bolded is huge. A large amount of us have high ambitions, but don't truly understand how to go about attaining them because nobody around us has done what we're attempting to do. By the time many of us find out what we should have done, in a lot of cases, it's too late (i.e. going to college while already having a family to support, etc). As you said it's not necessarily a black thing, it's a socio-economic one. It's a big desire of mine to make some sort of impact in our community regarding this issue in particular by the time it's all said and done.

Didn't read the article but i think based on the responses here, i get the gist of what it's about.

That said, i agree with you on this. I'm the living proof.

[lisjjen]

Since we're discussing race, I am a Black male. Like I said, I'm not pulling this out of my ass.

[vanwinkle]

OK, I'll play. The history of racial repression and oppression in the United States means that historically, fewer Blacks have had an exposure to high end professions. There is what sociologists call a "conceptualization gap." That is, even if Blacks and Hispanics have high ambitions, they don't understand how to get to their end goal. That means fewer Black students saw their Dad work 70 hour weeks with a horrible office culture. That means the few Blacks who can figure out how to get into biglaw feeder schools and then go on to get biglaw grades get into biglaw and decide they hate the lifestyle after a few years because they had no way to conceptualize how bad it really is.

As a young black man myself I have to say the bolded is huge.

As a non-MX/PR Hispanic, I have to +1 this.