Diversity Corner

• Year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 93 No. 6 Pg. 26
• Pages: 26
• Date: 01 December 2024

Diversity Corner No. 93 J. Kan. Bar Assn 6, 26 (2024) Kansas Bar Journal December, 2024

November, 2024

A Call to Action in Our Efforts to Create a More Diverse Legal Profession

By James Hampton, Shook Hardy &Bacon LLP

I believe my fantastic, outgoing co-editor of the Diversity Corner, Diana Stanley, said it best in the July/August 2024 issue of the Journal when she emphasized that "the legal community functions best when lawyers talk to each other."^[1]The only thing I will add to this essential call to action is that the legal community also functions best when we talk to members of the community who are part of the same affinity groups we identify with, specifically those considering a legal career. And on a personal note, this is something I need to exert more effort towards.

Recently, I attended a mentoring event at the KU School of Law with ILs. I was grouped with two other attorneys and five ILs, and we discussed various aspects of our areas of practice and some of the dos and don'ts for surviving IL year. As I looked at the ILs I was grouped with, as well as all the ILs who attended the event, I was overjoyed to see such a diverse group of law students. According to data from the American Bar Association, the...