The New York State Bar has a long history of encouraging and promoting diversity, inclusion and the elimination of bias in the legal profession.
The State now requires that after July 1, 2018 experienced attorneys must complete one credit hour in the diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias continuing legal education (CLE) category as part of its biannual CLE requirement.
By adding this requirement, New York joins California and Minnesota, two states that have long required attorneys to fulfill separate diversity and inclusion CLE requirements.
According to several studies, the legal profession has the least amount of racial diversity and the slowest diversification rate of professions with similar education and licencing requirements. In addition, the representation of minorities and female partners in law firms remains very low. Hopefully, these new measures will lead to much needed change and increased representation for minorities and females.