Hurdles to Latinos Entering Law School

Despite the burgeoning population of Latinos in Chicago, enrollment at area law schools doesn't reflect the change, resulting in a low percentage of Hispanic attorneys.

This will impact the representation of Hispanics in politics and in the courts where hotly debated issues regarding immigration and security often play out, according to legal experts and activists alike. 

Latinos make up approximately 5.8 percent of all students in American Bar Association accredited law schools and comprise only 8.4 percent of total law school applicants nationwide, according to the American Bar Association based in Chicago.

“We recognize and are very concerned about the need for diversity in law school enrollment,” said Nancy Slonim, ABA deputy director of policy communication.

These statistics are surprising, since the 2000 U.S. Census revealed that the Latino population in Illinois grew by 60 percent between 1990 and 2000. In addition, the census found that more than half of the Latino population in Illinois is age 25 or younger. Approximately one-third of school-aged children in the city of Chicago are Latino.

Even though the number of Latinos in the city is increasing, area law schools are not seeing a significant bump in their Hispanic enrollment.

Out of 600 students enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School, 55 are Hispanic, according to Ann K. Perry, assistant dean for the University of Chicago Law School. This is approximately 9.2 percent of the student body.

“It [Latino enrollment] has gone up but not by a huge number,” Perry said. “It ebbs and flows every year.”

For the 2006-2007 school year, the University of Chicago reports that a class of 192 first year law students included 16 Hispanics, 111 Caucasians, 12 African- Americans, 3 of Native American descent, 26 Asian-Americans, 2 foreign nationals and 22 students who didn't report ethnic origin. Hispanic enrollment percentages are similar at the DePaul University College of Law. 

Slonim says the looming concern over minority enrollment is an issue at the ABA and that the organization is interested in seeking ways to address it.

“We are looking at how to encourage minority students to attend law school,” said Slonim. “We are very supportive of and cooperate with ethnic bar associations.”

The University of Chicago is taking similar steps to encourage Latinos to apply and enroll at the law school and even has a Latino law student group that recruits prospective students.

“We do a lot of outreach [such as] law school fairs,” Perry said. “We’ve even done some starting in high schools, just talking with high school students, just trying to get them involved in the pipeline earlier, just so they know law school is an option.”

DePaul's College of Law, Loyola University-Chicago School of Law, John Marshall Law School, Chicago-Kent College of Law and Northwestern University School of Law all report making efforts to increase Hispanic enrollment.

But, Latino enrollment at these institutions still remains substantially below enrollment of white students.

Education and economics explain why more Latinos aren't obtaining law degrees.

Latino students lag behind white students in reading, math and writing on Illinois State Achievement Tests, according to “Measuring the Minority Education Gap in Metropolitan Chicago.” The 2005 report, released by The Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, assessed the causes of the achievement gap in education.

“Low-income students in Latino and African-American districts performed lower in 2003 ISAT reading and math than low-income students in white districts,” the report states.

Education researchers say these low test scores in districts with high concentration of Latinos are caused by the low levels of funding for elementary and secondary public schools in these areas.

Critics who follow this school of thought refer to this lack of funding for minority school districts as the “American Apartheid.”

What happens if this enrollment trend continues in law schools?

Some experts warn that if this trend in Latino enrollment continues compared to population growth, it will adversely affect Hispanics. 

“It should be alarming,” said Jimmie V. Reyna, president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, headquartered in Washington D.C. “We have to have enough Hispanic attorneys to address the issues [facing the Hispanic community]. If the numbers continue the way they are," the people making decisions about Hispanics won't adequately represent Hispanics. 

The issues Reyna is referencing include the hotly debated topic of immigration reform and border security.

Reyna says that without Hispanics entering law school, the legal profession will not be able to deliver quality service to the community and that Hispanic issues will not remain at the forefront of the political agenda.

Reyna says the message is clear: “There is a need for Latino and Latina attorneys.”