Bias in the legal profession is not new. The legal system often endorses and perpetuates racism and sexism. Historically, the prevailing response to experiences of bias has been to ignore and carry on, reinforced by advice to “Just deal with it” or “Grow a thicker skin”. Professionalism has been defined by the thickness of one’s skin: one’s ability to placidly and stoically tolerate and withstand bias and microaggressions.
Though bias and microaggressions are commonplace in the practice of law, there are few venues to call out incidences of bias. Conduct typically may not rise to the level of filing a bar or judicial complaint. Courts often have no clear or effective mechanisms to report and investigate incidences of bias. Ethical rules dictate, and attorneys follow with due respect, that they cannot take any action that could adversely affect their clients. As a result, the legal system can feel like a hopeless site for resistance and change.
How do we move beyond tolerance as professionalism? How can clinical faculty help students process bias in the legal profession, and also find ways to confront it to promote real change?
We aim to address these questions by discussing common types of bias experienced by students in the practice of law; identifying barriers to confronting bias, including discussion of systemic and ethical limitations and constraints; and brainstorming how to overcome the barriers to addressing bias in the moment and how we should advise students to respond.