{"id":109246,"date":"2025-02-25T17:43:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T01:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/25\/most-state-bars-will-have-to-choose-between-diversity-or-dollar-signs\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T17:43:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T01:43:33","slug":"most-state-bars-will-have-to-choose-between-diversity-or-dollar-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/25\/most-state-bars-will-have-to-choose-between-diversity-or-dollar-signs\/","title":{"rendered":"Most State Bars Will Have To Choose Between Diversity Or Dollar Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The threat of being defunded is pulling the rug out from under many an organizations\u2019 \u201csteadfast\u201d commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Shortly after the Department of Education\u2019s \u201cDear Colleague\u201d letter<\/a>, we got word of law schools scrubbing DEI mentions from their websites<\/a> and that the American Bar Association decided to stop enforcing DEI accreditation requirements on law schools. The next step is waiting to see how state bars will respond to the push to get rid of DEI programs. From Bloomberg Law<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Under threat from the Trump administration and lawsuits from conservative litigators, state bar groups across the country are deciding whether to shelve diversity programming or risk getting dragged into court.
\u2026
Some bar leaders are resolute, including Connecticut Bar Association President Tim Shearin. His organization will continue programs like its diversity summit and a law camp for high school and college students.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur promise to make the legal profession open to all remains steadfast,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Eight state bars said they didn\u2019t plan on changing their DEI programs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Eight is a far cry from 50, but it\u2019s a start! And for what it\u2019s worth, Shearin is right. If the state bars that used all of that flowery language to justify DEI programs actually believed in what they were saying, they\u2019d do what it takes to make sure that capable disenfranchised folks will have the opportunities that would otherwise lie outside of their reach.<\/p>\n

The state bars that have the most freedom to maintain DEI programs are ones that 1) don\u2019t receive federal funds and 2) don\u2019t make the right to practice in the state contingent on mandatory membership. Targeting state bars for the latter reason has been a Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty staple strategy<\/a> that will likely pick up steam elsewhere. Some state bars will inevitably bow to the crown \u2014 the Florida Bar has already scrubbed mentions of DEI from its policies \u2014 but the bars committed to maintaining equity may change their funding mechanisms or membership requirements to meet their goals.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s State Bar DEI Threat Emboldens Diversity Policy Attacks<\/a> [Bloomberg Law]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: The Department Of Education Finally Dropped The \u2018No DEI By Proxy\u2019 Shoe We Were All Waiting For<\/a><\/p>\n

Law Schools Respond To The Executive Threatening To Cut Federal Funding Over DEI<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisconsin Institute For Law And Liberty Fights For Right To Not Support Minorities<\/a><\/p>\n

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor<\/a>, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Most State Bars Will Have To Choose Between Diversity Or Dollar Signs<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The threat of being defunded is pulling the rug out from under many an organizations\u2019 \u201csteadfast\u201d commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Shortly after the Department of Education\u2019s \u201cDear Colleague\u201d letter<\/a>, we got word of law schools scrubbing DEI mentions from their websites<\/a> and that the American Bar Association decided to stop enforcing DEI accreditation requirements on law schools. The next step is waiting to see how state bars will respond to the push to get rid of DEI programs. From Bloomberg Law<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Under threat from the Trump administration and lawsuits from conservative litigators, state bar groups across the country are deciding whether to shelve diversity programming or risk getting dragged into court.
\u2026
Some bar leaders are resolute, including Connecticut Bar Association President Tim Shearin. His organization will continue programs like its diversity summit and a law camp for high school and college students.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur promise to make the legal profession open to all remains steadfast,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Eight state bars said they didn\u2019t plan on changing their DEI programs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Eight is a far cry from 50, but it\u2019s a start! And for what it\u2019s worth, Shearin is right. If the state bars that used all of that flowery language to justify DEI programs actually believed in what they were saying, they\u2019d do what it takes to make sure that capable disenfranchised folks will have the opportunities that would otherwise lie outside of their reach.<\/p>\n

The state bars that have the most freedom to maintain DEI programs are ones that 1) don\u2019t receive federal funds and 2) don\u2019t make the right to practice in the state contingent on mandatory membership. Targeting state bars for the latter reason has been a Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty staple strategy<\/a> that will likely pick up steam elsewhere. Some state bars will inevitably bow to the crown \u2014 the Florida Bar has already scrubbed mentions of DEI from its policies \u2014 but the bars committed to maintaining equity may change their funding mechanisms or membership requirements to meet their goals.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s State Bar DEI Threat Emboldens Diversity Policy Attacks<\/a> [Bloomberg Law]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: The Department Of Education Finally Dropped The \u2018No DEI By Proxy\u2019 Shoe We Were All Waiting For<\/a><\/p>\n

Law Schools Respond To The Executive Threatening To Cut Federal Funding Over DEI<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisconsin Institute For Law And Liberty Fights For Right To Not Support Minorities<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor<\/a>, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The threat of being defunded is pulling the rug out from under many an organizations\u2019 \u201csteadfast\u201d commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Shortly after the Department of Education\u2019s \u201cDear Colleague\u201d letter, we got word of law schools scrubbing DEI mentions from their websites and that the American Bar Association decided to stop enforcing DEI accreditation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Williams-150x150-XDo2Ld.jpeg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}