Diversity in Justice

Lawyers have often led the fight for equality in America, yet the legal profession has long been one of the least diverse in the country, and the bench has been slower still to reflect the communities it serves. Why does that matter to clients, to litigants, and to the rule of law? What does it take for lawyers from underrepresented communities not just to survive in the profession but to thrive?

In this TalksOnLaw interview, Joel Cohen sits down with Judge Jenny Rivera of the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. She discusses diversity in the bar and on the bench, drawing on her own path from New York City to Princeton, NYU Law, and the court, and on national research into the experiences of Latina lawyers.

Why Diversity in the Profession Matters

Judge Rivera frames the issue at the level of the profession, not the individual lawyer. However talented individual lawyers and judges may be, a profession drawn from only a narrow slice of the community looks different to the people it serves, and that affects how they see the justice system. Representation also has a practical side. Young people who see lawyers from their own community can imagine that career, and they gain access to mentors, internships, and advice. She points to Justice Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court as a moment that gave the Court a special meaning in the Latino community: "It's your court, too."

Better Decisions, Not Just Better Optics

Judge Rivera notes that bar associations and businesses have long endorsed diversity because it gets people out of the echo chamber and brings more ideas into the room, which exposes the strengths and weaknesses of an argument. On the bench, the stakes are higher because judges are the decision-makers. When litigants see a court that reflects the breadth of the community, it reinforces confidence that the system is fair and that cases are decided by the rule of law.

The Pipeline and the Bench

Diverse judges require a deep pool of lawyers who have had the chance to lead: to chair committees, make partner, run public interest offices, or serve as U.S. Attorney. Judge Rivera observes that residential segregation concentrates many lawyers of color in metropolitan areas, which makes diverse benches more common in some regions than in others. Gender is where she sees the most progress. Women now make up half or more of law school classes, and New York has gone from very few women judges to women on the bench throughout the state. The Court of Appeals itself went from its first woman judge, Judith Kaye, who became its first woman chief judge, to a period with a majority of women among its seven judges.

Diversity of Experience

Diversity also means varied professional backgrounds, not only prosecutors and politicians. On a collegial appellate court, judges who have practiced in different areas bring more perspectives to new issues. When they still reach agreement, it shows the court is guided by law rather than by background. Judge Rivera recalls Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's reflections on how much she learned from Justice Thurgood Marshall's experience as a civil rights lawyer.

What Latina Lawyers Reported

Judge Rivera discusses two surveys commissioned by the Hispanic National Bar Association's Latina Commission. Latina lawyers reported high professional satisfaction. They also described lower expectations from educators, few mentors, and a double bind of gender and ethnic stereotypes. As lawyers, they were often mistaken for interpreters or secretaries, passed over for challenging assignments, and frequently the only Latina in the room. She explains the "rule of three," or 30 percent critical mass: until a group reaches that level, its members' voices tend not to be heard, and an idea one woman raises is often credited to the man who repeats it minutes later.

Carrying a Community

Judge Rivera recalls being one of few women and one of three Latinos in her law school section, and feeling that every answer in class spoke for the whole Puerto Rican community. The surveys found the same pressure among Latina lawyers. She is clear that judges do not decide cases by ethnicity. But people cannot leave their history at the door, and experience of being an outsider can make a judge more open to how others see the world.

Mentorship and the Duty of Every Lawyer

The research recommended mentorship aimed at helping lawyers thrive, not just survive: making law review, Order of the Coif, and partnership, not just graduation. Judge Rivera stresses that mentors need not share a mentee's background, since the numbers are too small for that anyway, and that every lawyer who values diversity can mentor. She urges lawyers to join bar associations to meet junior colleagues and to keep finding mentors themselves, including in the stories of figures like Justices Marshall, Ginsburg, and O'Connor.

What to Know Now

There has been visible progress at the top of the judiciary. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, and federal appointments from 2021 to 2025 included a record share of women and judges of color. In New York, Rowan D. Wilson became the first Black Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals in 2023, and women again hold a majority of the court's seven seats. Judge Rivera, now the court's Senior Associate Judge, continues to serve; her current term ends in February 2027. Women continue to make up a majority of law students, and the profession has grown gradually more diverse, though it still does not mirror the population.

The legal landscape around diversity efforts has also changed sharply. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), the Supreme Court held that race-conscious college admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI. That changed how law schools recruit and admit students, and after suspending enforcement in 2025, the ABA's accrediting council repealed its law school diversity standard in September 2026, as Texas, Florida, and federal regulators questioned the ABA's role as accreditor. Federal agencies have scrutinized law firm diversity programs, including fellowships and hiring targets, and executive orders targeting several firms were struck down by federal district courts, with the government's appeal pending in the D.C. Circuit. Supporters of the new approach say it enforces a principle of equal treatment regardless of race. Critics warn that it threatens the progress Judge Rivera describes. The practices she emphasizes are open to everyone and remain widely supported: broad mentorship, bar association involvement, fair assignment of work, and attention to whose voices are heard in the room. Many states, including New York, now require CLE credit in diversity, inclusion, and the elimination of bias.