January/February

So—what’s in a name? Apparently, a lot. If you are named John, you will have a significant advantage over Jennifer when applying for a position, even if you both have the exact same credentials. If your name is José, you will get more callbacks if you change it to Joe. And if you’re named Emily or Greg, you will receive 50 percent more callbacks for job interviews than equally qualified applicants named Lakisha or Jamal.

The Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (IILP) was created in 2009 to promote demographic and cultural diversity and inclusion in the U.S. legal profession. As part of this effort, the IILP Review publishes an annual statistical summary regarding the status of traditionally underrepresented groups within the profession. Such data are critical for assessing the profession’s progress toward greater diversity and inclusion.

Nearly one out of five Americans has a disability.1 Accordingly, people with disabilities comprise the largest minority group in the United States. The group is exceptionally diverse in its interests and needs, and members may join the group at any point in life. Many people overlook disability as a part of diversity.

So—what’s in a name? Apparently, a lot. If you are named John, you will have a significant advantage over Jennifer when applying for a position, even if you both have the exact same credentials. If your name is José, you will get more callbacks if you change it to Joe. And if you’re named Emily or Greg, you will receive 50 percent more callbacks for job interviews than equally qualified applicants named Lakisha or Jamal.

The dearth of Latina attorneys is startling. Latinas—who constitute 7 percent of the total U.S. population and are part of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group—represent only 1.4 percent of the nation’s lawyers. The low number of Latina lawyers has severe repercussions for the recruitment, retention, and professional career advancement of Latina lawyers.

Asia is the largest and most populous continent on Earth, covering almost one-third of the planet’s total surface area. Asia is so vast that it stretches from Japan in the east all the way through Russia in the west. It is understandable then, that Asians speak numerous languages, practice an abundance of distinct religions, and follow a multitude of customs.

Attorneys of color have multiple stigmatized identities that the legal profession has yet to comprehensively address. For instance, the specific groups that fall within the American Bar Association’s (ABA), as well as other organizations’, diversity programs and policies, include racial and ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT).

The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment.

We know today that the single greatest predictor of youth incarceration is a history of school discipline. It’s a problem that has come to be known as the school-to-prison pipeline, and the impact is worse for urban schools and minorities.

On April 8, 2016, the Obama administration ushered in a new era of consumer protection for retirement investors. It did so by issuing a new rule through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that significantly expands the definition of an investment advice fiduciary.

The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC v. Lee clarified two important issues regarding post-grant procedures, namely, whether a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) institution decision is appealable after a final written decision and whether the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has the authority to adopt the broadest reasonable interpretation claim construction standard.

Traditional legal commentaries and authorities caution against the potential dangers of parodies and the perceived negative effects they may have on trademark or copyright owners.