Becoming an Hispanic Lawyer
Hispanics are disproportionately underrepresented in the legal field. Whereas 19.1 percent of the U.S. population is Hispanic, only 6 percent of U.S. lawyers is Hispanic. According to the National Association for Law Placement Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, Hispanic lawyers were 3 percent of law firm partners in 2022. With the exception of the life, physical, and social sciences, the legal profession employed the fewest Hispanics of any of the 25 reported occupations in 2021. In 2021, 10.75 percent of partners in law firms were persons of color, and 31 percent of that group were Hispanic.
The small percentage of Hispanic lawyers can be understood in terms of the institutional and cultural barriers they confront while attempting to enter the legal profession. Obviously, entry into a legal career is dependent upon educational attainment. A modest rise in the percent of Hispanic lawyers over the past decade may have been facilitated by the increase in enrollments of Hispanic immigrants in U.S. educational systems. It may also be significant that there has been a higher level of college attainment among Hispanic immigrants. Depending upon law school admission requirements regarding the acceptability of bachelor’s degrees awarded in foreign countries, this greater level of educational attainment could help clear the first hurdle in the quest for becoming a member of the legal profession.
Despite increasing educational attainment, many Hispanics apparently are discouraged by the long process and high costs associated with pursuing a career in law. Applying to law school is expensive. Taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) just once and reporting the score to one school costs $422. There is a $45 charge for sending the test results to each additional school to which the individual applies. It costs $222 each time the LSAT is retaken. (Note that some law schools accept the Graduate Records Exam in lieu of the LSAT, although more than 98% of the class of 2022 matriculants used the LSAT in their application process.)
Most applicants routinely enroll in one of many available LSAT prep courses to improve their scores. For example, depending on course type and whether tutoring is purchased, the Princeton Review LSAT prep course options range in price from approximately $800 up to $4,000. Juris Education charges range from $1,380 to $5,100.
The Law School Admissions Council only waives fees for applicants who prove they are in “extreme need.” Although they may be waived more easily, each law school has an application fee that may range from $15 to $100.
Law school costs tend to be higher than other types of graduate degrees. There is substantial variance in tuition costs between public and private law schools, and differences depending on whether the applicant is an in-state student. The average cost of private law school tuition in the U.S. is $53,034 a year. Public law school in-state tuition is $29,610 a year, and out-of-state tuition is $42,754 a year. By comparison, in academic year 2022-23, tuition and fees for full-time graduate students at public postsecondary institutions was $11,554. At law school graduation in 2023 the average cumulative educational debt was $160,000. Because the average total law school tuition increases by $1,398 per year, 2024 graduates can expect to owe closer to $166,000.
It is also true that many Hispanic law school aspirants are unaware of significant application details. This knowledge deficit is likely attributable to the fact that many first-generation college graduates applying to law school have no personal connections to people who can help guide them through the process. For example, unlike more privileged applicants, Hispanic are unlikely to receive mentorship and participate in networking relationships that would alert them to the importance of applying early to the law school(s) of their choice. Perhaps for this reason, among all law school students in 2022 only 13.7 percent were Hispanic. However, 15.0 percent of the 2022 incoming class of law school students is Hispanic.