Legal Grumblings

If law is a mirror of society, then Harlem is having trouble recognizing its reflection in the legal system.

In New York State, approximately three percent of lawyers are Black, while African-Americans make up nearly 80 percent of Harlem’s population.

“This is an issue that we’re struggling with,” said Thomas Giovanni, a staff attorney at The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a non-profit organization providing legal representation to area residents.

“It’s difficult to obtain top-notch attorneys who reflect the demographics of this neighborhood.”

According to a report in Newsday, Blacks make up less than six percent of all lawyers in the country; and between 2002-2004, African-American enrollment in New York State law schools declined by nine percent.

Cuts in federal financial aid packages and scholarships are part of the reason for the declining numbers as is the increased emphasis on the law school admission exam - which, historically, minorities haven’t scored as high on as their White counterparts. Both of these factors have made attracting the small pool of Black law graduates into Harlem increasingly difficult.

“Money is a big factor in all of this,” said Chris McGrath, the President of the Nassau County Bar Association, who recently began a minority scholarship program for local Long Island law students.

He points to the fact that most law school graduates face significant debt out of school and notes that the majority of them have no choice but to take a high-paying job at a large firm.

“They aren’t going back into their communities and into the public sector because – financially – they can’t do it,” McGrath said.

In fact, at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, only two of the 11 attorneys on staff are Black. While Giovanni acknowledges that his organization is losing recent graduates to high-paying corporate jobs, he says that the decision to go to these firms extends well beyond the debt.

“On top of these crushing loans, some minority law school graduates need to support their families. In many instances, this is the first time anyone in their family has earned a substantial wage, so the graduate has significant family responsibilities.”

Those responsibilities are a heavy burden too cumbersome for many to carry into Harlem. But how can residents here have a voice if their face isn't reflected in the legal system? Without a considerable minority presence, I wonder how Harlem will do its residents justice.