The Equity Accelerator (EA) is dedicated to creating a more equitable legal profession and legal system by transforming the pipeline from college into the legal profession and providing equity-enhancing access to justice. We have been applying our approach in the legal space, from improving student experiences and outcomes with tests like the LSAT and Bar Exam, to improving people’s lived experiences with access to court proceedings. Learn more about our work in creating more equitable legal environments below.
Every year, tens of thousands of students enroll in law school with the hopes of entering the legal field. However, around a third of those students do not pass the bar exam three years later. Achievement gaps in legal education disproportionately affect structurally disadvantaged groups, and this disparity is reflected in the field: in the US, only 15% of lawyers are people of color, and barely a third of all lawyers are women. Research by EA and a team of law and psychology researchers showed that the root of the problem may reside in social psychological friction, exacerbated by inequities and structural features of the bar exam. Worries about ability, potential, belonging, and stress when preparing for the bar exam hamper students from achieving their full potential. When students are overwhelmed by these concerns, this friction leads to lower performance. Are there scalable ways to help law students who take the bar exam address this friction, so they can better prepare and improve their performance?
With support from AccessLex and in partnership with The State Bar of California, we created the Bar Exam Strategies and Stories program to answer this question.
The global COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented disruptions to court proceedings and forced our civil justice system to rapidly navigate shifting to remote proceedings and adoption of platforms, such as Zoom and Webex. These shifts presented new technology and adoption challenges, but also created the opportunity to study the experiences and outcomes of unrepresented individuals and vulnerable populations who participated remotely. Each year, millions of self-represented or unrepresented litigants encounter the US civil justice systems, many of whom are members of racially and socially disadvantaged groups. Can offering remote access to court proceedings contribute towards a more equitable and people-centered justice system?
With support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and Schmidt Futures, and a unique partnership involving an interdisciplinary team of researchers, court innovation and design experts, and Indiana court partners, we developed a first-of-its-kind digital experience sampling platform. The platform collected and provided empirical data, giving voice to unrepresented & vulnerable litigants.
ACCESS, EQUITY & PERFORMANCE AMONG LSAT TEST TAKERS
The pathway to the legal profession starts long before law school, and a key moment along the journey is taking the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Access to opportunities and resources to develop the skills needed to perform on the LSAT and in law school are not equal for all. Disparities persist throughout the pathway to the legal profession, including when individuals prepare for the LSAT. LSAT performance disparities persist across groups from underserved communities. To address these disparities, we launched a new program in collaboration with The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC)
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California Bar Exam Strategies & Stories Program
Evaluating a Productive Mindset and Structural Intervention that Promotes Achievement on California's Bar Exam
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Accelerating Equity And Access To Justice In Courts
Accessing Justice with Zoom: Experiences and Outcomes in Online Civil Courts (2023)
Final report comparing the experiences and outcomes of unrepresented persons attending civil proceedings in person with those accessing court remotely.
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Safeguard or Barrier: An Empirical Examination of Bar Exam Cut Scores
Journal of Legal Education
Michael B. Frisby, Sam C. Erman, and Victor D. Quintanilla
