The National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) founded in 2001, is a nonprofit trade association comprised of outstanding minority and women owned law firms and other interested parties throughout the United States. NAMWOLF fights for the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession on behalf of people of color, women, and the LGBTQ+ community. NAMWOLF’s future membership is reflected in both the students who will be negatively impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision today and in the plaintiff group that prevailed.
While we recognize there are competing considerations in how best to meet the needs of students in admissions practices, the Court’s decision today limits the tools available to institutions to create and foster diversity, and impacts NAMWOLF’s mission directly. Restrictions on programs designed to increase diversity and provide equitable access to under-represented groups in the academic setting will exacerbate the long-standing problems regarding a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our profession. It is difficult to see how equity in the legal profession can be achieved when the institutions that serve as the pipeline for our field are hindered in their ability to create a racially diverse student body. And it is concerning that restrictions in the academic setting could have a negative ripple effect on diversity and inclusion initiatives in other settings, including those utilized by NAMWOLF’s membership and partners. NAMWOLF will continue to work tirelessly on its mission to create diversity and achieve equity in the legal profession.