Abstract
Law schools are the gatekeepers to the legal profession, and there are multiple social barriers that impact access to a legal education across a proportionally diverse range of people. This article will first rely on existing literature to demonstrate why diversity in the legal profession is an access to justice issue and to illustrate the current homogeneity that exists within the profession. This article will then argue that two primary factors prevent law schools from attracting a more diverse student body. The first factor is the over-reliance on numerical statistics like grade point average (GPA) and Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) scores in admissions processes as indicators of individual competence. The second factor is the role that socio-economic status plays as a barrier to obtaining the pre-requisites required to be assessed for admissions. After an analysis of these factors and their role in perpetuating homogeneity, this article proposes options for admitting more diverse students and considers the limitations to these proposed solutions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Sarah Kriekle, "Gatekeeping Admissions: Access to Justice and Inclusive Admissions Processes" (2022) 31 Dal J Leg Stud 85.