State Bar of New Mexico Surveys



The Status of Minority Attorneys in New Mexico Report (2019) (published in 2020)

Background:
Beginning in 1988, the State Bar of New Mexico’s Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession has undertaken a decennial study to assess the status of lawyers of color and other diverse attorneys in the New Mexico bar. The State Bar’s foresight to begin collecting this important data provides us with 40 years of information on diversity that allows our Committee to look back and see how far our bar has come, while also recognizing that there is still critically important work to do. This year’s report represents the first-ever joint effort by the State Bar’s Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession and the State Bar’s Committee on Women and the Legal Profession to study diversity and inclusion issues facing lawyers of color, LGBTQ attorneys, attorneys with disabilities and women attorneys, specifically. This effort would not have been possible without additional financial support from the New Mexico Supreme Court, and we thank the Court for its contribution to this critical study.

In Memory of Raymond Hamilton, Esq.
The State Bar of New Mexico’s Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession’s 2019 Report on the Status of Minority Attorneys in New Mexico is dedicated to the late Raymond Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton spent his life amplifying the voices of people of color and diversifying the practice of law.

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Status on Gender in the Legal Profession (2019) (published in 2020)

Background: Creation and Initial Actions of the Committee on Women and the Legal Profession:
In December 1987, the State Bar of New Mexico, under the direction of the late Judge Sarah M. Singleton, as chair, organized the Task Force on Women and the Legal Profession. The Task Force was charged with investigating and reporting to the State Bar to the extent to which gender bias was affecting women wo participated in the legal system as litigants, witnesses, or attorneys. The final report, titled "The Status of Women Attorneys in New Mexico" was dated Nov. 2, 1990 ("Task Force Report"). The Task Force Report looked at issues affecting women as lawyers and judges, as well as substantive issues in the areas of civil justice, domestic violence, criminal law, juvenile justice, and family law. It also identified gender bias issues affecting female litigants, witnesses, and court employees. Following its publication, the State Bar replaced the Task Force with a permanent committee: the Committee on Women and the Legal Profession. 

Status of Women in the Law - 2020 Diversity and Gender Bias Report(s):
Under the leadership of then Chief Justice Judith Nakamura (2017), and funding from both the Board of Bar Commissioners and the Supreme Court, the BBC supported the Committee's request to conduct a survey of all active and inactive members of the State Bar to update and evaluate the data from the original Task Force Report. American Decisions was hired to conduct the survey. The details of the methodology are addressed in the American Decision's May 2020 Diversity Study.

View previous reports.