CALANDRA INSTITUTE STUDY ON ITALIAN AMERICANS IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION 

The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, part of The City University of New York (CUNY), and the National Italian American Bar Association (NIABA) have partnered to conduct a study on Italian Americans and the legal profession. Although data on diversity in the legal profession is often published by national and state bar associations, there has not yet been a study that includes data on the career paths of Italian American law students and lawyers. This study is the first to explore Italian Americans’ representation and experiences in various sectors of the legal field, helping us gain valuable insight into how Italian Americans are currently situated in the legal profession. The study is largely based on a survey that was distributed to Italian American law students and lawyers throughout the country.

Though we know that Italian American lawyers have made great strides over the last century, this survey addresses salient unanswered questions on Italian Americans and the legal profession. For example, what legal practice areas, such as employment law or property law, do Italian American lawyers gravitate towards? How are Italian American lawyers distributed among different employment sectors, such as private firms, non-profits, or government? To what extent are Italian American lawyers represented in the most elite legal spaces, such as academia, the federal judiciary, major law firms, or top law schools? How many Italian American lawyers feel that they have been discriminated against in their legal careers due to their ethnicity? And how might the legal paths of Italian Americans diverge depending on age, gender, sexual orientation, or immigration status? The study is imperative to build the empirical grounding to start a conversation—both within and outside of the Italian American community—about the unique challenges and opportunities Italian Americans face in their legal careers.