The statement on the diversity of law schools is therefore a counterpart to the personal statement and serves as a deeper and more detailed explanation of how you see yourself in relation to the world. Think of the personal statement as more focused on your intrinsic understanding of yourself – your motivations and the experiences they illustrate – and the diversity statement as more focused on extrinsic/external or contextual factors. It`s always about you, but it has to show an understanding of your place(s) in the world. Husch Blackwell is committed to recruiting, developing, retaining and training talented lawyers and business professionals with diverse backgrounds and experiences. At Husch Blackwell, diversity encompasses a variety of characteristics and perspectives; including race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, education, veteran status, disability, socioeconomic status, and marital and family status. We strongly believe that our inclusive environment is essential both for the quality of our client service and for the personal satisfaction of our lawyers and staff. The result of our dedication is a team of lawyers and associates who are diverse as individuals, but united by our enthusiasm to serve our clients through the practice of law in our communities. Our firm believes that the talent, knowledge and perspectives of our employees will lead our clients to successful results. Learn more. To ensure our ongoing commitment to diversity in the workforce, Plunkett Cooney has developed policies to recruit, develop and retain a diverse team of exceptional professionals, paralegals and support staff.
Our processes and organizational structures are geared towards achieving our diversity goals. Personal statements are, on average, slightly longer and somewhat general, while a diversity statement asks you to answer a much more specific question in less space. Additionally, personal statements are meant to be comprehensive narratives that deal with your motivations for attending law school and what you would like to do in the future, at least to some extent. Conversely, a diversity statement focuses much more on the past and especially on the factors that brought you into the present moment. In a way, we can sum up the difference like this: a personal statement is strongly concerned with what you have done and what you want to do, and a diversity statement is about who you are. Maybe! If you feel that your application would benefit from an additional diversity essay and this information cannot be adequately discussed in your personal statement, contact the school`s administrative authority to ask if they accept additional essays. While not all law schools explicitly invite the diversity essay, they are all committed to diversity in admissions and may be open to a diversity statement if you have a very clear reason for the application. Strangely, I was often lucky when I was a child. Growing up in poverty with a rather dangerous genetic disease was mostly recorded not as a depressing limitation, but strangely enough as a kind of natural simplicity in my environment. It wasn`t until I started my teens that I realized how hard my parents had to work to maintain the perception bubble that made me feel like our situation was normal, at least for the most part. When I really began to understand how much my condition and economic situation weighed on them, I firmly believed that I wanted to make sure that other people in similar situations would have more resources and opportunities than we did.
“The responsibility for ensuring Husch Blackwell is a diverse and inclusive workplace rests with all of us, not just our Black colleagues and the firm`s leadership. Learning ED and AI is an ongoing process of both education and action. While HB Communities of Change is a great place to start, I encourage all HB lawyers and staff to continue their research, recognize your privileges, fight racial injustice, and become better allies to your friends and colleagues. “DE&I doesn`t just acknowledge the differences between Husch Blackwell`s colleagues. It`s about celebrating those differences, seeing what makes them special, and making the positive decision to learn more about someone who doesn`t look like you, love, or believe like you. That`s what makes our Husch Blackwell family unique. Celebrating diversity means valuing and valuing individual differences. Characteristics that diversify us include age, race, nationality and ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and marital status, among others. Diversity and inclusion must go hand in hand with equity. Justice makes it possible to give each voice the weight it deserves and to be considered precious.
We strongly believe that a diverse culture fosters innovation that leads to the highest possible quality of results. We give our best when we work together. Although I grew up surrounded by other Igloolik Inuit, I have been aware of the uniqueness of my people and culture for as long as I can remember. Whenever I traveled inland through the bright, shimmering blue channel, I encountered an ever-changing mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces, languages, and activities. As I got older and away from the island, I was fascinated by the enormous complexity of Canadian cultures and deepened my understanding of who I was. By the time I applied for college, I had built a network of friends and acquaintances that included French speakers, new immigrants, and people from many other peoples and nations. Among the many different aspects of our identity and upbringing that we discussed, one dimension that kept holding my interest was the role of tradition and law in our individual understanding of ourselves and our cultures. I was particularly fascinated by the different definitions of law and legality in different cultures – the diversity of oral and written traditions, worldviews and codified legal systems. It is not surprising that in the midst of my studies in environmental law, I was deeply drawn to the study of environmental law and that I did not deepen until after completing my studies. Although it is a little shorter than the personal statement and many other types of complementary essays, the diversity essay should follow much the same structure as these other elements. The most important point is to get to the point quickly – in a sentence or two, you need to clearly explain why you wrote an essay on diversity and what qualities/traits/experiences make you unique.
From there, you want to “show that you don`t say” why this aspect of you makes you a unique candidate. Don`t just list that you grew up on Neptune and move on, but describe the icy surface and supersonic winds that shaped your childhood. Develop these details in a discussion of how they shaped your personality and outlook on life and/or law, and conclude with at least one or two sentences that clearly explain why this difference is particularly relevant to law school. Note, however, that it is important to respond to the specific wording of the prompt. Some prompts will simply ask you to explain why you are a unique candidate, others will ask you to tie this more deeply to the law. You`ll want to do both to some extent, but it`s important to balance these two dimensions of your reporting based on your school`s specific instructions. On the other hand, there are ways in which these properties are difficult to determine, so to speak. You should be able to discuss how the specifics of your identity stand out from other candidates, how they have influenced your law studies, and how they can have a positive impact both institutionally and in the lives of your fellow students. As Harvard Law School notes, “Think carefully about whether and how to use this optional component.
There are times when an application is actually weakened by an optional declaration due to a lack of cohesion or relevance to the rest of the file. Fortunately, there are important structural differences that can help you organize your thoughts. To begin with, it`s important to understand that, with a few exceptions, the diversity statement is almost always created in response to a specific call. Conversely, the personal statement is almost never limited to a specific question, but asks you to explain who you are in a broader sense. Keep in mind that these are just examples of diversity issues that you can cover in your diversity essay – you are encouraged to explore a variety of diversity elements that have made you who you are.
