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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 2 0 F O C U S L AW Nationwide picture Today in the United States, only 14% of the 1.3 million lawyers in total are people of color. A further breakdown shows that 5% of lawyers are African-American — the same as 10 years earlier — though they make up 13.4% of the population. ose are some of the findings in the American Bar Association's second annual Profile of the Legal Profession Report published in July. It also shows that racial diversity among federal judges has decreased slightly since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president, from 10.8% in 2016 to 9.8% in 2020, while gender diversity has grown slightly. A dozen states, including Maine, have also never had a person of color on their highest state court, at least since 1960. Since 1989 Local Decisions Be Budget! 800.924.4229 www.bdtme.com Problems Solved. Budget Document Technology is an industry leader in providing digital solutions for document creation, production, and distribution. • Multi-functional Color & B&W Copiers • Printers & Scanners • Postage & Mailing Equipment • Software & Network Solutions • Managed Print Services Helping Maine get business done! THE ECONOMY IS TRANSITIONING TO A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. DON'T LEAVE YOUR INVESTMENTS IN THE PAST. 56 Depot Road, Falmouth, ME 04105 I www.backcovefinancial.com I 207.541.9500 Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing (SRI) focuses on companies with competitive financial performance, while assessing their environmental, social, and governance impacts. SRI can help mitigate risk while promoting more responsible corporate leadership. Contact Sophie today to see how you can incorporate SRI into your portfolio: sophiehalpin@backcovefinancial.com Sophie Halpin, Financial Advisor Chartered SRI Counselor™ C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Summer program off to a strong start T his summer, the University of Maine School of Law teamed up with law firms Bernstein Shur, Pierce Atwood and Verrill to launch a sum- mer internship program for diverse first-year law students from around the country. One of the participants this sum- mer, Jireh Davis of Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law, did a virtual intern- ship from her home state at Pierce Atwood. One of her favorite projects was doing research for a civil rights case, and she hopes to get to Maine in person someday, with plans to apply for more internships. "I'm not afraid to start anywhere new," she says, "and I'm not afraid to help pioneer Maine in the diversity and inclusion sphere." She was one of six interns this summer in the program, which will be expanded next year to include The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F J I R E H DAV I S Jireh Davis