Law firm works to raise minority interest in legal profession

BOWLING GREEN Ky.- English Lucas Priest & Owsley, one of the largest law firms in South central Kentucky, is working to bring more diversity to the legal profession through a program the firm calls the Legal Diversity Pipeline Project.

Ten Bowling Green High School students took the opportunity to jump into the world of law and hear from those in law-related fields, including those in legal departments, as well as law enforcement. Through the day Tuesday, the students sat in on a court hearing, toured the Warren County Regional Jail and took a trip to the Bowling Green Police Department headquarters.

Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion committee Rebecca Simpson, who is a lawyer in the firm, explained why diversity in law-related careers is important.

“Well I think it’s incredibly important that within the legal profession that we embrace diversity and try to increase diversity, because it’s so important that as professionals and as a legal profession that we reflect the community that we serve. We recognize in our community that sometimes our profession is not diverse enough. We’re hoping to change that,” Simpson said.

For students like Keriah Cofer-Britt, this trip was a chance to explore what those in law career fields do from an inside perspective.

“I’ve always been interested in law and like law enforcement and stuff like that. I’ve always told my mom I wanted to be a lawyer, so I figured why not start it now,” said Cofer-Britt.

With programs like the Legal Diversity Pipeline Project, Cofer-Britt sees the world of law becoming more diverse over time.

“It makes me feel really good to know that there’s actually people out there that are trying to show the diversity within stuff like this. I feel like it’ll get more diverse, and with the road that they’re going now, they’ll be unstoppable. This is amazing,” said Cofer-Britt.