ALM's Texas Lawyer Reports State's Courts Continue to Lag in Hiring Minority Clerks and Staff Attorneys.

NEW YORK -- ALM's Texas Lawyer(R), the state's leading legal newspaper, reported today that the state's courts have continued to falter in their minority hiring efforts. Although minorities hold 17 of the 97 seats on the state's appellate courts, the attorneys employed by those courts are overwhelmingly white. No African-Americans are currently among the 73 law clerks employed by the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals and intermediate courts of appeals, while only four African-Americans are among the 169 staff attorneys currently employed by the appellate courts. A complete report is available in today's issue of Texas Lawyer and can also be viewed on the Web at www.texaslawyer.com.

Hispanics do slightly better, filling 11 of the state appellate court clerkships and nine of the staff attorney positions. At the state Supreme Court, three Hispanics and one Asian are among the 18 law clerks. One Hispanic and one Native American are among the 13 Supreme Court staff attorneys. According to State Bar of Texas statistics, 4 percent of the Bar's in-state members are African-American and 7 percent are Hispanic.

"In reality, the number of minorities serving as law clerks on the state's appellate courts has declined over the past several years," said Colleen Bridget McGushin, editor in chief of Texas Lawyer. "While members of the court system cite a number of issues, including pay scales and lack of minority applications, as the reasons behind these figures, the state's courts have neither set nor achieved diversity goals for these important positions."

According to statistics analyzed by the newspaper, women fare significantly better at both the staff attorney and clerkship level. Of the total of 169 staff attorneys employed by the courts, 111, or 66 percent are women, while women currently hold 59 percent of clerk positions.

Court clerkships are considered a key factor in professional development for young lawyers. Law school graduates who clerk at a court, generally for one year, often develop a mentorship that lasts for life and can enhance their writing and analytical skills. Staff attorneys, who are part of the court's permanent staff, play a key role in drafting case opinions for judges.

ALM's Texas Lawyer is the primary source of legal news and information for the third largest legal community in the country, and has won numerous statewide journalism awards. The weekly publication covers the latest news from law firms, the courts, state agencies, in-house legal departments, and the state legislature, and also publishes In-House Texas(R) and the Executive Legal Adviser(TM), related Web sites, reference texts and directories.

Headquartered in New York City, ALM is a leading integrated media company, focused on the legal and business communities. ALM currently owns and publishes 38 national and regional magazines and newspapers, including The American Lawyer(R), Corporate Counsel(R), The National Law Journal(R) and Real Estate Forum(R). ALM's Law.com(R) is the Web's leading legal news and information network, while ALM's GlobeSt.com is the Web's leading information source for commercial real estate professionals. Other ALM businesses include book and newsletter publishing, court verdict and settlement reporting, production of professional trade shows, conferences and educational seminars, market research and content distribution. ALM was formed by U.S. Equity Partners, L.P., a private equity fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP. More information on ALM's businesses and services is available on the Web at www.alm.com.