It’s no secret that Black people struggle to find Black attorneys when they need legal services, but the Justis Connection is changing that by linking Black people with Black attorneys.
According to the American Bar Association, just 4.5% of attorneys in the U.S. are Black. As a result, finding a Black attorney can be difficult, which Cassaundra Brownell, an entrepreneur from Maryland, experienced first-hand.
NBC News reported that Brownell was not satisfied with the attorney she hired to help her launch an architectural firm she purchased earlier this year, adding it seemed “like we had to prove something to him.”
Brownell believed hiring a Black attorney would help her cause. The entrepreneur discovered the Justis Connection on Linkedin and contacted the founder, Kisha A. Brown, who connected Brownell with multiple Black attorneys in her area. She eventually hired Harvard Law School graduate and attorney Kerry Davidson.
“For us, having a Black attorney is such a bonus because he relates to us. They have gone through some of the same challenges that we go
through as a Black entrepreneur,” Brownell told NBC. “With a Black lawyer, you start with credibility; you don’t have to build it with them. They understand you. There’s a greater sense of urgency in responding to your needs.”According to Zippia, just 5.4% of public defenders are Black, meaning that Black people in the corrections system also receive little Black representation. It was numbers like this that pushed Brown, a former labor and employee relations attorney, to launch the Justis Connection in 2021.
The Justis Connection specifically works on forging relationships between Black clients and Black
attorneys in family law, criminal law, estate planning, tax and business law, and more. Legal advocates say the Justis Connection is significant because Black attorney representation can be compared to studies that show Black patients receive better medical care from Black doctors.The Justis Connection currently operates in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. and is expanding to Atlanta, Chicago, and Orlando this month. In 2023, the Justis Connection has plans to expand to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
“I felt the need for this from the minute I started law school,” Brown, a Georgetown Law graduate, said. “I had people asking, ‘Hey, do you know somebody who does family law? Do you know somebody that does criminal law?’ And on and on. And then you sort of go through your phone, and you start emailing folks because you want to make that connection. And that’s something most Black people experience because we don’t have Black lawyers in our inner circle.”