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SJC’s Well-Being Committee releases results of first-ever Lawyer Census

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022

The Supreme Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being (“SJC Committee”) has released the 2020-21 Lawyer Census Report – the first lawyer census report ever conducted in Massachusetts. The report is available on the Massachusetts Lawyer Census page on the SJC’s Committee’s website.

The 2020-21 Lawyer Census Report is based on the demographic data from the responses collected during the Demographic and Law Practice Survey that lawyers were required to complete upon registration following changes to SJC Rule 4:02 “Periodic Registration of Attorneys” in 2020. According to the SJC Committee, the data collected “is solely to develop services and programs to aid lawyers.”

In 2019, the original SJC Steering Committee on Lawyer Well-Being issued a report recommending that a system to collect demographic data on Massachusetts attorneys be integrated into the annual registration process on an ongoing basis. In 2020, the SJC amended Rule 4:02 to include a requirement that attorneys complete a demographic and law practice survey each year.

The change to Rule 4:02 was supported by the Massachusetts Bar Association, which submitted comments in October 2020 addressing the importance of research and metrics to improve diversity. You can read the MBA’s comments to changes to Rule 4:02 on the Massachusetts Lawyer Census page, or directly here