Those who have watched the Delaware bar and bench wrestle with the need to increase diversity say it may be for the same reason they struggle with keeping talented legal minds in the state in general: Delaware law is hard to get into and easy to leave.

While the legal profession is generally whiter than the general population across the country, Delaware’s proportions of attorneys and judges of color lag further behind than those in nearby markets, and proponents of diversity and inclusion cite both the proximity of those markets and the fact that the state’s bar is the most difficult in the country to gain admission to.