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12 ■ JUNE 7, 2021 NEWS

Young CT Lawyer Positioned

Opportunities and Change

By Robert Storace

n attorney since May 2020, Connecticut Law Tribune: You
Sharix Alicea has always been are and have been active with issues
Aactive in areas of diversity and of diversity, currently serving on the
inclusion, dating back to when she Puerto Rican Task Force of the New
was at the University of Connecticut York City Bar and having served as
School of Law. vice president of the Black Law Stu-
The 26-year-old McCarter & Eng- dents Association and president of the
lish associate serves on the Puerto Latinx Law Students Association while
Rican Task Force of the New York City in college. How—from what you have
Bar, and while in college, in leadership seen—are the inclusion and diversity
roles with the Black Law Students As- McCarter & English efforts going within the Connecticut
sociation and the Latinx Law Students associate Sharix Alicea. legal profession?
Association. Courtesy photo Sharix Alicea: I have always been
While strides have been made toward more inclu- focused on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in
sivity, Alicea says there’s still more work to be done. the legal profession because I believe diversity, eq-
“Despite the increasing population of lawyers, the uity and inclusion is one of the key ingredients to
number of attorneys of color has hardly increased. ensuring that we, as lawyers, provide a diverse set
African American lawyers decreased by 0.1% and of business perspectives for our clients, which more
Hispanic lawyers have only increased by 0.9% in that accurately reflects their businesses.
same decade,” Alicea said in a 5-Questions interview Over the course of the last decade, lawyers have
with the Connecticut Law Tribune. “These statistics taken great strides in the right direction, but we
show but a glimpse of the reality that much more certainly have ways to go. In Connecticut, we are
must be done to create a more diverse profession.” fortunate to have a tightly knit community of di-
Prior to joining the Stamford offices of McCarter & verse attorneys, students and organizations who are
English in July 2020, Alicea worked for Fitzpatrick & continually collaborating to make sure that the legal
Hunt, Pagano, Aubert in New York City. She worked profession, in the state and at large, becomes more
for that firm from January 2019 until she joined Mc- diverse, equitable and inclusive.
Carter, getting her law license during her tenure there. For example, the Black Law Students Associa-
Alicea is a member of both the Connecticut and tion and the Latino Law Students Association
New York bars. at the University of Connecticut work together
While at Fitzpatrick & Hunt, Alicea said she with the Crawford Black Bar and the Connecti-
helped form a highly specialized team of lawyers cut Hispanic Bar Association to create a de facto
who served as national counsel for some of the larg- pipeline of diverse attorneys who are adequately
est commercial and federal contract disputes as well supported throughout law school and their legal
as complex commercial litigation matters through- careers.
out the country. But we surely have more work to do. The Ameri-
Alicea answered five questions posed to her on a can Bar Association reported that, as of Jan. 1, 2020,
variety of topics. The answers have been edited for there were “1.3 million active lawyers in the U.S., up
clarity and length. roughly 10% in the past decade.”

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