Black History Month: Local attorney shares her journey of navigating the field, importance of representation

"Breaking into Law"

DELAWARE. – Law has always been Chamyra Upshur’s passion.

She decided to break into the field at Potter Anderson in Delaware, as a corporate and commercial litigation lawyer.

“I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer,” said Upshur. “I found that I had skills with advocacy, reading and writing, all of which are great skills that you need as a litigator, so I decided to lean into some of my strengths.”

In her industry, only 5% of attorneys are Black and only 2.2% of them are Black women.

Because the Black community is disproportionately impacted by unmet legal needs, Upshur said representation is important when taking on clients.

“I think a lot of the times, as African American people, we’ve been on the opposite end of the law, not the representative end, but the person needing to be represented,” said Upshur. “There’s a lot of space in the legal field for African American attorneys, even other attorneys of color.”

While there is no one way to practice law, Upshur said good and ethical lawyers are always needed to pursue justice. She had this advice for future Black and brown attorneys.

“Continue to show up as yourself, to take up space, to remain curious, and most of all, believe in yourself, because there are people, like you, who also believe in you,” said Upshur.