State and Local Bar Associations: Promoting Diversity

State and Local Bar Associations discussed:

• The California Minority Counsel Program
• The Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms
• The State Bar of Georgia's Diversity Program
• The Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan
• The San Francisco Bar Association
• The State Bar of Texas
• The Wolverine Bar Association

SINCE THE LATE 1980S WHEN THE AMERICAN BAR Association (ABA) established its Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession— now titled the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity—to address the dismal hiring rates of minority lawyers by large law firms, bar associations across the country have been creating minority divisions to rectify this nationally pervasive problem.

Now, 15 years later, these efforts are gaining momentum as the experience and longevity of diversity programs have made them a resource for companies and law firms who realize that increased diversity is crucial to their economic success.

But despite the gains by many bar associations, there is still much work to be done to promote minority lawyers. Attacks on affirmative action admission policies in California and Michigan mean that diversity efforts are more important than ever—especially in the recruitment of minority candidates for law school. And while the numbers of minority attorneys in large firms have increased some, retention of those attorneys continues to plague the profession.

The stories that follow are just a few examples of the accomplishments, obstacles, and future hopes of bar association leaders nationwide, whose overall mission is to promote diversity in the legal profession.

The California Minority Counsel Program

One of the most successful corporate counsel programs in the nation belongs to California. Founded in 1989, the same year that the San Francisco Bar Association adopted its Goals and Timetables (see page 9), the mission of the group has been to enhance professional opportunities for attorneys of color.

"This program has done a marvelous job bringing corporate counsel and minority attorneys together," says Linda Williams, chairperson of the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP). "We're not only making professional lives easier and more rewarding for attorneys of color, we're raising consciousness in the greater society."

They host two big conferences a year for attorneys of color to develop, initiate, and renew business contacts and relationships. Additionally, they sponsor roundtable discussions and other seminars.

Williams explains that because the California Minority Counsel Program serves a range of constituencies—from minority in-house counsel to minority-owned law firms to minority attorneys working in majority-owned law firms—it is a challenge to meet the needs and expectations of all three groups.

Williams, who is a managing counsel of litigation and real estate at Chevron corporation (one of the founders of CMCP), cites the program's long-range strategic plan as an integral part of the group's planning process.

One of the CMCP's goals this year is to work with minority student organizations at law schools to try to bring attorneys into the fold sooner. They are also looking at partnering with outside agencies like LEXIS-NEXIS and attorney personnel agencies.

The goal, says Williams, is to have all minority attorneys in California become part of the California Minority Counsel Program. "We are encouraging all California companies to get onboard," she says. "As it relates to the legal profession, we'd like to be seen as the go-to program for diversity issues in the state."

The Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms

Founded by seven minority associates in 1987, the Chicago Committee has been working to recruit, maintain, and promote to partnership minority attorneys at large law firms in Chicago for more than 14 years.

"One of our goals is to increase awareness about Chicago and its minority legal community to law school graduates around the country," says Deborah H. Telman, who has been chairperson of the Chicago Committee for the past three years.

The committee puts on a Road Show each year, where they travel to law schools such as Duke, Columbia, Howard, and Georgetown to recruit minority law students.

"Many east coast law students focus on the east and west coast and don't include Chicago on their list," says Telman. "Law students fail to realize that Chicago has a sophisticated practice and is a great place to practice law."

The committee also puts on seminars and panel discussions to increase business opportunities for minority attorneys.

Because the Chicago Committee started out as a small organization and has expanded so quickly, the number of attorneys they serve has begun to exceed their current resources.

Telman says the group hopes to extend the part-time executive director position to full-time and find a permanent home for the committee.

Fundraising will be an important component in coming years, especially as the committee expands its programs.

In addition to their current services, Telman hopes to start a mentoring program to address the issue of minority retention and establish an advisory board with civic leaders and representatives from corporations.

"Our programming reflects the current issues facing minority attorneys because our leadership is composed of minority attorneys who work at large law firms," says Telman. "We're living the issue and that makes a big difference."

The State Bar of Georgia's Diversity Program

In a unique effort to increase the number of minority lawyers in small towns, the State Bar of Georgia will launch the Small Practice Development Center in 2002.

Inspired by Georgia Chief Justice Robert Benham, the program solicits the help of banks who give small start-up loans to minority attorneys who wish to start practices in rural parts of Georgia.

"In smaller cities, we're trying to assist majority firms in their efforts to hire minority attorneys," says Violet Travis Ricks, executive director of the State Bar of Georgia's Diversity Program. "We're asking members of firms who already have diverse hiring practices to consult with those who don't."

Other future plans include a mentoring program, which is also planned for 2002.

"Statistically, our country is becoming increasingly diverse," says Ricks. "Our program draws attention to the importance of multiculturalism in the legal community."

A Georgia native, Ricks has been working with the State Bar's diversity program since its inception in 1993.

Prior to that she was in private practice as a real-estate attorney and then worked for the public defender's office in the appellate division in Chicago.

Today, Ricks is a pro hac vice judge for the city court of Atlanta, hearing traffic cases. She also contributes time as an administrative law judge for the state of Georgia.

Like many bar association leaders around the country, Ricks says funding is a major obstacle, but, she adds, as more corporations realize the importance of diversity to their bottom-line, she hopes they will direct more resources toward the efforts of bar associations.

The diversity issue is central to the basic economic growth of companies and law firms," says Ricks. "It's crucial that legal departments hire minority outside counsel."

In March, the State Bar of Georgia held a "Candid Conversation with Corporate Counsel," which was a CLE conference with corporate counsel panelists from Coca Cola Enterprises, Bank of America, Federated Department Stores and other major corporations.

"All of our programs are designed to create opportunities for corporate counsel to meet minority attorneys because it helps everybody," says Ricks. Thus, the State Bar's efforts seem to be working.

"Eight years ago corporate counsel wouldn't participate or return telephone calls," she says. "Today those same companies are anxious to participate in the programs we provide and are excited to be a part of them."

"All of our programs are designed to create opportunities for corporate counsel to meet minority attorneys because it helps everybody."

— Violet Travis Ricks The State Bar of Georgia's Diversity Program

The Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan

With the latest census figures showing that the Hispanic population is the largest growing minority group in the United States, supporting the Hispanic legal community and encouraging young Hispanics to join the legal community is more important than ever.

The Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan (HBAM) is dedicated to furthering the best interests of the Hispanic community and the advancement of Hispanics in all segments of the legal profession—private, public, and judicial.

"The association has been involved in a number of different programs, both professional and community based," says Dolores Nunez, president of HBAM and senior counsel to Ford Motor Company's Office of the General Counsel.

Established in 1991, HBAM has participated in Law Day essay programs for middle-school children and sponsors a number of law school scholarships in memory of deceased leaders from the Hispanic legal community.

Like other small bar associations, HBAM faces the challenge of representing diverse areas of professional expertise in a large geographic region.

"It often results in communication difficulties and challenges in attempting to achieve common strategic focus and direction," says Nunez. But, HBAM has been resilient in the face of its obstacles.

"The collegiality of our members and their drive to make a difference for Hispanics in the legal profession and the community at large has been the driving force behind the group's persistence," says Nunez.

"From the beginning, individual members have assumed whatever roles necessary to accomplish our goals." HBAM has also done a lot to cultivate leaders. "From the moment they join," says Nunez, "young lawyers are motivated and provided leadership opportunities within the organization."

In the future, HBAM hopes to continue its partnerships with other local bar associations, and partner more closely with the ABA and the National Hispanic Bar Association. HBAM also plans to join forces with Hispanic business groups on common goals and spearhead its corporate scholarship program.

"We want to be sure that Hispanic youth have the resources and opportunities that will allow them to effectively compete in the academic environment and achieve professional success beyond that of HBAM's current membership."

The San Francisco Bar Association

Diversity efforts at the San Francisco Bar Association are some of the best in the country. Among the elements that help to keep the bar association focused on this crucial issue is its Minority Goals and Timetables.

"Our goals this year are to have minority lawyers representing 12 percent of partners and 35 percent of associates by 2005, and 18 percent of partners and 40 percent of associates by 2010," says Drucilla Ramey, executive director of the San Francisco Bar Association.

"Most firms were able to meet the 1995 goal of 5 percent minority partners, but the 10 percent goal for 2000 was not met," says Ramey. "We decided to remain aggressive on the partnership goals even though many firms were unable to meet it, since partnership is the true test of retention."

There is palpable energy behind many of the programs developed by the San Francisco Bar.

From a $700,000 scholarship program for minority law students to minority retention seminars, to a jointly developed videotape on minority retention, the San Francisco Bar is on the front lines with its diversity efforts. According to Ramey, "It's been the number one bar on minority issues since the late 1980s."

Ramey's personal activism has been a boon to the organization's diversity work. Prior to joining the bar, she spent eight years as a civil rights lawyer at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and in private practice. "Firms must recognize that they cannot make any progress in minority hiring if they don't employ race-conscious programs," says Ramey, who has been at the bar since 1985.

To make sure that firms don't turn a blind eye, Ramey and the bar's volunteer leadership has put diversity at the very top of the San Francisco Bar's agenda. "We must continue to keep it as the number one issue," says Ramey, "the change has to come from the top of the profession."

The State Bar of Texas

The flagship program at the State Bar of Texas is its Minority Counsel program. Modeled after the ABA, the program was founded nine years ago to increase the number of women and minority attorneys who serve as outside counsel to corporations and government agencies.

"Minorities have historically been shut out of institutional work," says Vanessa Davila, coordinator of the Minority Counsel program and director of minority affairs at the State Bar of Texas. "This provides an opportunity for corporate counsel to meet talented minority attorneys from small firms."

The program brings 250 attorneys together every year, 50 of whom are counsel from major corporations like Exxon/Mobil, American Airlines, Conoco, Southwest Airlines, Shell Oil Company, and Dell Computer.

In addition to coordinating the Minority Counsel program, Davila has also run the 10-year-old Minority Affairs section of the Texas State Bar for six years.

"One of our main functions is to increase the participation of minorities and women in the bar's committees, sections, and board of directors," says Davila. "We also keep in close contact with minority and women's bar associations to make sure they're informed about bar foundation grants, services of the state bar, and functions that are happening."

The Minority Affairs Department has had great success in increasing the number of women and minorities serving on the state bar's board of directors, says Davila. But the biggest obstacle has been funding.

"In the last six years, the State Bar of Texas has had to introduce new programs and services while staying within the same budget constraints. There has been little left for relatively small programs such as the Minority Affairs Office," says Davila. "So that leaves department managers like me with the challenge of being extremely resourceful, doing a lot with very little, and looking for outside sources of funding."

But despite funding shortages and some participation shortages, Davila is determined to make the best of the resources she does have by posting information on the web, spreading news via listservs and online education.

"In Texas the minority population is almost 25 percent, but only 11 percent of attorneys are minority. Looking at those numbers you can see that we still have a long way to go."

The Wolverine Bar Association

Since the 1930s, the Wolverine Bar Association in Michigan has been serving its African-American members with unique programs designed to promote diversity in that state.

"We have a great working relationship with the state legal community," says Alison Nelson, president of the Wolverine Bar Association—the oldest and largest bar association of color in Michigan. "They respect our organization and seek our input on various issues."

This enables the Wolverine Bar to sponsor a variety of programs including their annual winter Barrister's Ball, a black-tie event attended by 2,000 each year, which has yet to be duplicated as successfully by any other bar association, says Nelson.

A 25 year tradition, the ball is attended by everyone from major firms to judges and the proceeds are used to fund scholarships for minority law students.

"One of our major accomplishments within the last 15 years is our ability to award a substantial amount of money to law students," says Nelson. "Each year we've increased the number of students we give to."

Another major program at the Wolverine Bar is the summer minority federal judicial internship. "There has been little growth in the number of minority federal law clerks in our state," says Nelson. "So this year, we started the internship to ameliorate that issue by exposing judges to potential candidates."

To encourage large law firms to hire associates of color, Wolverine conducts a first-year clerkship program, which selects a law student to clerk at a law firm after successfully completing their first year of law school.

"Both of these programs are designed to expose law firms and judges to law students of color," says Nelson. "Hopefully they will end up employing them in the future and increase the number of attorneys and law clerks of color."

Nelson had been working with the Wolverine Bar Association since 1988 when she was a law student at Michigan State and was exposed to the outreach programs of the Wolverine Bar.

"The leadership of the Bar when I was a student was very supportive," says Nelson. "I wanted to give back to this organization that has done so much good over the years."

Since then she has joined Ford Motor Company's product litigation group as counsel. Nelson also serves as chair of Ford's Minority Counsel Committee, which ensures that Ford retains and uses outside counsel of color.

Diversity efforts in the state of Michigan in particular will face a big challenge if the University of Michigan anti-affirmative action case is upheld, says Nelson.

"If we continue to see these types of decisions handed down we are going to have to come up with some innovative techniques to make sure we have people of color attending law school." says Nelson. "The creation of mentoring and tutoring programs will have to make up for the failures of admissions policies," she concluded. In Michigan and throughout the nation, this issue will remain a priority.

"One of our major accomplishments within the last 15 years is our ability to award a substantial amount of money to law students."

— Alison Nelson The Wolverine Bar Association

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From the September 2001 issue of Diversity & The Bar^®