Partner's 'slave' comment to contract attorney led to tweet that launched a law firm
Yondi Morris was already unhappy about her job as a contract attorney when a comment by a partner at the firm for which she was then working prompted her to do something about it.
After walking over to see how Morris was doing, “he just looked at me and said, ‘OK, slave, get back to work.’” Morris says she was the only person of color among the contract attorney group there, according to Elle magazine.
“I looked around and just waited for someone to catch my eye,” she continues, but no one did and, moreover, she didn’t see any expression of surprise on fellow contract lawyers’ faces.
When she got home that night, Morris tweeted. “I need to start my own firm.” Her friend Keli Knight immediately suggested an in-person meeting, at which the two were joined by another longtime friend of hers, attorney Jessica Reddick
The result was KMR Law Group, after a year of planning. A recent addition is a lawyer in Los Angeles.
The all-female, African-American owners of the firm also operate a legal staffing agency that helps place attorneys in contract jobs.
