Diversity

Advocates are helping Afghans apply for asylum and other immigration relief with ABA assistance

Freshta Kohgadai fled with her family from Kabul, Afghanistan, to the United States in the late 1980s. When she discovered the ABA Scholarship for Legal Advocates—a new program that aims to increase the culturally and linguistically competent pro bono services available to Afghan arrivals—she knew she had to apply.

Sep 8, 2022 3:30 PM CDT

Responses wanted: Motherhood penalty and caregiver bias will be evaluated in new ABA survey

The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession is launching a new survey to assess how the motherhood penalty and other caregiver bias impacts the careers of female lawyers.

Sep 8, 2022 2:00 PM CDT

Legal dramas make a comeback this fall; one is about a ‘She-Hulk’ token hire

The fall TV season features several legal dramas, including two shows that feature women lawyers subjected to slights and tokenism at their elite law firms.

Sep 6, 2022 2:20 PM CDT

Law school leaders make diversity argument in support of admissions tests

A proposal to cut an accreditation standard requiring law school admissions tests was criticized by 60 deans in a Sept. 1 letter sent to the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Sep 2, 2022 10:32 AM CDT

Law prof’s suit against law school alleges race and gender discrimination, family status bias

A federal lawsuit alleging race, gender and disability discrimination was filed Friday against the University of Michigan and its law school by a law professor who is Black and a single mother.

Aug 31, 2022 8:49 AM CDT

Lawyer who moved from Ukraine to US now has opportunity to help others facing similar situations

An immigration attorney started doing pro bono work for Ukrainian immigrants in February, shortly after Russia invaded the country.

Aug 29, 2022 8:41 AM CDT

Unbroken: A call for psychiatric disability initiatives in the legal profession

So many of us struggle in silence while striving for excellence, when only a helping hand and understanding—not only from family and friends but also from colleagues and those with leading positions in law firms—could guide our way to attain success as humans and as professionals.

Aug 25, 2022 8:45 AM CDT

ABA project aims to help Afghan legal professionals establish themselves in the United States

In the weeks following the one-year anniversary of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on Aug. 15, the ABA Journal is highlighting the ABA’s efforts to help judges and lawyers from Afghanistan resettle, obtain immigration benefits and secure jobs using their legal skills. This is part one in our series.

Aug 23, 2022 8:53 AM CDT

SCOTUS should uphold long-standing precedent in case involving objection to same-sex marriage, ABA says

The ABA is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to again reject arguments by private businesses that claim First Amendment exemptions from laws that prohibit discrimination in the provision of public accommodations.

Aug 22, 2022 9:23 AM CDT

Law school achievement gap by gender for faculty and deans examined in new paper

Women are more than two times more likely than men to have perceived “lower status” positions at law schools and work as interim deans, according to a recent working paper by three legal academics.

Aug 22, 2022 8:40 AM CDT

Federal judge temporarily blocks law banning ‘woke’ workplace training, compares Florida to ‘Stranger Things’

A federal judge has blocked provisions in a Florida law that forbid promoting concepts based on race, color, sex or national origin in workplace training and educational materials.

Aug 19, 2022 11:12 AM CDT

Justice Amy Coney Barrett hasn’t disappointed conservative supporters—so far

Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently completed her nearly two-term tenure as the U.S. Supreme Court’s junior justice, with new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson having been sworn in on June 30. Barrett has brought more than just froth and foam to her role on the court. When it comes to her central assignment on the court—deciding cases—Barrett has been a reliable conservative vote.

Aug 18, 2022 9:58 AM CDT

NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals hire first in-house counsel in team’s history

The National Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals—which made an unexpected run to last season’s Super Bowl but ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Rams—have hired the first in-house attorney in the team's 55-year history.

Aug 15, 2022 1:35 PM CDT

In wake of Dobbs, ABA advocates for abortion, same-sex marriage and contraceptive rights

In the first meeting of the ABA House of Delegates since the Dobbs decision came down from the U.S. Supreme Court, delegates voted in favor of a slate of resolutions to protect abortion rights, contraceptive access and same-sex and interracial marriage.

Aug 9, 2022 3:00 PM CDT

‘We must not give up,’ ABA President-elect Mary Smith says

“We lift lawyers up,” Mary Smith said. “We lift the legal profession up. And we cannot let ourselves be distracted by detractors. We can and must do more.”

Aug 9, 2022 1:45 PM CDT