Diversity

Biden’s initial US attorney picks include historic firsts

President Joe Biden and his administration on Monday nominated eight lawyers to lead U.S. attorney’s offices, most of whom would be the first Black or female prosecutors to lead their districts.

Jul 27, 2021 12:48 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Webinar considers legal profession’s caregiving bias; animal rights lawyer pleads guilty

Webinar will consider caregiving bias in legal profession The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will examine how the legal profession can ensure the success of mothers and caregivers in a July 28 webinar titled “Motherhood and Caregiving Bias in the Legal Profession: Dismantling the Systemic Barriers to Equity.”…

Jul 19, 2021 4:26 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: High-rise Miami courthouse closed for emergency repairs; Lawyers criticize National Guard border deployment

Miami courthouse closes after engineering firm identifies safety issues The Miami-Dade County Courthouse began undergoing immediate repairs on Friday after an engineering firm that examined the 28-story building identified safety concerns with various floors. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Chief Judge Nushin G. Sayfie and Miami-Dade…

Jul 13, 2021 4:30 PM CDT

Women’s success in legal careers: Lack of advancement is not a ‘woman’ problem, it’s a ‘profession’ problem

A June 29 ABA Journal column by Susan Smith Blakely titled “Are women lawyers paying enough attention to upward mobility?” offered opinions that are antithetical to the core beliefs and principles of the American Bar Association.

Jul 6, 2021 6:45 PM CDT

Lawyer suspended for ‘incendiary’ Facebook posts must complete diversity education

A South Carolina lawyer has been suspended for six months for Facebook posts about George Floyd and women’s tattoos that are “expressly incendiary,” according to the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Jun 29, 2021 11:12 AM CDT

Are women lawyers paying enough attention to upward mobility?

“More seasoned women lawyers know that getting the job and demonstrating potential is only the beginning. While developing leadership skills and climbing the promotion ladder is the goal for many women lawyers, they must be strategic.”

Jun 29, 2021 10:13 AM CDT

Saying yes has been part of this law school dean’s strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Leadership involves taking in a variety of viewpoints, says law dean Hari Osofsky, and recognizing what students, professors and administration want is a good way to guarantee people that they are being heard.

Jun 28, 2021 8:48 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: SCOTUS overturns another agency structure; corporate diversity suit allowed

Supreme Court rules FHFA structure is unconstitutional The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is unconstitutional because its director can only be removed by a U.S. president for cause. The decision will allow President Joe Biden to replace the Trump appointee leading…

Jun 23, 2021 4:21 PM CDT

Tax charges don’t deter ADA lawyer, who filed a thousand access complaints after indictment

Sacramento, California, lawyer Scott Johnson has filed more than a thousand disability access complaints in the San Francisco Bay Area since his May 2019 indictment on tax charges.

Jun 23, 2021 9:38 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Suit tossed over ‘stateless’ BigLaw partners; Lafayette Square claims dismissed

Perkins Coie wins suit dismissal because of ‘stateless’ partners The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago has ruled that former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page can’t sue Perkins Coie for defamation in federal court. Page had alleged that the law firm and the Democratic National Committee retained Fusion…

Jun 22, 2021 4:53 PM CDT

New ABA data parses out bar exam pass rates by race and ethnicity

According to data released Tuesday by the American Bar Association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 87.65% of the white candidates who took a bar exam for the first time in 2020 passed. For people of other races or ethnicities, the first-time pass rate ranged from 66.28% to 79.92%.

Jun 22, 2021 4:34 PM CDT

Demographics as destiny: Making the case for law firm diversity and inclusion

“For many years now, it has been well documented and reported that promoting diversity is an unequivocal pathway to success, and of the many routes that lead to law firm advancement, this pathway is simpler and less expensive to achieve.”

Jun 22, 2021 9:00 AM CDT

Biden’s latest judicial picks include a voting rights lawyer nominated to the 2nd Circuit

President Joe Biden’s latest round of judicial picks includes a voting rights lawyer nominated to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York. Biden announced five judicial nominations Tuesday, which brings his total nominees to 24.

Jun 16, 2021 12:12 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Senate confirms Biden appellate judge; how SCOTUS justices supplemented their 2020 income

Senate confirms Biden’s first appellate judge On Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Jackson is President Joe Biden’s first affirmed appellate judge and will replace Merrick Garland, who is now the U.S. attorney…

Jun 15, 2021 3:41 PM CDT

A brief primer on LGBTQ allyship for lawyers

For the legal profession, allyship can be a challenging topic. But this doesn’t mean that lawyers are incapable of standing up for colleagues; it’s just that we have to be intentional about it, writes lawyer Ellie Krug.

Jun 15, 2021 9:16 AM CDT