Law Scribbler: Acclaimed same-sex marriage advocate Evan Wolfson joins Dentons

When the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that same-sex couples had a fundamental right to marry, it marked the culmination of famed civil rights attorney Evan Wolfson’s three decade-plus struggle to bring about marriage equality, and an end to Freedom to Marry, the organization he had founded in 2003. But…

Jun 27, 2016 1:45 PM CDT

Study finds a ‘gavel gap’ between diversity of judges and that of the populations they serve

A study by the American Constitution Society examines demographic diversity in every state’s courts—and finds that most states are falling short. For “The Gavel Gap: Who Sits in Judgment on State Courts?” two academic researchers looked at the race, ethnicity and gender of judges in 10,000 state courts of general…

Jun 23, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

WilmerHale hires new diversity director

Nimesh Patel, who headed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s diversity program, has joined Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. An attorney who graduated from Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Patel serves as WilmerHale’s diversity director, the National Law Journal reports. In addition to developing a diversity and…

Jun 10, 2016 10:15 AM CDT

Howard Law grads get major law firm attention

In the race for first-year, big money BigLaw jobs, some schools can place graduates based solely on the school's academic reputation; others must find a way to stand out from the crowd.

Jun 1, 2016 1:50 AM CDT

Want to stop bias in the workplace? Here are some constructive tips (podcast with transcript)

Can you plan to prevent workplace bias before it starts? In some cases yes, says Joan Williams, the founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at University of California Hastings. The ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward discusses with Williams tips on how to create what she calls “bias interrupters” to head off potential discrimination.

Apr 25, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Diverse slate nominated to lead the ABA

Apr 1, 2016 12:50 AM CDT

Minority women make slight gain in partner promotions; will minority gender imbalance shift?

Minority women slightly outnumbered minority men in partner promotions for 2014, according to recently released statistics from a survey of the nation’s largest law firms. The finding suggests a possible shift in the future. The statistics—for the year 2014—show that among the 1,849 lawyers promoted to partner, 120 were minority…

Mar 18, 2016 8:02 AM CDT

More ‘best firms’ have females as top rainmakers

Mar 1, 2016 1:30 AM CST

Minority women are disappearing from BigLaw—and here’s why

Occasionally when Jenny Jones walks down the hall of her white-shoe law firm, a chairman emeritus will stop and ask how she's doing and about her work. These moments are a highlight because outside of this intermittent interaction, Jones feels largely ignored by the powers that be.

Mar 1, 2016 12:15 AM CST

Minority-owned firm of more than 100 attorneys to close Feb. 29, lawyers are told in conference call

A minority-owned Milwaukee-based law firm with 15 offices throughout the country and more than 100 lawyers is closing for unspecified financial reasons, many attorneys there, including some partners, learned in a conference call Monday. “It’s stunning news,” partner Joe Fasi II of Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan told the Milwaukee Business…

Feb 17, 2016 1:55 PM CST

Could Uniform Bar Exam help law grads’ mobility? ABA House asks states to adopt it ‘expeditiously’

Law students seeking a more mobile practice got some encouragement from the ABA’s House of Delegates on Monday afternoon, when it adopted two resolutions concerning the Uniform Bar Examination. Over some opposition, the House adopted Resolution 109, which urges bar admission authorities to “adopt expeditiously” the UBE. The UBE is…

Feb 8, 2016 7:50 PM CST

Encourage continuing legal education on diversity and inclusion, House urges

The ABA’s House of Delegates easily adopted a resolution Monday afternoon encouraging programs on diversity and inclusion in the legal profession as part of mandatory or minimum continuing legal education requirements. Resolution 107 asks licensing and regulatory authorities that require MCLE to make diversity and inclusion programs a separate credit,…

Feb 8, 2016 6:05 PM CST

ABA President Paulette Brown: ‘A law degree is more than just a piece of paper. It is power’

It has been 189 days since Paulette Brown took the office of ABA president. At that time, she said, she promised the ABA would be “social engineers for justice.” On Monday morning, Brown, of Locke Lord in Morristown, New Jersey, told the House of Delegates about the many things the…

Feb 8, 2016 1:55 PM CST

Proposed rule that makes workplace bias an ethics violation not going far enough, ABA president says

The efforts of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility to add provisions that would make it misconduct for lawyers to knowingly discriminate or engage in harassment in conduct related to the practice of law received generally positive reviews from about a dozen speakers who testified at a…

Feb 8, 2016 8:31 AM CST

New roster of ABA officer nominees sends a message about the importance of diversity and inclusion

Corrected: At a time when the collective makeup of the legal profession is a matter of ongoing concern, the top leadership ranks of the ABA have never been more diverse than they are now as a result of actions taken Sunday morning by the Nominating Committee. This is one of…

Feb 7, 2016 5:00 PM CST