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

Spirit of Excellence Award recipients share stories of achievement over adversity

Despite concerted efforts to make the legal profession more diverse and inclusive, progress toward achieving that goal still can be frustratingly slow. But for two decades, the ABA has held an event at its midyear meetings that gives a jolt of inspiration to help energize efforts to achieve equality in…

Feb 7, 2016 1:15 PM CST

Diversity and inclusion will be major themes at 2016 ABA Midyear Meeting

After a year when race and bias have been important parts of the national conversation—and when a woman of color is serving as ABA president for the first time—diversity and inclusion will be major topics at the ABA Midyear Meeting. The meeting is slated to start Thursday in San Diego.…

Feb 4, 2016 8:15 AM CST

Microsoft’s legal chief trumpets diversity council’s accomplishments

Microsoft Corp.'s president and chief legal officer, Brad Smith, has long been a champion for racial and gender diversity. Indeed, he says that he's believed in the benefits of diversity since he was in grade school.

Feb 1, 2016 2:00 AM CST

Diversity is the primary reason for decision to increase size of ABA leadership ranks

When the ABA House of Delegates considered a number of proposals in August to revise the association's governance structure, the process resulted in a familiar outcome: The existing structure was left pretty much intact, while the size of all three of the association's key leadership entities grew.

Feb 1, 2016 1:00 AM CST

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,…

Jan 14, 2016 4:05 PM CST

Inclusion ≠ Exclusion: Understanding implicit bias is key to ensuring an inclusive profession

Jan 1, 2016 4:00 AM CST

Law school nonprofit buys Bill Henderson’s Lawyer Metrics company

A nonprofit group made up of about 200 law schools is acquiring the assets of Lawyer Metrics, a company formed in 2010 partly to help law firms use statistics to hire and retain the best legal talent. The Access Group announced the acquisition in a press release (PDF). Lawyer Metrics…

Dec 21, 2015 3:40 PM CST

White lawyers may have biases that hurt their black clients, says op-ed calling for more diversity

Bankruptcy lawyers were more likely to recommend Chapter 13 bankruptcy for hypothetical debtors named “Reggie and Latisha” than those named “Todd and Allison,” according to a 2012 study by three law professors. The findings may explain why black debtors are about twice as likely to file less advantageous Chapter 13…

Dec 14, 2015 6:45 AM CST

These law firms got a perfect score on LGBT issues from the Corporate Equality Index

Ninety-five law firms got a perfect score this year on the Corporate Equality Index developed by the Human Rights Campaign. That’s an increase from 87 law firms that got perfect scores last year, report the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) and a press release. The survey (PDF), which garnered responses…

Nov 20, 2015 7:57 AM CST

Percentage of black associates continues to fall in ‘distressing’ trend, NALP leader says

The percentage of black associates has fallen every year since 2009 while the percentage of black partners has “barely budged” during that time, according to the National Association for Law Placement. Among associates, the percentage of African Americans at major U.S. law firms has fallen from 4.66 percent in 2009…

Nov 19, 2015 8:31 AM CST

Greater diversity and inclusion in the legal profession will help achieve justice for all

Nov 1, 2015 4:00 AM CST