ABA Annual Conference Highlights Women and Diversity
This past weekend at the 2015 ABA Annual Meeting, there was much to celebrate about the advancement of women, and a commitment to increase diversity in the legal profession. Most notably, Paulette Brown was installed as president, and is the first woman of color to serve as president in the organization’s history. At the conference, Brown made a compelling speech, focusing on starting initiatives to create a more diverse and inclusive profession. She also talked about the need to deal with racial bias, and how it has eroded the public’s confidence in the justice system.
Also during the annual meeting, five women were honored by the Margaret Brent Awards for outstanding legal careers and paving roads to help other women in the profession. The honorees were:
Mari Carmen Aponte, the United States to El Salvador Ambassador
Flora D. Darpino, the US Army’s Judge Advocate General
Justice Fernande R.V. Duffly, who was appointed as the first Asian-American associate justice on the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2011
Mary Ann Hynes, a senior counsel with Dentons U.S.
Professor Emma Coleman Jordan, a tenured professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Finally there was a panel of minority and female attorneys/business professionals during the annual meetingdiscussing why law firms haven’t fully embraced the benefits of a diverse workplace. The panel was moderated by Joan Bullock of Florida A&M University College of Law, and the panel members consisted of Emery Harlan: a partner at Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, John Mitchell: an executive coach at KM Advisors, Wendy Shiba: a retired GC, and Joseph West: president and CEO of Minority Corporate Counsel Association. The panel discussed how the legal profession continues to be one of the least diverse professional service fields, with many panelists stressing that it will be up to corporate America to force the legal profession to become more diverse.
However, the biggest question this weekend brought up is how will you fight for more diversity? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!