[blindlaw] Diversity Summit lays groundwork for agenda, ABA Journal, July 2009

[Nightingale, Noel]

Link:
http://www.abanet.org/poladv/wl/09jul/#no6

Text:
Diversity Summit lays groundwork for agenda

More than 200 lawyers, judges and academics joined ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. June 18-20 at a summit he convened in National Harbor, Maryland, to discuss the next steps that must be taken to achieve greater diversity in the legal profession.

The kickoff keynote speaker, Kareem Dale, special assistant to President Obama, cited a wide range of appointees at the White House and in various government positions as evidence of a renewed commitment to enforcement of rights for all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or other factors.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the dinner speaker June 19, described his childhood in North Carolina when all judges and most prosecutors and jurors were white and courtroom observers sat in sections separated by race. Even though much progress has been made, he said there has never been a female district court or superior court judge in his district. "It is a terrible mistake to make public policy without diverse viewpoints. Viewpoint diversity advances democracy," he emphasized.

Wells convened the summit to reenergize the legal profession's diversity efforts, including expansion of outreach to persons with disabilities and persons of varying sexual orientation and gender identities as part of a campaign for a more representative bar. He pledged that the association will compile the ideas generated at the summit into an agenda for enhancing diversity in the legal profession.

Picture caption:
Major participants at "Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps?" included (from left): Planning Committee Co-Chair The Honorable James A. Wynn Jr., Court of Appeals, Raleigh, North Carolina; ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr.; Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.); and Planning Committee Co-Chair Eduardo Roberto Rodriguez of Rodriguez Colvin Chaney & Saenz LLP, Brownsville, Texas.