' A Monthly Publication of the Nashville Bar Association
Joycelyn A. Stevenson, Publisher William T. Ramsey, Editor-in-Chief ramseywt@nealharwell.com
Eleanor Wetzel, Managing Editor eleanorwetzel@jis.nashville.org
Editorial Committee Kimberly Faye Carline Sapp Hudson Tracy Kane Bill Ramsey Kristin Thomas Victoria Webb Eleanor Wetzel David Winters
Nashville Bar Association Staff Monica Mackie Executive Director ----------Shirley Clay Finance Coordinator Wendy Cozby Lawyer Referral Service Coordinator Traci Hollandsworth Programs & Events Coordinator Malinda Moseley CLE Coordinator Judy Phillips CLE Coordinator Jill Presley Marketing & Communications Coordinator Vicki Shoulders Membership Coordinator • Office Manager
The Nashville Bar Journal, ISSN 1548-7113, is published monthly by the Nashville Bar Association at 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 1050, Nashville, TN 37219, (615) 242-9272. Periodicals Postage Paid, Nashville, TN (USPS 021-962). Subscription price: $25 per year. Individual issues: $5 per copy. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Nashville Bar Journal, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 1050, Nashville, TN 37219
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Nashville Bar Association 150 4th Ave N, Suite 1050 Nashville, TN 37219 615.242.9272 • Fax 615.255.3026 NashvilleBar.org
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Nashville Bar Journal • March 2016
From the President Valuing Diversity
By Joycelyn A. Stevenson As I write this article, we are celebrating the conclusion of Black History Month in February and the beginning of Women’s History Month in March. We have seen many strides in the area of diversity since the start of the civil rights and women’s rights movements. The men and women who were denied access to justice and advancement in the legal profession fought heroically and to provide opportunities for many who followed in their footsteps. More and more women and people of color are attending law school and practicing law. Those who fought valiantly for the rights of so many would be pleased to see that the level of diversity in our city and frankly, within our bar association, is better than it was 30 years ago. Better, however, does not mean that the legal profession does not have a long way to go in attracting and retaining diverse attorneys. The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Women in the Profession publishes a resource entitled, “A Current Glance at Women in the Law.”1 The most recent publication in 2014 provides that 34% of attorneys in the legal profession are women. While 44.8% of associates at law firms are women, less than 4% are managing partners in the 200 largest law firms in the country, with 17% being equity partners. Of the Fortune 500 general counsels, 21% are women, with African-American women making up only 10.4%. Women make up 27.1% of federal and state judgeships. So while there has clearly been progress, there is more work to do. This same Commission published a study entitled “From Visible Invisibility to Visibly Successful” in 2006, addressing success strategies specifically related to law firms and women of color.2 That report addressed statistics related to percentages of women of color and specific disparities experienced over time. Ten years later, the ABA is still focused on evaluating and creating solutions to what still is a very important issue in our profession. In response to the continuing need to tackle issues associated with diversity in our profession, the ABA has recently announced several initiatives related to diversity in the legal profession including the creation of the “Commission on Diversity and Inclusion 360.” This Commission is designed to evaluate the best practices and methods to promote diversity and inclusion—including analyzing implicit bias—creating a pipeline from elementary to law school in order to increase the amount of diverse talented professionals. The ABA has recognized that while attracting talent to the profession is one thing, retaining that talent and providing actual opportunities for advancement are completely different. Inherent in some of the statistics mentioned above are questions as to what happens to the large number of diverse attorneys—including women and people of color—who enter the legal profession over the course of a 20-year career. How many start their own practices? How many make partner? Equity Partner? How many make it to the highest level of the corporate of government agency where they work? If they don’t make it far, what is the reason? Is it a matter of fit? Are there other intrinsic, intangibles that factor into the ability of diverse attorneys to remain successful in environments where they are the clear minority? Countless numbers of articles, task forces and summits have been commissioned to tackle this issue. The Nashville Bar Association (NBA) held a diversity summit around the same time as the Commission’s task force on “Visible Invisibility” and just held another one on March 3, 2016, recognizing that the progress made will not be sustained without constant nurturing.