By Jennifer A. Grieco
OCBA president
Since I joined the OCBA, we have struggled with the issue of diversity in our profession and our organization. We have made progress as women and minorities escalate their numbers in our profession; however, even with more women and minorities, the OCBA is still “crawling” toward true diversity. Statistics demonstrate that diversity will not just materialize as the number of women and minorities entering law school increases. In fact, women have accounted for close to 50 percent of the law school graduates since at least 1990, yet the profession – and certainly law firm leadership – does not mirror that statistic.1 According to the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, despite the numbers of women graduating from law school, women make up only 31 percent of practicing lawyers and 19.2 percent of partners. Women account for only 6 percent of the managing partners of law firms. Bar associations follow a similar drop-off in leadership as I am only the sixth woman to serve as president in our 76-year history. I was surprised by this low number until I learned that the OCBA’s figures are actually better than that of both the SBM and the ABA. The SBM has only had four women serve as president in its history, although Julie Fershtman will become the fifth woman in September 2011. Worse, the ABA has only had four women serve as president since it was founded in 1878, which number includes past president Carolyn B. Lamm.
With 50 percent of law school graduates being women, the shortage of women in leadership roles can no longer be blamed on the lack of a pipeline of qualified women. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for minorities, who continue to account for less than 10 percent of the population of lawyers.2 In fact, African-American and Hispanic representation among law students has actually decreased in recent years. Sadly, at this pace, many of us may never experience diversity in our profession during our career.3 This lack of diversity is detrimental not only to our bar association but to the community of people who require and are entitled to our services, as well as a community who desires a more diverse system of lawyers and judges impacting their lives. Simply, we owe it to our profession and our community to do everything we can to improve the statistics.
The OCBA, as the largest voluntary bar association in Michigan, should work with the SBM to lead our legal community toward greater diversity.4 We can no longer sit back and wait for diversity to happen. Bar associations open leadership doors that may not otherwise be available in a law firm setting and it is only through leadership roles that women and minorities will be in a position to impact and change the profession. We must urge women and minority members to take advantage of the opportunity that is afforded them through the OCBA and other bar associations to become leaders in our profession by persuading them not just to join and attend events but to become active on a committee, serve as a committee chairperson, or run for the board of directors.5
To achieve our goal, we must individually reach out to the dynamic, skilled attorneys who are active within the D. Augustus Straker, Wolverine, Hispanic and other specialty bar associations, encouraging and supporting their involvement in the OCBA as well. In addition to individual recruitment, we must increase our collaboration efforts with the special-purpose bar associations. The OCBA’s Diversity in the Legal Profession dinner scheduled for October 21, 2010, at the Townsend Hotel is one such endeavor. We have invited all of the local, diverse and specialty organizations to co-sponsor and attend the event. We are fortunate to have Barbara McQuade, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, serve as our keynote speaker. It should be a wonderful evening and an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion. I hope that you will be able to attend the event to support our common goal of a diverse profession.
The OCBA is the tool by which we improve the profession and interact with the community. Women and minorities must be an integral part of this effort. The ability of this bar association to promote diversity in our leadership will not only enhance our ability to recruit minorities to enter law school or to encourage women to remain in the profession, but will also result in a greater trust and confidence in the legal system by the community we serve. This goal alone mandates an increased effort for diversification of the OCBA. We can no longer wait for the profession to crawl toward diversity – we must move it forward. Accordingly, I challenge all of us to work together to encourage and support diversity in our bar association, particularly in bar leadership, for the benefit of our organization, our profession and our community.
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1 According to the National Association of Women Lawyers and the NAWL Foundation’s Report of the Fourth Annual National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms (October 2009), women made up 33 percent of the graduating class in 1980, 43 percent by 1990, and 48 percent by 2000. See also American Bar Association, Legal Education Statistics, Enrollment and Degrees Awarded, 1980-2008.
2 See Report of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, “Miles to Go 2000: The Progress of Minorities in the Legal Profession,” which reviewed the 2000 Census numbers, revealing that African-American attorneys account for only 3.9 percent of the profession and 8.8 percent of judges, magistrates and other judicial workers. Hispanic individuals make up 3.3 percent of the lawyers and 4.5 percent of the judges. The Asian population accounts for 2.3 percent of the lawyers and 1.6 percent of our judges. These statistics remain true in Michigan as well according to a 2009-2010 SBM report which revealed that African-Americans, Asian-Americans, American Indians, Arab-Americans and Hispanic Latino Americans together make up 10 percent of Michigan lawyers. Notably, this percentage is even more striking when compared to other professionals such as accountants and physicians wherein minority representation is 20.8 percent and 24.6 percent respectively.
3 The ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession noted that in 2004, African-American representation among law students actually dropped from 7.4 to 6.6 percent and the percentage of Hispanic law students also dropped slightly from 5.8 to 5.7. See however, “Expanding the Pipeline in the Profession,” in this month’s Laches written by John Nussbaumer and Alana Glass highlighting the ABA’s CLEO program geared at improving the number of minority students in law school.
4 For a detailed rationale for why diversity should still be a pressing priority for the legal profession as well as recommendations for the next steps to advance diversity in the law schools, law firms, judiciary and government, and bar associations, see the April 2010 Report and Recommendations of the ABA Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity entitled “Diversity in the Legal Profession: The Next Steps.”
5 In addition to active encouragement to join and participate in the OCBA, there must be support and commitment for diversity in leadership from within the legal community. Many lawyers have not been able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the OCBA (or any other bar association) because they struggle to meet billable hour requirements and raise a family. It will take progressive leaders of our law firms to value the hours spent volunteering in bar associations to demonstrate that the profession appreciates the importance of women and minority members obtaining leadership roles.
Jennifer A. Grieco, a partner with Neuman Anderson PC, is the 78th president of the Oakland County Bar Association.
