AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession
Informational Report to the House of Delegates
Goal IX Report
The Commission has published the 2003-2004 Goal IX Report. The electronic data
collection that the Commission coordinated for this report, as well as for the
Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, the Commission on Women, and
the Standing Committee on CLE, worked very well and allowed the data collection to
proceed more smoothly than ever before. Some highlights from this year’s report:
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Presidential appointments of minority lawyers reached an all time high, 33.1%.
Diversity among the primary leadership of ABA Sections and Divisions decreased.
There was a modest increase in the diversity of Section, Division, and Forum
committee chairs.
The Goal IX Report has been distributed to ABA leaders and is also available online at
www.abanet.org/minorities.
Judicial Clerkship Program
The Commission and the Judicial Division presented the fourth Minority Judicial
Clerkship Program during the ABA Midyear Meeting, February 5-7, 2004. In addition to
CLEO, the following law schools participated this year:
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Cornell University
Indiana University
South Texas College of Law
University of Michigan
University of New Mexico
University of Tennessee
University of Texas
Villanova University
William Mitchell College of Law
Spirit of Excellence Awards
The 2004 Spirit of Excellence Awards were presented on Saturday, February 7, 2004 in
San Antonio. This year’s award recipients were:
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Norma V. Cantu – Visiting Professor of Law and Education at the University of
Texas School of Law; former regional counsel and education director for the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; former Assistant Secretary
for Civil Rights at the Department of Education.
Hon. W. Royal Furgeson – U.S. District Court Judge, Western District of Texas.
Bill Lann Lee – Partner, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann, & Bernstein; former Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice; former lawyer for
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
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Arvo Quoetone Mikkanen – Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of Oklahoma;
founder and former President of the Oklahoma Indian Bar Association; and former
President of the National Native American Bar Association.
E. Christopher Johnson, Jr. (Corporate Award) – Senior Vice President and
General Counsel, General Motors North America; instrumental in organizing the
General Motors’ Minority Outside Counsel Networking Conference and in promoting
and maintaining General Motors’ commitment to racial and ethnic diversity.
Houston Minority Lawyers Summit
On February 11, 2004, the Commission joined with some of the local minority bar
associations in Houston, as well as the Houston Bar Association, to present a day long
program and reception, “Using Your Bar Membership to Help Advance Your Career: A
Summit for Minority Lawyers.”
Bar Leadership Institute
As part of Bar Services’ annual Bar Leadership Institute, the Commission conducted
one-on-one consultations with leaders from state, local, and specialty bar associations
to discuss and offer guidance on their diversity efforts. Despite conducting two sets of
simultaneous sessions, the Commission’s sessions were in high demand, necessitating
a waiting list. We are exploring ways that we might address this increasing demand for
the Commission’s expertise.
Minority Counsel Program
The Minority Counsel Program met twice this year. The Fall Minority Counsel Program
meeting was held October 2-3, 2003 in Chicago and the Spring meeting was held
March 25-26, 2004 in Philadelphia. Among the speakers were general counsel from
Tyco International Ltd.; DuPont; McDonald’s; Wells Fargo; General Motors; The New
York Times; PNC Financial Services Group; Nextel Communications, Inc.; US Airways;
Comcast Corporation; The Boeing Company; Pitney-Bowes, Inc.; Merck & Co., Inc. and
Managing Partners from law firms including Greenburg Traurig and Hunton & Williams.
The Commission has been pleased to be able to maintain the 1:2 ratio of corporate
counsel to outside counsel that has made the Minority Counsel Program so successful.
We also are gratified by the increasing number of corporate counsel participants who
are choosing to participate on an ongoing basis.
In addition, the Minority Counsel Program’s new Steering Committee, chaired by Tom
Ryan, the General Counsel of Quaker Oats, is working to develop toolkits to help
corporations and law firms with their diversity efforts. In addition to Mr. Ryan, the
Steering Committee is comprised of the following:
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Douglas G. Bain, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, The Boeing
Company (Chicago, Illinois)
Kenneth C. Frazier, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Merck & Co.,
Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey)
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Thomas A. Gottschalk, Executive Vice President, Law and Public Policy, General
Motors Corporation (Detroit, Michigan)
Don H. Liu, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Ikon Office
Solutions (Malvern, Pennsylvania)
William B. Lytton, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Tyco
International Ltd. (Princeton, New Jersey)
Stacey J. Mobley, Sr., Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Administrative
Officer, E.I. DuPont De Nemours (Wilmington, Delaware)
Roderick A. Palmore, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary,
Sara Lee Corporation (Chicago, Illinois)
Dennis E. Ross, Vice President and General Counsel, The Ford Motor Company
(Dearborn, Michigan)
Gloria Santona, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary, McDonalds Corporation (Oak Brook, Illinois)
Stanley S. Stroup, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Wells Fargo
Bank (San Francisco, California)
Andrea L. Zopp, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Sears, Roebuck and
Co. (Hoffman Estates, Illinois)
The Fall 2004 Minority Counsel Program meeting will take place on September 29-30,
2004 in Chicago.
Joint Exhibit
The ABA joint exhibit booth was presented at the annual conventions of the Hispanic
National Bar Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the
National Native American Bar Association, and the National Bar Association. The joint
exhibit booth is proving to be a very effective way of marketing the ABA to minority
lawyers who, by attending these other bar associations’ conventions, are indicating an
interest in bar association programs and activities. ABA membership materials are
being requested on a more regular basis and a number of new Section members have
joined as a result of the joint exhibit booth. The following are participating this year:
Antitrust Law
Bar Services
Business Law
General Practice, Solo and Small Firm
Individual Rights and Responsibilities
Intellectual Property Law
Litigation
Public Education
Real Property, Probate and Trust Law
Tort Trial and Insurance Practice
Commission on Diversity
Commission on Women
Goal IX Newsletter
The Goal IX Newsletter is in the process of changing from a hard copy publication to an
electronic newsletter so as to allow the Commission to disseminate it to the growing
number of members requesting copies. The newsletter will remain a quarterly publication.
Past issues of the newsletter are archived at the Commission’s website,
www.abanet.org/minorities.
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National Conference for the Minority Lawyer
The National Conference for the Minority Lawyer was held on June 17-18, 2004 in San
Francisco. This year, the Commission and the Section of Business Law were assisted by
Antitrust Law; General Practice, Solo, and Small Firms; Real Property, Probate and Trust
Law; the Young Lawyers Division, and the Forum on Communications Law. Over 50 local
and national minority bar associations from across the country supported the Conference.
Eva Paterson, the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Society, was the keynote
speaker.
Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges
For the third year, the Commission collaborated with the Chicago Bar Association to
present this daylong conference on issues and concerns of minority lawyers. The program
was held on July 16, 2004. Jack Greenberg was the keynote speaker.
National and Local Minority Bar Associations/State and Local Bar
Associations
The Commission worked with the President’s Office to coordinate the annual
meeting of the ABA President-Elect and the presidents-elect of the four national
minority bar associations and their executive directors. The meeting was held March
11-12, 2004 in Chicago.
The Commission worked with the Coalition of Bar Associations of Color (CBAC) to
provide assistance for its 2004 meeting on May 14-16, 2004 in Washington, D.C.
CBAC is a coalition of the four national minority bar associations. The Section of
Litigation underwrote CBAC’s annual dinner and sent a few of its leaders to meet
with the minority bar leaders.
Two of the four national minority bar associations, the National Asian Pacific
American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the National Native American Bar
Association (NNABA) will be convening meetings of their boards in conjunction with
the 2004 ABA Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The Hispanic National Bar Association
(“HNBA”) leadership is also hosting a meeting for its members as part of the ABA
Annual Meeting.
The Commission is receiving increasing numbers of requests for speakers,
information, and other assistance in the diversity efforts of state and local bar
associations.
Annual Meeting
The Commission presented the Minority Lawyers Forum on Friday, August 6th. The
Forum included a complimentary “Taste of the ABA” lunch for minority lawyers
where there was an opportunity for minority lawyers to learn more about involvement
in the ABA and its Sections, Divisions, and Forums. The Minority Lawyers Reception
honoring Robert Grey concluded the day long programming. The Commission
presented CLE programs on retention issues for minority lawyers in law firms and
corporations, the business case for diversity, and lawyer regulation. In addition, the
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Commission coordinated participation at the Annual Meeting by the National Asian
Pacific American Bar Association, the National Native American Bar Association,
and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
United Kingdom Collaborations
The Race Relations Committee of the Bar Council of England and Wales once again
sent a delegation of minority lawyers to the Annual Meeting and the Commission’s
programs. This year, we are collaborating to present a program on the particular
concerns and issues that minority lawyers have with regard to efforts to regulate the
legal profession.
Respectfully submitted,
Lawrence R. Baca,
Chair
August 2004
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