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Next Meeting:
Friday, April 6, 2012 at Noon at the MSBA Offices |
2011-12
Meeting Summaries
Minutes from prior fiscal
years
9/16/11 | 10/7/11 | 11/4/11 | 1/6/12 | 3/8/12
Diversity Committee
Meeting Summary
March 8, 2012
The meeting was chaired by David Ahlvers.
In Attendance: Lawrencia Oramalu, Divya Van Ness (via phone) and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff).
Subcommittee Updates
- Speakers Bureau – Lawrencia will circulate a draft form at the April meeting. Then we will get a quote from Plaudit to see how much it would be to add this to the current website (www.mnlegaldiversity.org)
- Minority Clerkship Program – 12 employers are participating in this year’s Program. The matching interviews were held on March 2 at Lindquist & Vennum. Preference forms from students and employers are due March 9. Final matches will be made and notifications will be sent out the week of March 12.
- Best Practices – the Subcommittee is in the process of interviewing employers to see where they are, where they are going with the best practices. Another update will be given at the April meeting.
Other Business
The MSBA will consider amending its Bylaws to allow a suspended lawyer to continue as member of the Association. According to Tim Groshens, MSBA Executive Director, the MSBA bylaws were amended in the early 1980’s to allow continued membership at the option of the member. Mr. Groshens does not recall discussion leading to its removal and speculates that it may have been dropped in the process of amending other sections. Mr. Groshens plans to suggest an amendment to allow membership and would welcome the support of interested organizations, including Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and the Diversity Committee. Joan Bibelhausen indicated that the LCL Board will consider a letter of support and proposed that the Diversity Committee support this as well because of the impact this may have when disability is involved. This will be discussed further and voted on at the next meeting when we hopefully will have quorum.
Duluth EOB CLE – there is an anti-racism white privilege campaign underway in Duluth – www.unfaircampaign.org. LCL was asked to present a CLE on March 21, 2012 and later asked if they could also do something related to the campaign. LCL has connected with local attorney Melanie Ford. Ms. Ford has been involved in anti-racism for years and was recently the St. Louis County Attorney where she initiated a number of anti-racism efforts. LCL will present an hour on stress, trauma, mental health and addiction. This will segue into Ms. Ford’s presentation in the second hour which will include historical trauma.
The Committee will co-sponsor the following William Mitchell upcoming programs:
• Fueling the Leadership Pipeline in a Post-Grutter and Post-Obama Era, featuring Chancellor Dennis Shield | Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. | William Mitchell College of Law
William Mitchell College of Law’s Office of Multicultural Affairs invites you to a forum to discuss the role of diversity in law school and in the legal profession.
• Project 15 | Friday, March 30 – Noon – 1 p.m. | William Mitchell Auditorium
“515 – The Tour!”, an artistic representation of the real-life discrimination faced by same-sex couples and their families in Minnesota. Minnesota law defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Using this definition, research has shown that there are at least 515 laws in our state that exclude same-sex couples from certain rights and responsibilities conferred automatically via marriage. 515 high lights many of these laws through theater, dance and music. 515 presents a vision of a world of equality where all families are equally valued and respected under the law in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities.
The next meeting is April 6, 2012.
Meeting adjourned.
Diversity Committee
Meeting Summary
January 6, 2012
The meeting was chaired by David Ahlvers.
In Attendance: Jodi Schmidt, Tom Nelson, Justi Miller, Divya Van Ness and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff).
Subcommittee Updates
- Pipeline –in the process of analyzing the data and identifying gaps.
- Minority Clerkship Program – A suggestion was made to expand the scope of the Program to include reaching out to the Courts. Another suggestion was made to bring in past and present employers to talk about the current model and discuss if it needs to be tweaked. It was noted that the training for students is very beneficial, and a suggestion was made to do trainings both pre-selection and post-selection, and provide mentoring to those who applied but did not get in.
Other Business
The Committee’s resolution calling on the MSBA to join the ABA Pledge for Change will be on the MSBA Assembly Agenda in April.
Next meeting is February 3, 2012.
Meeting adjourned.
Diversity Committee
Meeting Summary
November 4, 2011
The meeting was chaired by David Ahlvers.
In Attendance: Joan Bibelhausen, Alan Haynes, Tom Nelson, Justi Miller and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff).
Updates on current projects
- Minnesota Minority Clerkship Program: 10 employers have confirmed participation so far. The goal is 15. Dave will be presenting at the law schools in the next couple of weeks. Student applications are due January 20, 2012.
- CLE: The following was submitted to the Day 9 Committee for consideration:
- The MSBA Diversity Committee would like to request your consideration to include our bias CLE for the 9 Days in June programming. We envision the CLE as a lively and informative series of vignettes that Interact actors would perform, and after each vignette, well-known attorneys and judges from our legal community would be present to comment on the vignette and facilitate discussion around it, including best practices. The vignettes are going to be culled from the results and many comments provided via the MSBA’s Diversity/Sage survey and would provide “two sides to every story.” We currently envision this to be either a one or two hour program (with a respective 4-8 vignettes).
- Speakers Bureau: still a work in progress. Currently we are working on a template for the website. The Committee discussed the need to vet speakers; perhaps quarterly review for new requests. Andrea Yang, Chair of the Diversity Subcommittee of the Legal Assistance to the Disadvantaged Committee, would like to help with this project.
Report on October 25, 2011 Minority Bar Summit Meeting
Alan Haynes and Leslie Altman reported on the 2011 SAGE Report on Gender Equity and Diversity. An update from the Affinity Project (a successful program on how to get more minorities onto the Bench) was also on the agenda.
Discuss future leadership of the Diversity Committee
David Ahlver’s term as Chair will be expiring June 30, 2011. The Committee will need a new chair for 2011-12. Members who are interested in this leadership opportunity should let Dave (davidahlvers@gmail.com) or Tram (tnguyen@mnbar.org) know. Committee chairs are appointed by the MSBA incoming President.
Next meeting: December 2, 2011 at Noon at the MSBA offices. This will be a working committee. Please make every effort to attend and participate in the subcommittee meetings you have signed up for.
Diversity Committee
Meeting Summary
October 7, 2011
The meeting was chaired by David Ahlvers.
In Attendance: Leslie Altman, Jack Hennen, Joan Bibelhausen, Yvonne Moore, Justi Miller, Alan Haynes, Anna Horning Nygren (from Women in the Legal Profession Committee), and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff).
Present by invitation: Waeiz Syed (Council on American-Islamic Relations - Minnesota Chapter (CAIR-MN)
Update ABA Pledge for Change
Mr. Ahlvers reported that there is now quorum to pass the motion to adopt the ABA Pledge for Change following the email vote. This is a committee-only position. Mr. Ahlvers will draft a resolution calling on the Minnesota State Bar Association to adopt it as well.
Muslim Networking Co-Sponsorship
The Committee welcomed Mr. Waeiz Syed, a law clerk with The Council on American-Islamic Relations - Minnesota Chapter (CAIR-MN), to the meeting. CAIR-MN is a non-profit organization that seeks to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil liberties, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Mr. Syed reported that CAIR-MN would like to sponsor a meet and greet among Muslim attorneys and Muslim law students in the Twin Cities area and requested the Diversity Committee co-sponsor the event. The Committee agreed to co-sponsor this event. The event is scheduled for November 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at a location to be determined. Mr. Syed will forward final details to Mr. Ahlvers and Ms. Nguyen.
Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers 35th Anniversary
Joan Bibelhausen invited everyone to attend the event on October 28, 2011 at the University of Minnesota. The proceeds will support LCL’s core services including their Founders’ Fund. This fund provides financial assistance for treatment related expenses for lawyers and law students who would otherwise be unable to afford them.
Subcommittee/Working Group Meetings
The Committee broke into Subcommittee meetings/working groups for the remainder of the meeting time.
Next Meeting:
The Committee will meet next on November 4.
Meeting adjourned.
Diversity Committee
Meeting Summary
September 16, 2011
The meeting was chaired by David Ahlvers.
In Attendance: Tom Nelson, Alan Haynes, Yvonne Moore, Justi Miller, Marlene Garvis (via phone), Julie Plumitis (via phone), and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff).
Mr. Ahlvers welcomed everyone to the Committee; followed by brief introductions.
Best Practices Implementation Pilot Project
Ms. Garvis updated the Committee on the efforts of the Best Practices Outreach subcommittee. Eleven employers have agreed to pilot implementation of some or all of the diversity best practices. The next step is to meet with the employers and ask them to define their goals, as well as how the subcommittee might assist them. A question was raised about sustainability and how to keep it going. Ms. Garvis offered to provide quarterly progress reports to the Committee.
New Meeting Structure
Mr. Ahlvers would like to try a new meeting structure this year with alternating monthly meetings between full committee and subcommittee meetings. Committee members were encouraged to sign up for a subcommittee. Tram will circulate a sign-up form via email to all members.
ABA Pledge for Change
Motion was made for the Committee to sign onto the ABA Pledge for Change. Motion was passed unanimously by those present; however, the Committee did not have quorum to carry the motion. An email vote will be necessary in order to have quorum. Mr Ahlvers will draft a Resolution to have the MSBA as a whole sign on to the Pledge as well.
Minnesota Minority Clerkship Program
Mr. Ahlvers reported that commitment forms have been sent out to employers. Deadline to respond is September 30. The goal is to have at least fifteen employers.
Diversity Survey Final Report
Mr. Haynes provided a summary of the final results of the SAGE/Diversity survey. Overall, there have been improvements in some areas and regression in others. A link to the report will be circulated to the Committee. There was also a suggestion to email the link to the report to the 1501 participants that participated in the survey. The next step is to have the Diversity and Women in the Legal Profession Committees work together to build a best practices guide and then take it to the Best Practices Subcommittee for implementation.
CLE
Mr. Ahlvers reported that he met with Ashley Wenger, Co- Chair of the Women in the Legal Profession Committee. The two of them discussed the possibility of doing a three part CLE series on the findings of the Diversity Survey. The goal is to hold the first CLE in early November.
Part 1: Providing the survey results
Part 2: What the results mean going forward
Part 3: Bring in national speaker to talk about execution and implementation
This will be further discussed at future meetings.
Minority Bar Summit:
Mr. Ahlvers reported the next meeting of the Minority Bar Summit is October 25 at Noon at the MSBA offices.
Meeting Schedule for 2011-2012:
The Committee will continue to meet monthly on the first Friday of the month from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at the MSBA offices. Please mark your calendars.
Next Meeting:
The Committee will meet next on October 7.
Meeting adjourned.