April 2004

Listening to Diversity Concerns

by David Savage, WSBA President

On February 27, the WSBA held our first-ever "Celebrating Diversity" Listening Forum, followed by the third annual Diversity Reception. This program, jointly sponsored by the WSBA Committee for Diversity and the Board of Governors, was exciting and enlightening, and I wanted to share it, to the extent possible, with all WSBA members. So I'm devoting my column this month to my opening remarks at the forum and a few snapshots.

The listening forum drew approximately 65 lawyers and judges, and even more attended the reception. I want to thank those who participated for their thoughtful input and creative ideas. Notes from all the roundtable discussions are being compiled, and we're happy to provide the finished product to anyone who's interested (contact the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA, or questions@wsba.org). And as always, I enjoy hearing from WSBA members. Contact me at savage2@imsblaw.com or 509-332-3502.

Diversity Reception Opening Remarks
As president of the Washington State Bar Association and on behalf of the Board of Governors, it is my pleasure to welcome each of you to the Washington State Bar Association's Board of Governors' first meeting devoted to the interests and concerns of the voluntary bar associations which represent the diverse interests and backgrounds of Washington's lawyers.

This program is the product of the Board of Governors and the WSBA Committee for Diversity, which is capably chaired by Leona Colegrove and Mike Schestopol. President-elect Ron Ward and Governors Zulema Hinojos-Fall and Fawn Sharp have played key roles in making it a reality.

While I do not claim to bring any special qualifications to the dialogue that I hope develops today, I can tell you that practicing in a rural environment — I practice in Pullman, Washington — at a distance of 300 miles from this Association's Seattle nerve center, I have a nominal sense of what it means to be "outside" the inner circle of decision-makers. As a consequence, and with the conviction that this Bar Association must embrace our diversity and promote inclusion if it is to serve as more than a "dues and discipline" regulatory agency and if it is to serve well our client public in the future, I have made diversity, inclusion, and relevance the centerpiece of my term. Indeed, I am convinced that in our diversity lies our strength.

The Washington State Bar Association has committed itself to enhancing its diversity. In 2000, the Board of Governors passed Bylaw III. M, which created two at-large seats in order to bring more diverse representation to the Board. This was followed by the Board's adoption in its Strategic Goals of Goal No. 9, which provides: "The WSBA will promote diversity, equality and cultural competence in the courts, legal profession and the bar."

As a partner to this commitment, the WSBA's standing Committee on Diversity provides advice and oversight with respect to association activities with a view to achieving this commitment.

Respect for, and appreciation of, diversity is critical to us as lawyers, judges, employers, good citizens and, maybe most important, individuals.

It is important to us as individuals because we are all different. Indeed, it is our differences that attract us to one another, enlighten our thinking (I think a good argument can be made that diversity at its core describes an open-minded acceptance of one another — a freedom from preconceptions and stereotypes), and serve as the proud bedrock of our civics. Remember, we regularly, in pledging allegiance to our flag, commit ourselves to the proposition of "justice for all."

As lawyers, diversity is, and should be, important to us, because together with the judicial system, we have been entrusted with the professional obligation to ensure that the lofty principles of our federal and state constitutions, which codify our commitment to diversity, are met in fact. In this complex and diverse society, a lawyer cannot deliver competent legal services with integrity without an appreciation and respect for all the many faces that constitute our multicultural and pluralistic society.

We enjoy a state-sanctioned monopoly on the right to practice law. Consequently, we have a unique duty to ensure that we make our services available regardless of gender, color, disability, age, economic circumstance, national origin, or sexual orientation. Indeed, if we fail to do so, I think we can and should expect to lose the benefit of this special privilege.

The need for legal counsel is great, as revealed most recently by the Civil Legal Needs Study commissioned in November 2001 by the Washington State Supreme Court. The assessment phase of the report was just released in January 2004, and it reports as follows:

• 87 percent of low-income households experienced at least one civil legal need during the year of the study, yielding an aggregate need of more than one million unaddressed legal problems per year.

• Less than 15 percent of low-income people are able to get help with their civil legal problems.

• Reasons given for not securing legal help in order of report:
• 28 percent think nothing can be done.
• 24 percent don't know who can help.
• 22 percent worry a-bout cost.
• 21 percent don't recognize a legal problem.

• Women and children have the highest per-capita rate of legal problems.

• Among those who seek, but do not get, an attorney's help, only 21 percent feel positively about the justice system, while more than 50 percent of those who are able to get an attorney's help have a positive attitude toward the justice system.


The State Supreme Court has committed itself to achieving respect for diversity and cultural competence. The beauty of our legal system is that its power is, in the end, not physical, but rather founded in moral persuasion and respect. The power of this civic moral force, however, is wholly dependent upon the respect that the population has for the orders of our judicial system. Respect for the orders of our judicial system is, obviously, directly related to the public sense that this institution of government is not only respectful but representative of the population it serves.

The ABA and the National Bar Association conducted a national survey of lawyers in 1998-99, for a special section on race and the law in the ABA Journal. It revealed that the perceptions of African-American and white lawyers were strikingly different.

When asked how much racial bias existed in the justice system, 52.4 percent of black lawyers said "very much," while only 6.5 percent of white lawyers gave the same answer. Only 1.2 percent of black lawyers said "very little," while 29.6 percent of white lawyers said so. More than 66 percent of the black lawyers said they had witnessed racial bias in the justice system in the past three years, while more than 80 percent of white lawyers said they had not made such an observation. More than 92 percent of black lawyers said the justice system has the same amount of racial bias or more compared to other segments of our society while almost half of white lawyers said there was less.

A June 1999 survey, "How the Public Views the State Courts," conducted for the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts (available at www.courts.wa.gov), revealed other striking and troubling differences.

When asked about equal treatment in the court system, only 7 percent of the total sample (all races) thought African Americans received better treatment, while 52 percent said they received worse. The percentages were identical as to Hispanics.

Among Washington African-American attorneys, only 6 percent thought African Americans received better treatment, while 78 percent thought it was worse (including 40 percent saying "far worse").

When asked whether judges were generally honest and fair in deciding cases, only 19 percent of Washington Caucasians said no, while 38 percent of Blacks and 25 percent of Hispanics said no. When asked whether court personnel were helpful and courteous, only 19 percent of Caucasians said no, while 35 percent of Blacks, 30 percent of Hispanics, and 28 percent of Asian Americans said no.

Perceptions count.

Our system of jurisprudence is dependent upon the public's perception that we fairly, uniformly, and comprehensively administer justice.

This Bar Association has an obligation to reflect the public we serve. Remember, as I noted above, many oppressed persons simply do not seek legal assistance. A significant reason for this is that they do not see in the established legal community the faces of lawyers who they believe have an understanding of their problems. It is not my contention that the delivery of competent legal services requires cultural or racial identity between the provider and the recipient of legal services, but rather that the credibility of our institution as a whole will, should be, and has been judged significantly on the basis of whether we do in fact reflect the public we serve in terms of gender, color, disability, age, economic circumstance, national origin, or sexual orientation. We cannot expect to be regarded as the trustees of individual and public civil rights, nor turned to for protection of them, if our professional ranks consist largely of a homogeneous group of the elite. It is difficult to look at the photos of our past presidents which hang on the wall of our Bar office and not suffer a sense of shortfall — it is a monochrome group with only two women over a 115-year history and no persons of color. Happily, President-elect Ward's election changes this picture.

But we must institutionalize change. This is a phrase I am uncomfortable with, because institutionalizing anything has a way of draining its life away. In a positive sense, however, it can represent a commitment to keeping change alive. This must occur through concrete steps.

The WSBA's addition of its at-large seats on the Board of Governors is such a step. The prohibition against discrimination based upon sex, race, age, creed, religion, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or marital status into Washington's Rules of Professional Responsibility is yet another.

These steps, this undertaking, are not finite tasks, nor do they have a completion date or a terminal point. We must build a respect and appreciation for diversity into our own thinking, and that of the courts and our Bar Association, so that doors, once opened, remain so.

We hope that as a result of today's discussion this Bar Association can educate itself as to how to better serve the interests and needs of those of you who have gathered here today. We are committed to hearing you and learning from what we have heard.

Making change a reality, however, requires a commitment on your part as well. I understand you may wish to first see this Association demonstrate its concern for your interests. I sincerely hope you leave today's meeting with the conviction that you have seen such evidence.

President-elect Ron Ward has made this commitment, as have Governors Hinojos-Fall and Sharp. J.D. Smith, president of the Young Lawyers Division and a WSBA Young Lawyers Division ABA delegate, has made this commitment. Paula Boggs, a member of the Washington State Bar Association's ABA delegation, has made this commitment, as have Sonia Rodriguez, a member of the Washington State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division ABA delegation; Elizabeth Li, active in the ABA through an ABA/YLD Minorities in the Profession Committee Scholarship; and others.

I hope you will consider becoming active with the WSBA, whether in governance, committee, or section activities. Based on my personal experience, I highly recommend section involvement. It is a great way to interact with other fine lawyers and to sharpen your skills in a particular practice area. Wilda Heard, who has played an active role in making the International Law Section one of our most vital, has convinced me that section membership may well be the best avenue for inclusion. The Bar has 23 sections. They are all described on the WSBA website at www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/sections.htm. I encourage you to review them and consider joining.

Join them, join me, join all of the governors and officers of the Washington State Bar Association and our fine staff in making change a reality.

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