WSBA Office of Diversity
"To promote diversity, equality and cultural understanding throughout the legal community . . ."
A WSBA Guiding Principle adopted by the Board of Governors
on September 21, 2007.
Welcome to the WSBA Office of Diversity! The Washington State Bar Association continues to reaffirm its commitment to increase and institutionalize diversity in the legal profession. This commitment has been made possible through significant efforts by WSBA leadership in partnership with the various Minority Bar Associations, the WSBA Committee for Diversity and the Board of Governors Diversity Committee and other stakeholders in the legal community and community at large.
Welcome from WSBA President Stan Bastian
Promoting diversity, equality and cultural understanding throughout the legal community is one of the core values of the Washington State Bar Association, and this was reaffirmed at the beginning of my term as President by a unanimous vote of the Board of Governors. There are at least two reasons why diversity is so important to the Bar Association, trust and opportunity. The foundation of our legal system is trust. The public must trust that justice will be delivered in a fair and impartial manner, but, this trust can be easily lost if lawyers and judges do not reflect the public they serve. Opportunity is equally important. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to obtain a legal education, and to pursue a successful legal or judicial career.
Despite our good intentions, the facts indicate that this is not a very diverse profession. Currently, 90% of the members of this bar association are Caucasian, but only 2% are African-American, 1.8% are Asian, 1.7% are Latina/Latino, 0.8% are Native American and only 36.9% are women. [1] These numbers clearly indicate that the legal profession is underrepresented by women and persons of color, at least when compared to the community at large. We need to improve.
This section of the WSBA website is designed to introduce you to the Bar Associations programs and initiatives which are intended to foster both diversity and equality. Highlights include the WSBA Committee for Diversity, which keeps the Board of Governors and the WSBA generally informed on diversity related issues, the Washington Leadership Institute, an award-winning leadership development program emphasizing lawyers from diverse backgrounds and experience, the Office of the Diversity Advocate, and the Pipeline grant, which is a new program just getting started by the WSBA.
Although we have made great strides in this area over the past few years, we have more work to do. Much more. Diversity is a journey, not a destination. It requires effort, sensitivity and most of all communication.
We welcome your input and thoughts.
[1] Due to implementation of new categories in 2007, some percentages may appear lower than previous years.
Highlights of This Month's Upcoming Events
May 2, 2008 - The annual dinner for Hate Free Zone Washington, Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle
Doors open at 6:00 pm
Tickets: $80
Please join us for a special gathering of over 600 diverse community members to honor those with the courage to take a stand and work towards freedom, democracy, and justice for ALL. We will also be celebrating Governor Gregoire's signing of the New Americans Executive Order, making her only the fourth governor in the country to do so!
Event and table sponsorship opportunities are available.
For more information about the event, please contact us at info@hatefreezone.org or 206-723-2203, x210, or visit www.hatefreezone.org.
May 22, 2008 – Korean American Bar Association, Korean American Coalition, and Korean American Health Porfessionals Association Networking Event
We encourage potential members to join us and learn more about our organizations – so please reach out to your colleagues! Appetizers will be provided, and there will also be drawings for raffle and door prizes, so come early!
When: Thursday, May 22
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Karma Lounge in Belltown
2318 2nd Ave., Seattle
206-838-5590
Contact: Susan Chang, susan@mrmastro.com.
May 23, 2008 - A "Meet and Greet" for attorneys and law students of Middle Eastern descent! We are considering the creation of a Middle Eastern Bar Association of Washington and would like to discuss this idea with other Middle Easterns in the legal profession. And of course to meet, eat, drink, and be merry! O'Asian Restaurant, 800 Fifth Avenue, http://oasian.net/. O'Asian offers free validated parking in the building starting at 5:30 pm. Please let us know if you can make it (or if you'd be interested in attending future events if you can't make it) by contacting Aneelah Afzali at aa@stokeslaw.com or Sahar Fathi at SFathi@u.washington.edu. We look forward to seeing you soon!
May 29, 2008 - Third Annual Statewide Diversity Conference, Pre-Conference Reception. University of Washington School of Law. Registration information will be available at www.wambac.org in early spring. Conference co-chairs Kim Tran and Michael Heath can be reached at conference@wambac.org.
May 30, 2008 - Statewide Diversity Conference - Seattle University School of Law.
For a complete list of Diversity Events, please see our Diversity Calendar
We are currently updating our webpage; please check back for more current information.
