Posted by on Friday, April 18, 2014
Welcome to this week’s Diversity Dish and Happy Friday! We are back from NALP’s Annual Education Conference in Seattle and hope you agree that it was a great conference. This week we have two interesting stories the first a tale of two bar associations and the second a look at women being subjected to office “housework.” Don’t forget to register for the NALP / ALFDP Diversity and Inclusion Summit in Chicago on June 6, if you haven’t already! Enjoy this week’s Diversity Dish, Happy Friday and if you aren’t already, follow us on Twitter @CourtneyDredden.
4.15.14 An editorial in the Connecticut Law Tribune asserts that the Connecticut Bar Association is severely lacking in diversity amongst its leaders. The Connecticut Bar Association has never had a minority president (and the CBA dates back to 1875). The editorial notes that “while the CBA is failing miserably in its diversity efforts, the New Haven County Bar Association is thriving. Presently, three of the NHCBA's five officers are lawyers of color. Last year, the NHCBA was led by its first minority president, Sung-Ho Hwang. This year, it is again being led admirably by a minority lawyer, Robert Hinton, and in two years will be again led by an outstanding minority attorney in Victor Bolden.” It seems that in this case the CBA can look to the NHCBA both for model leaders, but also for a lesson in how diversity is done correctly.
4.17.14 Debra Cassens Weiss reviews a new book by University of California at Hastings law professor Joan Williams in the ABA Journal. The book highlights the fact that often women lawyers and other professionals are expected to do the office “housework.” Williams noted in the book, “[s]ome office housework is, quite literally, housework. In my research, successful professional women—lawyers, academics, executives, scientists—repeatedly said they’ve been expected to bring cupcakes for a colleague’s birthday, order sandwiches for office lunches and answer phones in the conference room, even if their job description is far up the ladder from such administrative tasks.” If this sounds familiar to you and you find yourself being tasked with the office housework, take Williams tips in dealing with it with humor and grace – perhaps taking notes well the first time you are tasked with it, then setting up a rotation for future meetings.
