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OBABL Links & Resources
Feb
1
From The ABAJournal:
A former staff attorney of Covington & Burling can proceed with her federal discrimination claim over the law firm’s policy of assigning work, based on a disparate impact theory.
However, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton found that Yolanda Young had waited too long to bring a similar claim that the firm’s refusal to promote her to an associate position also was discriminatory, reports the Blog of Legal Times.
Walton OK’d the work-assignment claim because it involves a recurring issue that is revisited at annual reviews each year, the law blog explains. Young argues that the firm’s policies have a disparate impact because, she alleges, the staff attorney group is disproportionately black.
Says Yolanda Young’s attorney:
“My client is pleased to be able to pursue the disparate impact claim because it is not every day that a court allows that kind of claim to move forward,” attorney Latif Doman, who is representing Young, tells the BLT. “As we move forward with discovery, it will be clear that African-American staff attorneys are put through a similar system as white associates but are not being judged in the same manner.”
Jan
28
From The National Law Journal:
Kamisha Menns, a black woman born in Jamaica, says in the complaint, filed in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday, that Howrey violated the D.C. Human Rights Act by retaliating against her, creating a hostile work environment, and inflicting emotional distress, both intentionally and negligently. Menns has asked for $30 million.
According the complaint, Menns was heavily recruited by Howrey only to be subjected to discriminatory treatment once staffed in their Brussels office.
At some point after moving to Brussels, Menns says in her complaint, she began being removed from projects despite receiving compliments on her work from several partners. She says her workplace was shifted to a different floor from that of other lawyers. When she reached out to the office’s managing partner, Trevor Soames, the complaint alleges, Menns was told “that because she was an ‘impressive woman’ Ms. Menns made Howrey’s white employees feel uncomfortable.” The complaint alleges that Soames also told her that because she was the first black associate to work in the office, the office staff’s treatment of her might be influenced by the fact that “they had never before been forced to be in a ’subordinate position’ to a black person.”
The complaint goes on to allege that the situation only got worse when she reached out to firm leaders, including the Washington-based diversity committee and CEO Robert Ruyak. In a June 2, 2009, meeting, a day after Menns sent an e-mail to Ruyak and eight members of the diversity committee outlining the allegedly discriminatory treatment, Menns was fired.
Jan
22
Hell Hath No Fury Like YaVaughnie Scorned!
Filed Under: Defame • Leave a Comment
Oracle president Charles Phillips is worth over $100 million. The NYU New York Law School graduate may need every penny to smooth over the mess created by his mistress’ public chronicling of their 8-year affair.
A billboard displaying a picture of the executive and his mistress, YaVaughnie Wilkins, during happier times went up recently in Atlanta, New York and San Francisco.
Gawker broke the story:
The pair first come to light in a mysterious Times Square billboard we posted about on Tuesday. The billboards included the address of a romantic online photo album,CharlesPhillipsAndYaVaughnieWilkins.com, and a quote attributed to “C.E.P.:” “You are my soulmate forever!” Our readers quickly figured out that the man in the billboard was Oracle’s Charles Phillips, and we wondered if the co-president was emulating his attention-grubbing boss, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. But then came evidence of Phillips’ marriage to one Karen Phillips, who Charles Phillips called his wife in a 2006 interview and who appeared with him in the society pages recently. We wondered if Wilkins wasn’t out for revenge.
Ms. Wilkins also unveiled a website with post cards, photos–one of which is a man with painted toe nails and lingerie (might that be Mr. Phillips?)–and notes written on hotel stationary. The website has since been removed, but Gawker was kind enough to produce their own photo gallery of some especially touching touchy kodak moments.
In February 2009, Phillips was appointed as a member to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide President Barack Obama and his administration with advice and counsel regarding the economy.
This couldn’t get much worse for Mr. Phillips. Let’s just hope his wife doesn’t take to his head with a golf club…
Breaking: The billboard in Atlanta has been taken down. Perhaps none of this happened at all.
Jan
11
Moonlighting as NFL Cheerleader–New Trend?
Filed Under: Something Else, The Profession • Leave a Comment
Last week in a story about the dearth of marriageable black men we brought you Nicole Marchand, a Prosecutor by day and Atlanta Falcons cheerleader by night (and weekends). We had assumed this was an anomaly; however, our friends over at Above The Law has found another one.
From ATL:
An ATL reader alerted us that Raven Akram, an attorney at Sandberg Phoenix, moonlights as an NFL cheerleader for the St. Louis Rams. Sandberg Phoenix is a 65-attorney trial firm with “seriously unbelievable client service.” Akram joined the firm’s St. Louis office in 2008.
Jan
11
Percentage of Black Law Students Drops
Filed Under: Law School News • Leave a Comment
With high law school debt and low attorney employment we are left to ponder whether the decrease in African American enrollment is indeed a bad thing. According to The American Lawyer, a study by Columbia Law School’s Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic noted the following:
Over the relevant 15-year period, the study — conducted in conjunction with the Society of American Law Teachers, found that the total number of African-Americans and Mexican-Americans entering law school dropped from 4,142 in 1993 to 4,060 in 2008. Combined with the increase in overall law school capacity (from 43,520 to 46,500), that translated into a 7.5 percent and 11.7 percent decrease of African-American and Mexican-American first-year law students, respectively.
“It’s like imagining Carnegie Hall, which seats almost 3,000 people, filled to capacity but no Mexican-Americans or African-Americans allowed in,” says Conrad Johnson, the Columbia professor who oversees the clinic, regarding the additional spots created over the past 15 years. “For many African-American and Mexican-American students, law school is an elusive goal.”
How elusive? Between 2003 and 2008, 61 percent of African-American and 46 Mexican-American applicants were rejected by every law school to which they applied, according to Law School Admissions Council data reviewed by the clinic’s researchers. The “shut-out” rate for white applicants was 34 percent.
Jan
4
Howard Law Grad, Kasim Reed, Takes Helm As Mayor of Atlanta
Filed Under: Politics, Something Else, The Profession • Leave a Comment
Watch Kasim Reed take the oath of office as Mayor of Atlanta.
According to his campaign:
Mayor-Elect Kasim Reed was raised in the Cascade community. He was educated in Fulton County’s public schools where he graduated from Utoy Springs Elementary School and Westwood High School (now Westlake High School) and went to Howard University, where he received his undergraduate and law degrees.
Though Mayor-Elect Reed was the youngest Democratic State Senator, he had a well-established track record of legislative excellence. He was first elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1998 as State Representative for District 52. He was re-elected in 2000, winning seventy-seven percent (77%) of all votes cast. In the House, Mayor-Elect Reed served two terms as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Education Committee and Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee.
Mayor-Elect Kasim Reed served as campaign manager for Mayor Shirley Franklin’s first and second campaigns. Following her election in November 2001, Mayor Franklin selected him to serve as one of two Co-Chairs for the Shirley Franklin Transition Team.
Mayor-Elect Reed’s civic leadership and service has been nationally recognized in publications such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Ebony and Black Enterprise. He was selected as one of Georgia Trend magazine’s “40 under 40 Rising Stars” in 2001, as one of the Fulton County Daily Report ’s “Lawyers on the Rise” and as one of “10 Outstanding Atlantans” in Outstanding Atlanta. Mayor-Elect Reed is a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 2000 and is a Board Member of the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund.
Mayor-Elect Kasim Reed is a member of Cascade United Methodist Church, pastored by Reverend Marvin Moss.
Jan
4
Today Philadelphia gets its first ever African American District Attorney. From Philly 57:
A longtime assistant prosecutor has easily been elected Philadelphia’s first black district attorney.
Forty-two-year-old Seth Williams will be the city’s first new DA in nearly 20 years.
He will succeed longtime incumbent Lynne Abraham, who did not seek another term. She has served in the post since 1991.
In the May primary, Williams defeated four other Democrats to earn his party’s nomination. The little-known Untermeyer was unopposed.
According to his campaign:
Seth Williams grew up in a hard-working West Philadelphia neighborhood, the only child of Imelda Williams and the late Rufus O. Williams.
After graduating from Central High School in 1985, Seth attended Penn State University where he served as President of the Black Caucus and later as President of the Undergraduate Student Government, representing all 57,000 undergraduate students.
From Penn State, Seth was on to law school at Georgetown University, where he graduated with distinction as a Public Interest Law Scholar in 1992.
After graduation Seth’s dedication to public service brought him home to Philadelphia, where he joined the District Attorney’s Office.
In the ten years he served as an Assistant District Attorney, Seth was repeatedly promoted, including his appointment as the Assistant Chief of the Municipal Court, where he supervised the 30 newest prosecutors. He also created and led the Repeat Offenders Unit with the goal of reducing the high percentage of crimes committed by repeat offenders. His extensive trial experience includes 37 jury trials, more than 1,500 bench trials and more than 2,500 felony preliminary hearings.
In 2005, Seth challenged Lynn Abraham, Philadelphia’s longtime incumbent District Attorney, in the Democratic primary. While not victorious on Election Day, Seth won 46 percent of the vote and received endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5, the Transit Workers Union Local 234, District Council #47, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Tribune, thePhiladelphia Sunday Sun and the Westside Weekly.
Dec
31
All the Single Lawyers
Filed Under: A Day In The Life Of... • 4 Comments
Nicole Marchand is a beautiful 31 year old attorney, who is surrounded by black men–during the week she prosecutes them and on Sundays she roots for them as an Atlanta Falcons cheerleader. Still this aspiring judge does not have a husband. Will the madness? Steve Harvey says not until black women start dating older men like him…
Dec
20
Chicago Law Student Considers Congressional Run
Filed Under: Congressional Black Caucus, Politics, The Profession • Leave a Comment
The soon to be 25 yr. old William Godwin has formed an exploratory committee to weigh a run for the 8th District of Mississippi. The former Hill staffer attended Georgetown University and the London School of Economics. Here’s a head-scratcher–he’s worked for both Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Democratic Illinois U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
From the Jackson Sun:
Godwin said his bipartisan background has shaped his appreciation of Tanner, saying that he admires the founding member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition of congressional Democrats for often “trying to find a middle way.”
Godwin touted his knowledge of international issues. The statement announcing his interest in the 8th District seat says he once addressed aconference about the civil rights of Catholics in Northern Ireland and was an official state guest of the United Arab Emirates in 2007.
But don’t get any fancy ideas about his background:
“I’m not privileged. I’m not from a political background.” Godwin said. “… I have a knowledge and an understanding of the big domestic problems, especially the issues of education and health care that are challenging our country in big ways.”
Dec
15
Following Settlement Conference, Former Clifford Chance Associate Drops Race Discrimination Lawsuit
Filed Under: Stand Up! • Leave a Comment
In March 2008, New York attorney, Caroline Memnon, filed a discrimination lawsuit against Clifford Chance and Sullivan & Worcester LLP. She sued Clifford Chance for blacklisting her after she agreed to leave in 2002 and failing to give her a contracted-for letter of recommendation. According to her complaint, Big Law refused to employ her for nearly six years despite graduating at the top of her class at Columbia Law School, working for two years in one of the largest corporate shops in the world, and speaking four languages. In the same suit, she sued S&W for acquiescing to Clifford Chance’s blacklisting by firing her after only six weeks of employment. Like other discrimination victims, she and her claims were mocked in comments on Above The Law and The WSJ Blog, but she was not deterred. Is it possible that she has now been vindicated––albeit, confidentially?
From Employment Law 360 (Subscription Required):
In a concise order filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Harold Baer asked the clerk to remove the case from the court’s docket, announcing that plaintiff Caroline Memnon and S&W had agreed to a dismissal of all claims.
Charges against Clifford Chance US LLP, the other named defendant in the suit, are also no longer pending.
While counsel—Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Proskauer Rose LLP and Doman Davis LLP represented S&W, Clifford Chance and Memnon respectively—remain mum, according to Law360, after the court rejected some of the law firms’ summary-judgment arguments, a settlement conference was scheduled for November 25th. Days after that conference and only three weeks before trial, Memnon voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit. Hmmm…wonder if she’ll be joining Colin Powell and Aaron Charney at 220 West 93.
Full disclosure: Latif Doman is also representing OBABL founder, Yolanda Young, in her discrimination lawsuit against Covington & Burling LLP. His firm has developed a niche practice of advising and representing attorneys on their rights with regard to employment at large law firms.
