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OBABL Links & Resources
2009 July
Jul
27
Eastman Kodak will pay between $1,000 and $75,000 to over 3000 current and former employees. What’s left of the $21.4 million dollar settlement will be shared among attorneys.
From WaPo via AP:
The settlement comes a decade after Kodak paid $10 million in back wages and granted $3 million in annual raises to correct disparities in pay and promotions for black and female workers in some departments dating to 1996.
Plaintiffs in the 2004 lawsuit charged that the 1999 program did nothing to correct Kodak’s discriminatory practices and accused the company of maintaining “a work environment that is hostile to its African American employees.”
Plaintiffs said that in addition to being passed over for promotions, they were subject to racist comments from co-workers and supervisors and graffiti on bathroom walls, lockers and delivery trucks.
Jul
25
A study by Catalyst, a nonprofit committed to expanding business opportunities for women, has found that 75% of women of color leave their law firms within five years. The report, Women of Color in U.S. Law Firms, emphasizes that the potential cost of replacing an attorney is equal to her total salary and benefits. Catalyst seems to think pointing this out to firms will incentivize management to be more inclusive. Historically, we haven’t seen evidence that firms care about saving money or increasing diversity, but times they are a changin’.
After comparing the experiences of minority women with those of men of color and white women and men, the report found the following were unique challenges for women of color:
- A greater sense of “outsider status” and limited growth opportunities.
- Racial and gender stereotyping and more feelings of sexism in the workplace compared to white women.
- Lack of access to high-profile client assignments and important client engagements.
- Missed opportunities for candid feedback.
But wait, there’s more. The report also found further fragmentation among different racial groups.
For example, black women compared to Asian women and Latinas were more likely to believe diversity programs fail to address workplace biases, feel that partners, as well as other supervising attorneys, receive insufficient training on how to work effectively with diverse cultures, and cite a lack of access to challenging work assignments on client engagements.
The report recommends the following to attract and retain women of color employees:
- Include senior leaders as active players in building and establishing inclusive workplaces.
- Raise awareness of intersectionality and the varying needs of differing minority groups.
- Create opportunities for dialogue between firm leadership and women of color attorneys.
- Educate all attorneys, especially partners and other supervising attorneys, on how to recognize bias and stereotyping of women of color in the workplace.
- Monitor and track the career development of women of color and hold leaders accountable for their advancement.
If after reading the full report, you need further convincing give the depressing accompanying graphics a gander.
Jul
24
Ketanji Brown Jackson graduated magna cum laude and cum laude from Harvard and HLS where she was an editor on the Harvard Law Review. She then clercked for three federal judges not the least of which was Justice Stephen G. Breyer. (Wonder what she did with that big bonus firms like to lavish SCOTUS clerks…) Before joining Morrison Foerster, Ms. Jackson was an an Assistant Federal Public Defender. After all that, the only thing left for a girl to do is join the Obama Posse. From TheBLT:
President Barack Obama has nominated Ketanji Jackson, of counsel to the D.C. office of Morrison & Foerster, to fill a spot on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Jackson, 38, would be one of seven voting members of the commission, which overseas the sentencing guidelines used by federal judges and advises Congress on criminal law. The position is part-time, requires confirmation by the Senate, and would end in October 2013.
Jul
14
Professor Verna Williams of Cincinnati College of Law has been close friends with First Lady Michelle Obama since their days at Harvard Law. Ms. Williams partnered with Mrs. Obama in Moot Court, supported the Obamas’ courtship and marriage and championed Mrs. Obama’s role during her husband’s presidential run. Now the former DOJ attorney and Sidley Austin associate weighs in on The First (Black) Lady’s role in the White House. Ms. Williams’ law review article has been described thusly:
This essay examines the discourse about Michelle Obama during the presidential campaign against the backdrop of the social meaning of the First Lady. This position — unelected and lacking any Constitutionally-defined job description – nonetheless is a national institution of great significance, largely because it personifies domesticity and traditional femininity.
The essay argues that, as traditionally understood, the role of First Lady supports privileged white femininity. It also argues that the gender and racial norms contributing to the traditional notion of First Lady exemplify the intertwined nature of racism and sexism, and particularly how they have been used to justify Black subordination. In this regard, the essay discusses how African Americans have embraced gender conformance as a way of attaining acceptance and status within the existing social order, specifically through the “Black lady” trope, applied to Michelle Obama in response to the hostility she confronted in the media. Finally, the essay proposes ways in which Mrs. Obama’s First Ladyship has transformative potential.
Read the full law review article here.
Jul
5
Politicians Need Lawyers Too
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D.C. Mayor For Life Councilmember, Marion Barry was arrested for stalking. Between his felony drug trial and tax evasion issues, Barry has done his part to keep attorneys working. It seems though, the 73 year old politician is finally losing steam. This latest charge of stalking is only a misdemeanor. WaPo
At about 8:45 p.m., a woman traveling near the intersection Good Hope Road and Anacostia Drive flagged down a U.S. Park Police officer to report that a man in a vehicle nearby was stalking her, said Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman. That man, Schlosser said, was Barry.
The officer interviewed the woman and Barry, then arrested Barry and took him to the Park Police’s Anacostia Station, Schlosser said. There a detective interviewed Barry again, and police charged him with a misdemeanor count of stalking. Barry was released and ordered to appear in court, likely sometime later this week, Schlosser said.
The bar-brawling, shrek-calling, Detroit Councilmember, Monica Conyers has pleaded guilty to accepting brides. The wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers could get up to 60 months in prison. FREEP
The only agreement is that Judge Avern Cohn is limited to giving Conyers a maximum of 60 months. Federal sentencing guidelines are complicated, but in the end, Cohn can do what he wants. Cohn is undisputedly a liberal Democrat, whose sentencing tends to be light, according to the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, which is based on lawyers’ comments and other data. Cohn has not yet handed down any sentences in the Synagro case. Observers say they think she’ll get at least a couple of years.
Jul
2
Elie Mystal Makes Anti-Affirmative Action Arguments Crumble
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Elie Mystal has some harsh logical things to say to those who wring their hands over Affirmative Action. Read the full article and the comments over at TrueSlant:
Most people can wrap their minds around the first concept. Trust me, I’d rather have had a family that was allowed to own property, vote in elections, build wealth, not get lynched, and rise or fall on their merits for the past four centuries than whatever piddling, token opportunity somebody thinks they are giving me thanks to affirmative action. There is nothing that can be done to “make up” for centuries of oppression, just like there is nothing that can make up for the systematic extermination of millions of Jews, the forced removal of Native Americans from their land, or the final season of Battlestar Galactica. All we can do is to move on and try to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Affirmative action doesn’t redress the wrongs of squat.
As for his spot at Harvard, here’s what he has to say:
There were three people from my high school that got into Harvard. One (white girl) had excellent grades and scores and was one of the best athletes in our school. Another (white guy) had excellent grades and scores and was an amazing pianist. I was the third one. I had excellent grades and scores and had the “I’m involved in 15 different clubs and organizations because I have no life,” douchebag resume. Did being black help my application?
I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. Because what I do know is that I didn’t “take” a spot that should have gone to a “more deserving white man.” Harvard, like most institutions, starts with a list of what it deems to be “qualified” candidates and then has to pare that list down. Anybody who has ever hired somebody for a job knows that you generally deal with a number of people that could complete the assigned task, from there you have to make a decision based on arbitrary factors and nonobjective criteria like “fit” or “feel.”
