Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy
for Legal Professional Associations
This week will be the first time in almost ten years that I have missed the Omaha Legal Professionals Associations Annual Boss Appreciation and Awards Banquet. As most of you know, I live in Tacoma now and am just finishing up my term as president of the state-level association, Nebraska Legal Professionals Association.
As I wrapped up my time with the association I felt it was important to suggest a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion policy be added to the association’s doctrines. OLPA members quickly worked to adopt the language. In this blog I would like to share with you the letter I shared with the association.
Thanks Again, Women League of Voters
I borrowed most of the language for the policy from the Women League of Voters policy. I reviewed many policies and theirs was not only well-written it seemed to truly work to dismantle the structural nuances that can keep us all from having the same opportunities.
For absolute clarity, the policy listed is similar to the initial policy I put forth, but is actually the final version that was ultimately adopted by the Omaha Legal Professionals Association.
I have additionally added the headlines in the text because that’s what bloggers do. 🙂
We Get To Write the Rules
Dear Fellow NLPA & OLPA Members:
Please allow this to formally explain the importance of adding specific language that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion to our legal professional association’s doctrines and possibly establishing our own Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy.
I am sending this information to those in attendance of either the recent NLPA or OLPA board meeting where I addressed this issue. Please feel free to forward this on to other members as you see appropriate.
This information is not a motion. I am bringing it forward because I feel that most of the members already lead with respect and tolerance, and value diverse life experiences and heritages while ensuring that all voices are valued and heard. This type of language incorporated in our rules will hold the entire membership accountable, set an example for other legal organizations and entities and let potential members know that we are committed to making a positive difference in the legal field.
Our Mission Has Always Included Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our association’s mission is to establish good fellowship among our members and all persons employed in and/or interested in work of a legal nature so that ideas may be exchanged and knowledge increased; to establish a high order of business and ethical attainment and to further our knowledge of the law and uphold its honor and dignity; and to create a high standard of ethics among our members.
Adding language that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion to our doctrines is conducive with each bullet point of our mission. The legal field is a field that has struggled with implementing these three words into its folds. This can largely be attributed to the fact that this type of language and its effectiveness can be perceived as new, unchartered territory and the legal field is largely compelled by precedence and “how we have always done things.”
Law & Equity
However, considering that this language promotes good fellowship by creating a welcoming environment and equity is not just warm, social justice fodder – it’s also an actual legal remedy – incorporating these words in our doctrines would be natural.
More than natural, incorporating these words into our doctrines would be making an active step to ensure we continue to conduct ourselves in a way that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion among our membership. It would create an extra measure of accountability throughout our usual course of business, such as when we are planning our educational opportunities and membership drives. And when we are creating new requirements for membership.
Having a diverse membership allows our membership to better serve the real world. Our world is becoming more diverse everyday – even in Nebraska. As legal professionals we are public servants and our membership should represent the communities we serve. Diversity creates an equitable and inclusive environment.
We Must Make A Conscious Effort To Be Diverse
For a long time I thought that ignorance/hate led to racist ideas, which lead to discrimination. But actually, discrimination gives a breeding ground for racist ideas which encourage ignorance and hate. When we are segregated, unless we make a conscious point not to – discrimination is bound to happen. None of us can escape our own implicit and explicit bias. But the association can by embedding language to the contrary in our laws.
We are responsible for paving the way. Our association has historically been female led and majority female. Considering females comprise 30% of the legal field – and we all know we dominate the support staff portion of the legal field – we are minorities in this field. Nonetheless, our addition to the legal field since the ‘60s has dramatically improved and advanced the field and its service.
Inclusivity – This Is What We Do
Merely being minorities in the field is not the only reason we are responsible for advancing the field in matters of social justice. Professional associations have long been the authority on establishing specific criteria for a standard of ethics and professionalism in their respective fields. Yet I feel that the most compelling reason that we are responsible for leading the initiative on diversity and inclusion is because our founding mothers specifically designed this organization to be inclusive. There is already a long, expansive list of legal professional roles that are not only welcome to join but encouraged to by reference.
Including these principles in our doctrines is consistent with the guiding principles of contingency theory. “Contingency theory argues that the most successful organizations develop capacity allowing them to respond to different contingencies in their strategic environment by aligning their internal structures with the challenges and realties of their strategic landscape.” (Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967)
“An important feature of the contingency theory is that it does not prescribe any one best way to configure an organization, emphasizing instead the various possibilities that emerge when design is approached holistically and in response to a specific context. Hence, the optimal course of action depends on a combination of internal and external factors that must align with the big-picture strategy of the institution.” (The Chief Diversity Officer 2013)
Our association is governed by our bylaws and standing rules. Our “big-picture” is our mission statement, and I interpret our mission statement to already include diversity, equity and inclusion. I feel the most effective way to utilize these three words specifically would be to implement our own Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy into our bylaws.
More Rules?
These principles certainly make a great foundation for model rules of professional conduct. However, considering we all serve such diverse roles within the legal profession, including paralegals, an attorney and other roles that are already governed by more specific model rules of professional conduct, it seems duplicative and unnecessary to create our own professional conduct rules.
I bring this up because I did note that the ABA adopted paragraph G of their rules in an attempt to enforce a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
(g) engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of law. This paragraph does not limit the ability of a lawyer to accept, decline or withdraw from a representation in accordance with Rule 1.16. This paragraph does not preclude legitimate advice or advocacy consistent with these Rules.
I don’t feel that this language translates well to our association. Instead I would offer the following language to be incorporated in our bylaws as our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy.
Legal Professionals Association Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy
[Powerful legal professional Sherry Mitchell, PLS did an excellent job proofing the following policy. She made some edits improving the policy and was the member to motion the board to include the policy. The following text is the actual language that Sherry put forth and that the Omaha Legal Professionals Association ultimately unanimously adopted by the board.]
Omaha Legal Professionals Association acknowledges a diverse, inclusive, and equitable association is one where all members and guests, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and providing equal access to our legal educational opportunities for all and participation in our committees and executive board. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
We’re committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the entire legal field, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, OLPA strives to:
See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our members and the legal communities we serve.
Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organization progress.
Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our association’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader in our association, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.
Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.
Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, membership and committees.
Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all members to embrace this notion and to express it in their interactions and through everyday practices.
OLPA abides by the following action items to help promote diversity, equity and inclusion in our association:
Pursue cultural competency throughout our association by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts.
Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of American society.
Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other legal organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.
Implement education on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally, and to members, our communities, and the legal community.
Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the membership, nomination and election processes.
Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression and disparity.
[End of policy.]
Let’s Formalize Our DEI Efforts
This type of policy is basic and similar to the recently implemented policy by the League of Women Voters. Almost all the best higher education institutes have not only implemented these types of policies but created executive-level positions alongside their other most important roles such as the dean and president. Harvard has led the way on these initiatives.
Finally I would just like to say again that this policy is not contrary to what I have seen numerous members do time and time again. At last night’s OLPA meeting Donna Olson reported that she had put in a considerable amount of extra time in her work as Law Day/Bar Liaison to ensure that children from all schools were being given the chance to participate in the 8th Grade Essay Contest because the winners have been coming from the same schools. Then she went on to report that she had asked Hon. Stephanie I. Martinez to be one of our judges, who is as far as I know, the only Latinx judge in Nebraska. Her choice for judgeship was supported by Jean Roeder. This is a clear commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Later on, when Donna Birkby gave the Scholarship report, she too reported an extra effort being done by the committee to make sure all of the schools had a chance to participate. These are just two quick examples.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your president and for giving me the respect to be heard on such an important, although sometimes difficult to address matter.
About the Author
Valentina Zapata Harris
Mother | Advocate | Blogger
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