In This Issue:

• 2010 NAWJ Midyear Meeting and Leadership Conference, March 11-14th
• NAWJ Continues Push on NALP for Transparency in Equity Partner Data
• Call for Comments on The Next Steps, ABA Reports on Diversity in the Legal Profession
• NAWJ at the ABA's 4th Women in Law and Leadership Academy, April 29-30th
• LexisNexis Funds Expansion of Color of Justice Program
• San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate, NAWJ's 32nd Annual Conference
• Counterbalance Submissions Due by July 15, 2010

Judicial Spectacular at the NAWJ 2010 Midyear in Washington, D.C.

The bar has moved yet higher for NAWJ Conferences with this year's 2010 National Association of Women Judges Midyear Meeting and Leadership Conference held March 11-14th in Washington, D.C. thanks to the meticulous planning, program and support of NAWJ President Dana Fabe, Past Presidents Vanessa Ruiz and Noel Anketell Kramer, Finance Chair Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, and the deft fundraising of local barristers Conference Host Committee Chairs Deborah Israel, Nancy Long, and NAWJ Resource Board Co-Chair Elaine Metlin, whose care and execution made the near 400 attendees and participants' conference experiences memorable, valuable and historic. Click here to continue reading and to access links to video and photos.

NAWJ Continues to Push NALP for Transparency in Equity Partner Data, Citing Justice and Need for Diversity

In last month's NAWJ Monthly Update, we relayed that the Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) had decided to recall from its data questionnaire to law firms questions that would have provided information regarding the gender and minority breakdown of equity and non-equity partners in law firms. In 2008, then President Nan Duffly formed a Task Force that sought to collaborate with women lawyers in seeking to advance women in all aspects of the profession. Joining her as co-chairs were NAWJ member Hon. Nancy Gertner and NAWJ amicus members Julia Huston (Past President of the Massachusetts Women's Bar Association) and Elizabeth Munnell (Elizabeth Munnell Associates). One specific goal of the Task Force was to convince NALP that it should collect data that could ultimately help to advance women and minorities in the profession, by making that data available to law students deciding where to seek employment. The task force proposed to NALP that it seek data regarding the gender and minority breakdown of equity vs. non equity partners in law firms, using the same definition for equity partner as used by American Lawyer magazine to calculate its popular annual profit per partner rankings. NALP agreed to collect the data beginning in January, 2010. A few weeks later, in the face of some law firm protest, it recalled the questions related to those questions.

In a follow-up article in Massachusetts Lawyer's Weekly, 'Female Partners: What the Law Firms are Hiding' dated March 8, 2010, David Yas reported on NALP's explanation for the decision. According to NALP Executive Director, James G. Leipold: "Many employers indicated that they do not make information about equity and non-equity partners available on an office-by-office basis to any outside organization because of the risk of compromising the privacy and confidentiality of individual partners. Most of the complaining firms indicated that as a result of this change, they would not be completing their NALP forms this year." Mr. Leipold, responding to Nan Duffly's inquiry, said, "We are truly on the side of the women judges who want this data... We look forward to straightening this out."

NAWJ President, Dana Fabe and Past President Nan Duffly, joined by other individuals and organizations committed to diversity, and law schools and law firms across the country, are urging NALP to reconsider its position, and ask the questions so that the data is available for law students in the Fall. Click here to view text of letter to NALP.

The American Bar Association Releases Advance of The Next Steps, Report and Recommendations on Diversity in the Legal Profession

Last month the ABA released for comment a summary report and recommendations from its 2009 Study of the State of Diversity in the Legal Profession. ABA President Carolyn Lamm hopes the Report serves as a "functional roadmap for advancing diversity in the legal profession." The study examined race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disabilities focusing on Law Schools and the Academy, Law Firms and Corporate Law Departments, Government and the Judiciary, and Bar Associations. NAWJ member Judge Ellen F. Rosenblum chaired this Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity. Click here to reach website:

From the Report:
"Several racial and ethnic groups, sexual and gender minorities, and lawyers with disabilities continue to be vastly underrepresented in the legal profession. From a racial/ethnic perspective, Whites constitute about 70% of working people over age 16, yet they represent 89% of all lawyers and 90% of all judges, according to 2009 census data. Each year, the numbers of lawyers with disabilities and openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT) lawyers increase slightly, but their respective representation remains less than 1%. For example, in 2009 NALP (Directory of Legal Employers) reported that only about 47% of reporting law offices had even one openly LGBT lawyer, and most are clustered in just four large coastal cities. Most law offices do not collect data on disabilities, but the 18% that do report data (about 110,000 lawyers) identified only 255 lawyers with a disability."
Click here to read the full advance report.

Its recommendations for the Judiciary include:
In the area of Culture, Assessment and Accountability:

• Develop, implement, and evaluate initiatives to increase the number of judges from under-represented groups on the state and federal bench.
• Advocate transparency in the process of selecting judges, appointments, and influential government employees; and stress that a diverse and inclusive bench is required for institutional credibility.
• Modify the criteria and questions for judicial candidates to make them more inclusive (e.g., extend emphases beyond trial experience.)
• Advocate the adoption of rules requiring judges to engage in continuing legal education, such as two hours every two years on: pro se and indigent litigants; pro bono representation; and the impact of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and language on litigants and litigation.
• Seek out and regularly conduct trainings on the importance of diversity on the bench, as well as among judicial clerks and staff.
• Establish teams to assist judicial candidates from underrepresented groups with their applications, write letters of recommendation to the governor's judicial appointments secretary, and interact with the media.
• Ensure that judges from underrepresented groups get meaningful assignments and opportunities to advance.
• Address the political appointment processes from within to make diversity important to the players by appealing to self-interest as well as the greater good.
• Identify, and promote reforms of, state judicial systems that hinder diversity on the bench.
• Advocate public financing of judicial elections.
• Hire staff specifically to address access to justice and fairness in the courts, including pro se and indigent litigant representation, pro bono activities, racial, ethnic, and gender fairness, and matters of disability, and foreign language interpretation.

In the area of Hiring, Retention, and Advancement:

• Organize events discussing the value of diversity and inclusion for judicial and government offices, recognizing that this value may differ from that expressed by the "business case" for diversity in private practice.
• Partner with bar associations to host events in which judges and members of nominating commissions demystify the process of applying for judicial positions.
• Speak out on diversity within the profession by participating in minority bar association programs, community meetings, and law school events.
• Encourage the participation of lawyers from underrepresented groups in local and state bar associations' judiciary committees.
• Assist bar associations in hosting purely social events where diverse members can mingle informally with judges, thereby enhancing the lawyers' interest and confidence in becoming judges.
• Identify, mentor and coach potential candidates to the bench long before they are actually viable candidates; this may include assisting with applications and conducting mock interviews.
• Collaborate with diverse bar associations to identify candidates for judicial employment at all levels, and to assess and address matters involving recruitment, retention, and advancement.

Advice From the Bench

Thursday April 29, 2010
4:00 – 5:30PM
Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Pennsylvania

The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, together with the ABA Young Lawyers Division, will be holding its fourth Women in Law Leadership Academy ("WILL Academy") on April 29-30, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.
NAWJ Past President Fernande Duffly will moderate the panel "Advice from the Bench" from 4:00 - 5:30PM. A panel of prominent state and federal court judges will discuss the different communication styles of women and men, and include, among other things, a discussion of how women lawyers are perceived in the judicial system. They will provide practical tips and best practices for effective oral argument, opening and closing, examination of witnesses, and communication with the court, opposing counsel, and the jury. The goal of this program will be for attendees to enhance their litigation, negotiation, and appellate advocacy skills.

Program Speakers:
Moderator: Associate Justice Fernande "Nan" Duffly, Massachusetts Appeals Court
Judge Judith S. Kaye, Of Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas
Judge M. Margaret McKeown, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Judge Norma L. Shapiro, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

LexisNexis Funds Expansion of Color of Justice Program

The National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) announced that it has received funding from NAWJ supporter LexisNexis to expand presentation of its Color of Justice Program. The purpose of the program is to encourage girls and minority students in seventh through twelfth grades to consider the law and judgeships as career goals. Since its inception in 2001, the program has been presented in more that 25 states and received national recognition from bar groups, including the American Bar Association. The program focuses on career preparation, panel discussions with judges and lawyers sharing personal and professional insights, and small group discussions during informal luncheons. The program provides an environment where discussion and debate among participants can flourish. The goal is to expand the program to 17 additional states in 2010-2011.
"The Color of Justice program introduces a diverse audience of high school students to the opportunities provided by a legal career," said NAWJ President Dana Fabe, Justice on the Alaska Supreme Court. The Alaska Courts are presenters of the nation's most comprehensive Color of Justice Programs. "It is important that we develop and implement programs that inspire middle and secondary school students and encourage them to attend four-year colleges and universities, and, ultimately law school."
The Color of Justice program's national expansion will be guided by program creator NAWJ Past President Judge Brenda Stith Loftin, St. Louis, MO and NAWJ Vice President of Districts, Retired Judge Joan Churchill, Maryland. LexisNexis team members will join in program collaboration throughout the national expansion.

NAWJ 2010 Annual Conference
San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate
October 13-17, 2010
A Focus on Children, Family and the Elderly
Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Union Square

Keynote Speakers to include Gail Collins who joined The New York Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, and in 2001 became the first woman ever appointed editor of the Times's editorial page. In 2007, she stepped down and finished her book "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present," returning to The Times as a columnist in July 2007.
And, Richard North Patterson, a former trial lawyer, and author of 13 novels including bestsellers, "Conviction" and "Protect and Defend." Mr. Patterson served as the Securities and Exchange Commission's liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and is now on the boards of several Washington-based advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and reproductive rights.

Travel Planning
If you wish to make your travel arrangements now, the Conference begins October 13th with an Opening Reception at 6:00PM.
First Time Attendees' orientation meeting will begin at 2:00PM before the Opening Reception.
The Annual Awards Banquet will take place on October 16th at 7:30PM. Of course there is a Farwell Breakfast on Sunday morning if you wish to grab a bite before you depart.
Lodging
Rooms at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco have been guaranteed at the rate of $180.00 plus tax, single or double occupancy. For reservations call 1-800-233-1234 or hotel (415) 398-1234 and state that you are with the National Association of Women Judges or online at Hyatt.com. using the group code: "G-JUDC". Reservations must be made on or before September 22, 2010, to guarantee the conference rate (subject to availability).
Click to register online at www.nawj.org.

Summer Issue of Counterbalance

The next issue of Counterbalance will be published in August. If you are considering or planning a submission, please forward to VP of Publications Judge Amy Nechtem (amy.nechtem@jud.state.ma.us) or Lavinia Cousin (lcousin@nawj.org) at NAWJ by July 15, 2010 in order to meet our August delivery schedule.
Counterbalance is a wonderful tool that highlights the many interesting activities that NAWJ presents, sponsors and supports. Consider sharing articles, announcements, or events that have happened in your area with your fellow colleagues. For example, if you have female judges in your state who have been recently appointed, promoted or received an honor, let us know. As well, if you are reading something interesting your colleagues might enjoy too, pass it along.
NAWJ will also consider publishing an essay, address or article deemed of interest to fellow colleagues, and we are always open to considering voicing a subject you believe our audience would benefit from. NAWJ's mission is to promote the judicial role of protecting the rights of individuals under the rule of law through strong, committed, diverse judicial leadership; fairness and equality in the courts; and equal access to justice. We also have Administrative Judiciary, Domestic Violence, Fairness and Access, Judicial Selection, Military Courts and Women in Prison Committees, among others, working in more specific areas. Feel free to offer us an idea for publication on any area. Click here to read the Winter, 2010 issue.    

About NAWJ
The National Association of Women Judges is a non-profit organization which has for 27 years served as the nation's leading voice for jurists dedicated to preserving judicial independence; ensuring equal justice and access to the courts for women, minorities and other historically disfavored groups; providing judicial education on cutting-edge issues; and increasing the numbers and advancement of women judges at all levels to more accurately reflect their full participation in a democratic society.  For more information, visit www.nawj.org or call 202.393.0222.

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