Trial Magazine

When Canadian Prime ­Minister Justin Trudeau was asked in 2015 why it was important to have a ­gender-balanced cabinet, he replied, “Because it’s 2015.” While our neighbor to the north had a ­gender-balanced cabinet two years ago, women and nonwhite males will hold only six of the 24 cabinet or cabinet-level positions in President Trump’s administration, if all nominees are confirmed. The diversity of the American population must translate into the workplace. And it all starts at the top.

AAJ’s own “because it’s time” moment came several years ago when AAJ’s Diversity Committee was established. It was charged with improving, developing, and ensuring diversity in AAJ to enhance and grow the trial lawyer community. These conversations and actions were a necessary step for our organization so that it would better reflect the diversity of the American people and the clients we serve.

Since its establishment, the Diversity Committee has worked to increase the diversity of the plaintiff bar and AAJ’s membership, leadership and governance, staff, authors, and education faculty. In 2013, the committee introduced a new initiative—the Leadership Academy. The program trains members who are interested in developing their leadership roles within AAJ and gives them skills to be effective leaders in their firms and communities. In this month’s issue of Trial, Erin Nowell, a Leadership Academy alum, explains how the program changed her viewpoints and made her a stronger advocate (p. 38).

Last year at our Annual Convention in Los Angeles, I was proud to oversee the vote to amend AAJ’s bylaws establishing the LGBT Caucus. The caucus was created to provide a safe, open environment for its members and their allies. You can hear from LGBT Chair Laura Yaeger about how the caucus went from idea to reality on p. 47.

LGBT Caucus members joined forces with members of the Minority Caucus and Women Trial Lawyers Caucus to plan an AAJ Education seminar, Diversity in the Law, held last November. I attended the seminar and was awed by participants’ energy and engagement. I believe that education concerning diversity in the law will continue to be sought out by members of the bar who want to encourage diversity in the workplace. In this issue, read about increasing diversity in the workplace on p. 28, p. 32, and p. 36.

Another step forward on the path to parity was AAJ Board of Governor’s unanimous adoption of the “Diversity in Trial Court Appointments” resolution, which urges federal and state trial courts to “be mindful of the importance of diversity and . . . make appointments that are consistent with the diversity of our society and the justice system” in appointing lawyers to positions such as lead counsel for plaintiff classes.

This is important to AAJ members. Leadership roles in litigation will not be diverse—in gender, race, or firm size, for example—until more courts take steps to change the status quo. Several legal associations across the country have adopted this resolution, and the American Civil Trial Bar Roundtable is also considering it. This month, Elizabeth Cabraser gives insight on this topic and shares five ways to increase leadership diversity in the courtroom (p. 40).

Regardless of our backgrounds, the civil justice system plays a fundamental role in safeguarding the rights of all Americans, which are under attack. You can help AAJ fight back by participating in the voluntary membership assessment, which is funding an aggressive digital communications, messaging, and advocacy plan to reach the public and legislators to tell the story of what we and the civil justice system do to protect the rights of all Americans. Please visit www.justice.org/fightback for more information and to contribute.

Julie Braman Kane is a partner at Colson Hicks Eidson in Coral Gables, Fla. She can be reached at julie.kane@justice.org.