SpeakersSophie Alcorn
Alcorn Immigration Law
Amanda Conley
Brand & Branch
Valerie Fenchel
Fenchel Family Law
Valerie Kushel
VGK Law
ModeratorLindsey Mignano
Smith Shapourian Mignano
With Covid-19, #BLM and #metoo, the world is no longer the same and the legal industry will no longer operate in the business-as-usual ways that have promoted gender and racial disparity in the past.
It is no surprise that male lawyers out-earn their female counterparts. However, it is important to recognize disparities amongst women lawyers. According to the ABA’s 2020 Report, Left Out and Left Behind, while Asian and white women lawyers make 85 and 77 percent of what their white male counterparts earn, the statistics are even worse for Black and Latina women lawyers. Black and Latina female lawyers earn 61 and 53 percent of what their white male counterparts earn. Feminism must recognize intersectionality, and white and Asian women must be cognizant regarding issues of race in order to achieve a more equitable legal industry for women as a whole.
How can we learn to better support our female colleagues, especially Black and Latina female attorneys? How can we study and practice true allyship to sustain healthy work environments that celebrate, respect and value Black and Latina female attorneys’ ability to take control of their future, enjoy freedom, gain business autonomy, improve their mental health, and make (more) money by starting their own law firms? And for those colleagues who are committed to their success in their existing firms, how may we maintain allyship as our Black and Latina female lawyer friends ascend to positions of power in their existing law firms?
Join us for this exciting roundtable discussion where we will discuss these topics and more in an informal setting. This panel is comprised of white women attorneys with an Asian American female moderator.
Topics- Why recognizing racial disparity in law and pursuing meaningful allyship is so important in 2021;
- How these women-founded law firms are leading the way in allyship so as to support other women, minorities, and/or intersectional individuals in the ownership of law firms and, more broadly, in the practice of law.; and
- What has worked versus not worked in terms of diversity and inclusion efforts, and what needs to change in order to achieve more racial and gender parity in law.