ABA midyear meeting. Leading the Way

• Author: Amanda Robert
• Pages: 65-66

ABA MIDYEAR MEETING

Leading

the Way

Spirit of Excellence honorees

are recognized for ‘grit

and determination’

BY AMANDA ROBERT

The motto of the ABA Spirit of

Excellence Awards is “ad astra

per aspera,” or “to the stars

through dif culty.”

The awards symbolize the determi-

nation of racially and ethnically diverse

lawyers who have not only navigated

their own path to success but paved

the way for those who follow them.

This year, the Commission on Racial

and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession

will recognize two state supreme court

justices and three lawyers for their

contributions at the 2022 ABA Midyear

Meeting in Seattle, which will be held

from Feb. 9-14 .

“These awardees have blazed trails

and have encouraged and supported

others to succeed,” Michelle Behnke, the

chair of the commission , said when they

were announced in September. “Most

importantly, these awardees highlight

for the world that diversity, equity and

inclusion is not mutually exclusive to

excellence, grit and determination.”

Ahead of the Feb. 12 awards ceremo-

ny , we asked recipients to re ect on the

importance of the Spirit of Excellence

Awards and promoting a more racially

and ethnically diverse legal profession.

Gabriel S. Galanda is an Indigenous

rights attorney

and the man-

aging lawyer

at Galanda

Broadman in

Seattle . He is a

descendant of

the Nomlaki

and Concow

tribes and

belongs to the

Round Valley Indian Tribes of Califor-

nia . He graduated from the University

of Arizona James E. Rogers College

of Law and focuses his practice on

complex litigation and crisis manage-

ment for Indigenous nations, businesses

and citizens. He is a recognized leader

in the  eld of federal Indian and tribal

law, speaking and writing often about

tribal litigation sovereignty and Indian

civil rights issues.

“Without Indigenous representa-

tion in the law, there will never be a

guarantee to Indigenous citizens or

residents of this country that they will

be afforded the human rights protec-

tion that everyone else in this country

enjoys. So unless there are Indigenous

advocates, there will not be Indigenous

human rights.”

Steven C. González was sworn in as

chief justice of

the Washington

Supreme Court

in January

2021. He was

appointed to

the court in

2012 and won

contested races

for six-year

terms starting

in 2013 and

2019 before

being elected by his peers to his current

four-year term as chief. He served as a

trial judge on the King County Superior

Court for 10 years and was previously

an assistant U.S. attorney in the West-

ern District of Washington, a domestic

violence prosecutor for the city of Seat-

tle and in private practice. He graduat-

ed from the University of California at

Berkeley School of Law .

“Science tells us that heterogeneous

groups are better decision-makers than

homogenous groups. So if we know

it’s something better, I think we should

strive to achieve it. Second, the justice

system only works if people have faith

that the system is fair and inclusive. If

we’re monochromatic in our approach,

it’s going to be hard to engender that

con dence and faith that the system is

just. We want people to resolve their

disputes peacefully under the rule

of law in court rather than extra-

judicially.”

Kay H. Hodge is an equity partner

at Stoneman,

Chandler

& Miller in

Boston, where

she represents

public and

private sector

management in

labor, employ-

ment and em-

ployee relations

matters. The

Boston Univer-

sity School of Law alumna is a member

of the ABA House of Delegates and

previously served on the Board of Gov-

ernors. She also served as chair of the

Commission on Racial and Ethnic Di-

versity in the Profession and the Section

of Civil Rights and Social Justice. She

is a past president of both the National

Conference of Bar Presidents and the

Massachusetts Bar Association .

“Because lawyers are gatekeepers

for justice, it is essential that we have

more persons of color in our justice

system. Young people of color must see

themselves in all the various roles in

the justice system. I’m so excited about

the idea that maybe we’ll have univer-

sal pre-K because I have come to the

conclusion that it is all about oppor-

tunity. Young children of color need to

have the same opportunities that whites

and others with more resources have ...

because the work of lawyers depends

in large part upon language and other

skills gained in early childhood.”

Carlos E. Moore is the managing

partner of

the Cochran

Firm—Mis-

sissippi Delta

in Grenada,

Mississippi.

The Florida

State University

College of Law

graduate was

appointed as

the  rst Black

ABA Insider | ABA MIDYEAR MEETING

Photos courtesy of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession

ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022

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