Diversity - continuing challenges.

• Author: Bookman, Alan B.
• Position: Florida - President's Page

When former U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Joseph Hatchett first came to Florida in 1959, there were fewer than two dozen black lawyers forced to practice law in segregated courtrooms.

When former Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw took the bar exam in 1960 at a Miami hotel, he was not allowed to eat lunch with the other white students.

We've heard these historical anecdotes before, and we shake our heads at Florida's shameful past mired in the Deep South. But our laws and societal attitudes have corrected those past injustices. We've fixed the problem in the legal profession. Time to move on, right?

No. It's almost 2006, and we're not there yet.

Not when you consider that the best statistics gathered by your (see, I am using "your" again) Florida Bar show that our profession, right now, is still 86 percent white and 69 percent male. Only 4 percent of Florida's lawyers are African American, and 8 percent are Hispanic.

Yet we represent clients in a state that is so much more diverse, with 65.4 percent whites, 14.6 percent African Americans, 16.8 percent Hispanics, and nearly half-and-half male and female (with 51.2 percent males).

We have to do better to nurture a legal profession that reflects the communities we serve. The bottom line is that it is simply the right thing to do as members of a profession that values equal justice under law. If you need a reason beyond that, it's the right thing to do for your bottom line.

Diversity directly affects your profit margin. If you cannot speak potential clients' language and understand their culture, you miss out on those clients. More and more, clients are not only looking at statistics, but at the staff handling their legal matters. A diverse workforce gives you access to information, varied perspectives and business opportunities. It's just good business.

We now find ourselves in a new time tackling an old problem. As articulated in the 2004 final report of the Bar's Diversity in the Legal Profession Symposium: "Diversity is the inclusion of differences that include gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and physical and mental disabilities." That symposium set the goal of a Florida legal profession that will accurately reflect the makeup of society within 10 years.

So, what can The Florida Bar do to increase diversity in the profession?

We have been grappling with that question...