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The
Arkansas Bar Commission on Diversity was created under
the leadership of Arkansas Bar President Ron Harrison
in the 2000-01 bar year. Initially, the Commission
was chaired by President Harrison and the Honorable
Henry L. Jones. The purpose of the Commission is to
educate concerning the value of diversity, and to
promote ethnic diversity in the Bar, the Courts, and
the Arkansas Bar Association. It has sponsored programs
at the Association's annual meetings and at the mid-year
meetings. It organized a seminar concerning diversity
in the legal profession, and hosted a job fair to
promote diverse employment.
In its deliberations,
the Commission determined that diversity in the legal
profession could more certainly be achieved if there
were mechanisms for identification and recruitment
beyond the placement offices of the law schools and
that would utilize the organized bar. The structure
that was developed is a registry or database to be
maintained by the Arkansas Bar Association. The registry
will be created and administered under a joint venture
agreement between the Arkansas Bar Commission on Diversity
and the W. Harold Flowers Law Society. The cost of
creating this resource has been funded by a grant
from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. The grant
is being administered by the Arkansas Bar Foundation.
In addition to funding
the registry, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
grant is also funding a survey, presently being conducted
by the Institute of Government on the UALR campus.
This survey was suggested by the staff of the Winthrop
Rockefeller Foundation to identify lawyers of color
presently practicing in the state. This information
had never been compiled, and the hope is that this
resource will enhance the effectiveness of the registry
and provide an information baseline to compare our
progress in promoting diversity.
A key element of this
project is the mobilization of the membership of the
W. Harold Flowers Law Society and the Arkansas Bar
Association to promote employment opportunities for
lawyers of color. The Flowers Law Society will take
the lead in promoting participation by recruits; members
of the Commission and the Association will be asked
to promote participation by employers. These efforts
will take the form of direct solicitation and outreach
through bar associations around the state.
Among the subsidiary
concerns of the registry is the education of potential
employers concerning predictors of professional success
other than simply law school grades. The registry
will also attempt to identify employment opportunities
for lawyers of color in the less urban portions of
the state and seek to provide opportunities to improve
the employment situation for lawyers of color who
may be underemployed.
This resource is now
available and can be accessed at the Arkansas Bar
Association Web site (www.arkbar.com).
Select the link to the Diversity Registry. There you
will find a form for employer registration and another
form for an attorney registration. Simply complete
the appropriate form and fax it to the office of the
Association, (501) 375-4901. Members of the Diversity
Registry Task Force, comprised of members of the Commission
and the Flowers Law Society, will periodically review
submissions and follow-up on inquiries. The goal is
to match appropriate applicants and potential employers.
The role of the Registry
and its administrators is not to supplant the normal
recruitment, evaluation, negotiation, and hiring process,
but to enhance it. Under most circumstances, potential
employers would be provided with resume-type information
from applicants matching predetermined criteria, and
then the employer will proceed with its normal hiring
process. In other cases, registry administrators may
appropriately promote candidates or hiring opportunities
to insure both sides of the potential employment relationship
fully appreciate the opportunity offered by the other.
That Arkansas is a relatively
small state provides unique opportunities for personal
interaction and evaluation. Because of this characteristic
of the legal job market, those of us involved in promoting
this effort are optimistic that we can create and
exploit opportunities on a personal basis that will
insure that the work place, our legal system, and
our association achieves all of the benefits offered
by the diversity that has enriched our community and
our profession.•
*
Ms. Honorable is Chief of Staff for Attorney General
Mike Beebe. She is President of the W. Harold Flowers
Law Society, and serves on Arkansas Bar Association's
House of Delegates. She obtained her JD degree from
UALR School of Law.
* Mr. Kumpe is a commercial litigator and partner
in Williams & Anderson PLC in Little Rock. He
is a past co-chairman of the Arkansas Bar Commission
on Diversity. He is a graduate of the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock, and obtained his JD degree
at the University of Texas at Austin.
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