Ode To Michigan State University, MSU Law, And A Grieving Spartan Nation
You can only hope these students can pick up the shattered remains and seek solace and refuge in each other’s arms, harbor hope, and not remain jaded by such senseless acts. But that they can discover joy once again. You know they will, eventually. Because Spartans Will.
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ChatGPT’s First-Ever Rap On Why The Legal Industry Is Not Diverse
“Judge it how you judge it, say we going corporate /Nah, we just corner boys with the corner office /I’m at the cap table, what the splits is? /Not that cap table, boy, we live this.” — Jay Z Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt felt the wake from ChatGPT’s launch, landing, and exploration into our collective minds. In case you’ve been disassociated from society over the past few weeks (I wouldn’t blame you),…
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Helen Wan, Attorney And Author Of ‘The Partner Track,’ On Bringing Her Biglaw Novel To Netflix
“And blame postmodern things I can’t relate / Like summer camp in coastal states / Like alcohol and coffee beans / Dance floors and magazines / I think it’s safe to say I’ve only got myself to blame.” — The Format This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Helen Wan — an author, lawyer, and speaker on DEI and women in the workplace. Wan is a graduate of Amherst College and The…
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Nicole Shanahan, Andrew Yang, Michelle Wu, Andrew Toy, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, and Payal Kadakia’s Inaugural Gold Gala AAPI Advice
“Everything is gold, everything is equal / Posted on the porch just chilling, me and my people.” — Macklemore On Saturday, the 2022 A100 List — the annual award honoring the 100 most impactful Asians and Pacific Islanders — manifested into the first-ever Gold Gala hosted by Gold House, the leading AAPI changemaker community of cultural leaders, executives, and creatives. The night’s theme was “A New Gold Age” to reflect the current era of unparalleled…
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Why Chasity Boyce and Tiffany Harper Co-Founded DAPP, And Their Mission To Train Women of Color
“Every interview I’m representing you, making you proud / Reach for the stars so if you fall, you land on a cloud.” – Kanye West This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with the amazing Diversity Attorney Pipeline Program (DAPP) co-founders Chasity Boyce and Tiffany Harper. Boyce is a former litigator who is now working in the Chicago office of an Am Law 100 law firm on the global diversity and inclusion team. Harper is in-house counsel at…
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Maryland Law Alum And Chief Diversity Officer Lynnette Espy-Williams On Honing Your Craft, Finding A Champion, And Changing Cities
“May you see your dreams allowed / Before you see them from a cloud.” — Wale This month, Cozen O’Connor announced its appointment of Lynnette D. Espy-Williams as its first Chief Diversity Officer. Espy-Williams has had quite a career with the firm and will most definitely leave a footprint on its diversity and inclusion efforts going forward. After graduating from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 2006, Espy-Williams served as a judicial intern to…
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Perkins Coie Chief Diversity Officer Theresa Cropper On Community Organizing, Working With Stevie Wonder, And Diversifying The Legal Profession
“Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.” — Public Enemy This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Theresa Cropper, the Chief Diversity Officer for Perkins Coie, LLP. She has a plethora of experience in community organizing as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives. After spending 14 years at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law focused on improving D&I amongst law students, she moved into Biglaw to improve D&I amongst attorneys. In 2015, she…
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GapJumpers – Renwei Chung on The Slightly Evil Podcast #5
Renwei Chung, Diversity Columnist for abovethelaw.com and in-house counsel for a medical device company, joins GapJumpers to discuss the legal implications of social media as a recruiting tool, D&I in the legal profession, and much more. Continue…
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TRUTH BY TRELLIS – RENWEI SHARES HIS TRUTH
“Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” – African Proverb Trellis board member Renwei Chung shares his truth about the importance of telling your stories to make change. Continue…
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‘The Snapchat Story’ Has All The Salacious Details Legal and Tech Nerds Will Love
“81, they’ll bring the crashers to the party / And you know me / Turn the O2 into the O3, dog.” — Drake Yesterday, Kylie Jenner tweeted that she doesn’t open the Snapchat app anymore. And in one fell swoop, its stock price ended the day down 6%, erasing over $1 billion in market value — giving Evan Spiegel and his company plenty of reasons to drink on National Margarita Day. As an aging Millennial, I haven’t really used Snapchat [N/K/A…
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Berkeley Law Alum And Former NFL Player Colin Allred On Following Obama, The American Dream, And His Path Back To Dallas
“See, my pedigree most definitely don’t tolerate the front/ Stuff I’ve been through probably offend you/ This is Paula’s oldest son.” — Kendrick Lamar Next month, voters will be flocking to the polls to vote in the primaries. This month, I was introduced to Colin Allred, a Berkeley Law alumnus and former Tennessee Titans football player who is currently pounding the pavement and running to represent Texas’s 32nd District. Allred is a millennial attorney with a tremendous…
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MILES BRIDGES’ GAME-WINNING SHOT HEARKENS BACK TO DENZEL VALENTINE’S HAUNTING ENDING
“I want the credit if I’m losin’ or I’m winnin’ / On my momma, that’s the realest shit / Love, let’s talk about love / Is it anything and everything you hoped for? / Or do the feeling haunt you? / I know the feeling haunt you.” — Kendrick Lamar VALENTINE’S DAY Three years ago, on Valentine’s Day, former MSU basketball player Denzel Valentine nailed a savage game-winning three against Ohio State to rip their fans’ hearts out in…
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An Open Letter To Travis Kalanick: Do You Really Want To Change Uber’s Culture?
Hey Travis, Uber and you have been all over the news lately. Much of the public is now privy to some rather unbecoming information about your company. I’m actually in the process of writing a book about another company who lost its way during the Great Recession (2008-2009), or as the recent Highline article calls it, “The Great F*ckening.” Not only are there several similarities between this company and Uber. You actually added its former…
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An Open Letter to Jerry Jones for Monday Night Football
The Dallas Cowboys are often proclaimed to be America’s team. Tonight, America’s team has the tremendous opportunity to lead by example on Monday Night Football. Jerry, I understand that you were one of several NFL team owners to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration festivities. The New England Patriots Owner, Robert Kraft, and the Jacksonville Jaguars Owner, Shahid Khan, also donated this sum to Trump. But both these owners and their organizations, among others, have…
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After A Major Civil Rights Victory, La Raza Has Even More Reason To Celebrate During Hispanic Heritage Month
“Living in the big city / The American dream.” — Cypress Hill Today is the official day to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Be sure to check out Google’s beautiful tribute to Latino cultures in our country. Last month, a Weil Gotshal & Manges team — partner Steven Reiss, former partner Jim Quinn, associates Luna Barrington and David Fitzmaurice, project manager Jorge Martorell, paralegal Sirak Biratu, and senior technician Steve Mangru — along with local counsel and co-counsel, secured a major pro bono win for Mexican-American students. After…
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UVA Law Alum Jessica Childress On Charlottesville, Children’s Books, And Attorneys Of Color
“I wrote my way out / Wrote everything down far as I could see / I wrote my way out / I looked up and the town had its eyes on me.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda Last weekend, Jessica Childress and her organization, Juris Prudence LLC, hosted seventeen students for the Juris Prudence Kids Mock Trial Academy in the Ward 7 neighborhood of Washington, D.C. As the founder and host of the Academy, Childress worked with the East River Family Strengthening…
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The Trump Administration Seeks To Rip The Heart Out Of Labor And Employment Law
“Your last chance to negotiate / Send in your seconds / See if they can set the record straight.”— Lin-Manuel Miranda On Monday, former Solicitor General Paul Clement and current Principal Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall will argue against workers and the National Relations Labor Board (NLRB or the Board) in front of the Supreme Court to resolve this question: whether workplace arbitration agreements that ban class actions violate federal labor laws. In a peculiar case, and perhaps a…
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Bayou Brief Founder Lamar White Discusses Disability, Louisiana, And The Law
“Feeling like Katrina with no FEMA / Like Martin with no Gina / Like a flight with no visa.” — Kanye West Earlier this summer, Lamar White launched The Bayou Brief, a non-profit progressive web publication. For more than 11 years, White published CenLamar, one of Louisiana’s most acclaimed and well-known progressive blogs, which has received wide recognition from national and international news organizations. As a law student, White broke stories that landed him in the national news.…
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Best places for you to kick-back, relax, and enjoy summertime in Chicago
Last week, I had the opportunity to visit friends in Chicago. Having lived in Texas for a couple years now, one forgets how nice summer can actually be in other parts of the country. Continue Reading…
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Tough Mudder tales: What you can expect and why I’m inspired to try more
If you’re reading this, you’re most likely thinking about participating in a Tough Mudder Mud Run (TM) and are very excited about it. Or one of your friends has somehow coaxed you into signing your life away and you will need to be dragged to the course on race day. Last month, I was in the latter camp—having no want or desire to run in mud puddles (which were even deeper than I thought) and climb things…
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Vegas, baby! Here’s how you can get the most bang for your buck
Vegas, baby! If you are reading this article, you have most likely been tasked with the high honor of organizing a Las Vegas trip for a bachelor or bachelorette party, significant other, reunion, conference or seminar, or anything else out there worth celebrating. This post is written with the express intent of providing valuable tips for those who are seeking to get the most bang for the buck during their initial foray into the land of excess.…
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UVA Law Alum Tiffany Graves On Mississippi, Mentoring, And Finding Your Mission
“I put my lyric and my lifeline on the line / And ain’t no limit when I might shine, might grind.” — Kendrick Lamar
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Newly Appointed Co-Chairs Betsy Miller And Victoria Nugent On Collaboration, Leadership, And Diversity In The Law
“And when I meet Thomas Jefferson / I’m ‘a compel him to include women in the sequel!” — Lin-Manuel Miranda, “The Schuyler Sisters,” Hamilton Earlier this year, leading plaintiffs’ firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll announced that Washington, D.C.-based partners Betsy Miller and Victoria Nugent would lead its public client practice, which focuses on representing state attorneys general and other government entities in litigation and investigations. Continue Reading…
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UT Law Alum Rudy Metayer On The Importance Of Representation, From The State Bar To ‘Beauty And The Beast’
“I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA.” — Kendrick Lamar This month, Rudy Metayer, a corporate litigator at Chamberlain McHaney, was a featured speaker for the continuing legal education presentation titled “Effective Lobbying: Using Your Legal Skills to be a Persuasive Citizen,” in Austin, Texas. Continue Reading…
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OUR BROKEN EDUCATION MODEL IS FRACTURING OUR SOCIETY
Zip Codes are Destiny Zip codes, short for Zone Improvement Plan codes, have been around in our country since 1963. Unfortunately, these physical markers are dividing our country in disturbing ways. National College Access Network’s Executive Director Kim Cook states, “your ZIP code can really determine what your future will look like.” According to a recent study, zip codes are actually a better predictor of your health than your genetic code. Continue Reading…
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Happy 100th birthday to I.M. Pei, architect of the Dallas skyline
The world-renowned architect I.M. Pei turns 100 years old on Wednesday. For those of you Dallasites who may be unfamiliar with his name, I guarantee you are familiar with his work. Pei’s architectural feats adorn our wonderful city of Dallas. It is quite remarkable to witness Pei’s fingerprints all over the Dallas skyline. He designed Dallas City Hall (1977), One Dallas Center (1979), Energy Plaza (1983), Fountain Place (1986), and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony…
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Why Founder and CEO Andrew Yang Launched Venture For America In Detroit
“I got every ingredient, all I need is the courage / Like I already got the beat, all I need is the words / Got the urge, suddenly it’s a surge / Suddenly a new burst of energy has occurred.”—Eminem This month, I had the opportunity to review Generation Startup, a documentary that celebrates risk-taking, urban revitalization, and diversity, while delivering a vital call-to-action—with entrepreneurship at a record low, the country’s economic future is at…
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As Goes Texas, So Goes America
Adlene Harrison, First Woman Mayor of Dallas This month, I had the opportunity to hear Adlene Harrison, 93, the first woman mayor of Dallas, speak about her historically progressive career juxtaposed with our current political climate. In 1977, following her tenure as mayor, Harrison was appointed as one of the first woman Environmental Protection Agency regional directors, in charge of the EPA’s anti-pollution efforts in five southwestern states. She held this position until 1981, when…
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In Memoriam: Celebrating The Life Of Lawyer Trinh Huynh
“Never had I imagined / Living without your smile / Feeling and knowing you hear me / It keeps me alive, alive.” — Mariah Carey Last week, in a senseless act of violence, Trinh Huynh, an in-house attorney for UPS, was gunned down during rush hour in Midtown Atlanta. This incident is hardly isolated. It is part of a disturbing, noticeable pattern. Trinh was a political refugee from Vietnam, who arrived in the U.S. in…
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For its unconscionable actions, I will never fly United Airlines ever again
Read this article on The Dallas Morning News: We must boycott United for assaulting a passenger If you haven’t seen the video from last night of an Asian doctor getting bullied, beaten up, and dragged off an United Airlines plane for not volunteering to give up his seat during an “overbooked” flight situation, please click here. Enforcing ridiculous dress codes is draconian. But ripping the shirt off someone’s back is downright cruel. Leggings are one…
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UMich Law Alum Michelle Silverthorn On Emigrating From Jamaica, Working In Biglaw, And Bringing Civility To The Profession
Last week, the American Bar Association (ABA) hosted a webinar titled Combatting Bias and Increasing Inclusion in the Legal Profession. Michelle Silverthorn, the Diversity and Education Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, began the presentation by retelling the story of The Oprah Winfrey Show’s 1992 experiment about racial prejudice. Many of us still remember the episode to this day. Throughout her storytelling, Silverthorn’s passion, personality, and energy were on full display. Continue Reading…
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7 Fantastic Excerpts From Megyn Kelly’s Autobiography, ‘Settle For More’
“My hands is questioning if I’m Bach or not / If I’m 2Pac or nonexistent to these juggernauts / But I’m an architect, an astronaut, an Argonaut.” — Chance the Rapper On Wednesday, National Public Radio’s Terry Gross interviewed Megyn Kelly about her career, life, and autobiography, Settle for More. They covered several issues she is currently dealing with, including the alt-right’s attack through posting fake one-star reviews of her book on Amazon. As someone…
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Natasha Bowman On Workplace Bullying, Personal Branding, And Her Upcoming Book
“Turn your face towards the sun / Let the shadows fall behind you / Don’t look back, just carry on / And the shadows will never find you.” — Rihanna Earlier this month, Natasha Bowman delivered a presentation, at the Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., titled Equal Opportunity Bullying: How Even Lawful Behavior Can Put Your Organization at Legal Risk. Bowman founded Performance ReNEW last year with the mission of developing the next…
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‘Nobody is Above the Law’ – Amal Clooney
“It’s silly, no? / When a rocket ship explodes / And everybody still wants to fly? / Some say a man ain’t happy / Unless a man truly dies, oh, why?” – Prince Last week, the Lebanon-born and U.K.-raised barrister Amal Clooney held her first speaking engagement in the United States. Although it was her first official speaking engagement here, she has spent a significant amount of time in America. She obtained her LLM from NYU…
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Why George Takei And Lawyers Across America Keep Me Optimistic About The State Of Our Nation
“Raise a glass to freedom / Something they can never take away / No matter what they tell you / Raise a glass to the four of us / Tomorrow there’ll be more of us.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda, “The Story of Tonight,” Hamilton Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend George Takei’s presentation in Dallas about his experiences growing up in an internment camp, advocating for marriage equality and LGBT rights, and acting in the Star…
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Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Think Piece For Professionals
“I’m going to keep on running because a winner don’t quit on themselves.” – Beyoncé On Saturday, Beyoncé dropped her latest visual album to support her new 12-track record, Lemonade. The narrative arc follows a form of the Kübler-Ross model. Her journey from isolation to community and anger to redemption is sorted into chapters: Intuition, Denial, Apathy, Reformation, Forgiveness, Hope, and Redemption. During the Redemption phase of the video, Jay Z’s grandmother Hattie — on stage…
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Amid this talk of Muslim registries and Japanese internments, let’s stop to praise Fred Korematsu
Since the election, members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, such as Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, have discussed reinstating a registry for immigrants from countries with active terrorist groups. Some proponents have cited the registry for Japanese-Americans during World War II as a precedent for targeted, profiling registries. These registries were a tool in removing Japanese-Americans from “designated military areas” and forcing them into internment camps or deporting them. As a member of the 30th…
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Why Women Leave Law Firms, And What Anusia Gillespie Hopes To Do About It
“Who had Eminem on the first album? / Who had Kanye saying, ‘She a problem’? / Who came in the game, made her own column?”— Nicki Minaj Anusia Gillespie, founder and principal consultant of Banava Consulting, recently wrote an article for Law360 titled The Horrible Conflict Between Biology And Women Attorneys. In her article, she cites the top two reasons why attorneys leave their law firms: (1) unsustainable billable hours and work/life considerations, and (2)…
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America, did Aylan Kurdi die in vain?
A little more than a year ago, the Dallas Morning News ran a picture of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on the beach. The photo accompanied a column I had written about the rhetoric of the recent presidential campaigns. I couldn’t help but think about how our national political rhetoric might be causing waves of international consequence. At the very least, I hoped 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi did not die in vain. Continue…
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Implicit Bias: The Silent Killer Of Diversity In The Legal Profession
“It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success / Hear my words or listen to my signal of distress.” – J. Cole According to the Sentencing Project, “If current trends continue, one of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino males — compared to one of every seventeen white males.” Cornell Law School notes, “Race matters in the…
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‘Detroit was once the symbol of progress, of what is good and possible…’ I believe it still is
In Reid Hoffman’s and Ben Casnocha’s 2012 book titled, The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career, they detail the downfall of the auto industry and describe the city of Detroit in the following manner: ‘The great thing about living in America’s most abandoned city,’ deadpanned Tom Walsh, the local columnist, “is that there is never any traffic at any hour.” Abandoned is certainly the word that comes…
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It’s Chinese New Year, But I Hardly Feel Like Celebrating
“Humanity washed along the shore, and we walked by. We are witnessing so many refugee hands reach out, but we refrain from reaching back. For the first time in my life, I don’t recognize this country.” A little over a year ago, The Dallas Morning News ran a picture of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on the beach next to a column I had written about the rhetoric of the recent presidential…
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For Most Law Students, Will The Value Of A Law Degree Exceed Its Cost?
“Cause, see, they call me a menace and if the shoe fits I’ll wear it / But if it don’t then y’all swallow the truth, grin, and bear it.” – Eminem Law school nationwide enrollment has dropped 27.7 percent (52,488 to 37,924) from 2010 to 2014. Last year, Emory tax law professor Dorothy Brown wrote a Washington Post article titled “Law schools are in a death spiral,” detailing just how dire recent statistics have been.…
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22 Of My Favorite Quotes From ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’
“This is a book about ten Great Ideas. Each chapter is an attempt to savor one idea that has been discovered by several of the world’s civilizations - to question it in light of what we now know from scientific research, and to extract from it the lessons that still apply to our modern lives. It is a book about how to construct a life of virtue, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning.”
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How Cal Newport’s ‘Deep Work’ Principles Can Fundamentally Improve Diversity In The Legal Profession
“Numbers is hard and real and they never have feelings / But you push too hard, even numbers got limits / Why did one straw break the camel’s back? / Here’s the secret / The million other straws underneath it / It’s all mathematics.” – Yasiin Bey f/k/a Mos Def This month, Cal Newport published his newest book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. As a huge fan…
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What Do The Oscars And The Legal Profession Have In Common?
“Don’t let a win get to your head or a loss to your heart / Nonsense perseveres, prayers laced with fear / Beware, two triple O is near.” – Chuck D, Public Enemy This week, Fast Company’s Jared Lindzon listed diversity and inclusion as one of the Top 5 Business Challenges of 2016. Although the Oscars Committee (aka the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) may have not received the memo, hopefully the legal…
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Eight Men Are Now As Wealthy As Half Of The World; Here Is A Framework For Understanding International Economic Policies
“Just eight individuals, all men, own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population, Oxfam said on Monday in a report calling for action to curtail rewards for those at the top.” – Fortune Here is a framework for understanding international economic policies: Originally Published December 2014. Long-Form Journalism. By Renwei Chung. My Two Cents in International Inequality Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 2 How MDGs Affect the Bottom Billion………………………………….. 3 How…
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If
If— Rudyard Kipling, 1865 – 1936 If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk…
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Habits
Who am I? I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed – you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how…
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The Legacy of Fred Korematsu
By Steve Hunegs, Startribune.com One of the darkest moments in United States history for the executive and judicial branches was the promulgation of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing the military to “exclude” Japanese Americans from “military areas.” More than 110,000 Japanese Americans – more than 60 percent of whom were American citizens – were placed in internment camps located in seven states. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the…
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7 Highlights From A New Survey On Retention And Promotion Of Women In Law Firms
“Don’t be a hard rock when you really are a gem / Baby girl, respect is just a minimum.” — Lauryn Hill On Tuesday, the National Association of Women Lawyers released the Ninth Annual National Survey On Retention And Promotion Of Women In Law Firms. Lauren Stiller Rikleen introduces this report by stating: In 2006, the National Association of Women Lawyers issued its NAWL Challenge: Increase the number of women equity partners, women chief legal…
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The Initial CFP Ranking Is Out, Does The Selection Committee Suffer From Confirmation Bias?
“My team didn’t even have to play to win the championship, lean back.” – Fat Joe The first College Football Playoff Ranking was announced this week and of course it’s a little controversial. This is what makes sports so fun, we can talk incessantly about it and there is no bulletproof logic or absolute truth. The college football ranking is just as much an art as a science. It was ultimately compiled by the Selection…
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A Tribute To The Slain Spartan At White Rock Lake
“Never had I imagined / Living without your smile / Feeling and knowing you hear me / It keeps me alive.” – Mariah Carey ft. Boyz II Men I walk, run, or rollerblade with my yellow lab Izza around White Rock Lake every day. Dallas is not known as a particularly beautiful city, but the area around White Rock Lake is heavenly. I often think about my parents when I exercise around the lake. I…
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A Letter To University of Michigan’s Punter
Blake O’Neill. If Spartan fans didn’t know your name before today, they do now. You see, even though your first drive resulted in negative yards because of a false-start penalty, we began our second drive on our own two-yard line. How is this possible? Simple. You brought the thunder. In a game where every inch is fought for, you boomed the ball 80 yards. Foolish me, I didn’t believe it was humanly possible to kick…
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Project In-Invizible: Podcast 004
In this episode we talk with Renwei about an article he wrote that appeared in the Dallas Morning News titled I’m from here. Is that enough? He also shares his thoughts on living in Dallas, diversity and inclusion, the 92% rule and Hip Hop. Listen to the podcast and let us know what you think. Continue Reading…
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Project In-Vizible Podcast 004: Featuring Renwei Chung
In this episode we talk with Renwei about an article he wrote that appeared in the Dallas Morning News titled I’m from here. Is that enough? He also shares his thoughts on living in Dallas, diversity and inclusion, the 92% rule and Hip Hop. Listen to the podcast and let us know what you think. Continue Reading… Continue Reading…
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6 Reasons For Gender Differences At The Top Of The Legal Profession
“See I know you can’t help me Mr. Intentional / The only help I need to live is unprofessional / The only wealth I have to give is not material / And if you need much more than that, I’m not available.” — Lauryn Hill On Wednesday, Harvard Business Review’s Francesca Gino and and Alison Wood Brooks published an article titled, “Explaining Gender Differences at the Top,” which examined why women are underrepresented in most…
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6 Reasons For Gender Differences At The Top Of The Legal Profession
“See I know you can’t help me Mr. Intentional / The only help I need to live is unprofessional / The only wealth I have to give is not material / And if you need much more than that, I’m not available.” — Lauryn Hill On Wednesday, Harvard Business Review’s Francesca Gino and and Alison Wood Brooks published an article titled, “Explaining Gender Differences at the Top,” which examined why women are underrepresented in most…
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Differentiating Diversity Goals From Quotas In The Legal Profession
“This morning, I woke up / Feeling brand new, I jumped up / Feeling my highs and my lows / In my soul and my goals.” — Talib Kweli Last week, I wrote about McKinsey & Company’s 2015 Diversity Matters Report. In my post, I wrote that to foster a successful diversity program, McKinsey recommends for an organization to: i) create a clear value proposition for having a diverse and inclusive culture; and ii) set…
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Renwei Chung: I’m from here. Is that enough?
By RENWEI CHUNG “Where are you from?” “Monterey, Calif.” “Where are you really from?” “My dad is from Taiwan and mom is from China, is that what you mean?” In my life, these interrogatories are all too common. I’m not offended by this frame of mind, but I’m curious what my physical image conjures up and what inspires these daily encounters. Am I seen as an economic or cultural threat? Am I viewed as an…
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Renwei Chung: I’m from here. Is that enough?
By RENWEI CHUNG Read the column at Dallas Morning News
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Transcript of President Obama’s Eulogy for the Hon. Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Remarks by the President in Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney College of Charleston Charleston, South Carolina June 26, 2015, 2:49 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Giving all praise and honor to God. (Applause.) The Bible calls us to hope. To persevere, and have faith in things not seen. “They were still living by faith when they died,” Scripture tells us. “They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them…
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3 Things Law Students And Young Lawyers Can Learn From First Lady Michelle Obama
“But you graduate when you make it up out of the streets / From the moments of pain, look how far we done came / Haters saying you changed, now you doing your thing.” — Kanye West Many know Michelle Obama as the polished First Lady of the United States. Before she was the First Lady, she was a Harvard Law School student and an associate at Sidley Austin. In 1989, she met her future…
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3 Things A Law Student Learned From The Death Of His Father #GoGrayInMay
#GoGrayInMay #VABC #BrainCancerAwarenessMonth “Compared to some of my people down the block, man we were blessed.”— J. Cole Last year, my father unexpectedly passed away. In January 2014, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Two months later, we elected for chemotherapy treatment. He was intravenously given the medicine on a Friday. He passed away two days later. We were told the greatest risk would be dialysis, not death. The cancer didn’t kill him, the chemotherapy…
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3 Things A Law Student Learned From The Death Of His Father #GoGrayInMay
#GoGrayInMay #VABC #BrainCancerAwarenessMonth “Compared to some of my people down the block, man we were blessed.”— J. Cole Last year, my father unexpectedly passed away. In January 2014, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Two months later, we elected for chemotherapy treatment. He was intravenously given the medicine on a Friday. He passed away two days later. We were told the greatest risk would be dialysis, not death. The cancer didn’t kill him, the chemotherapy…
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What Can Law Students And Young Lawyers Learn From The Great Elon Musk?
“All I have in life is my new appetite for failure / And I got a hunger pain that grows insane / Tell me do that sound familiar?” — Kendrick Lamar In 2007, Tesla was in a near-fatal situation. In 2008, Elon Musk, Tesla’s cofounder, filed for divorce from his wife Justine. By June 2010, the New York Times declared Musk broke. In July 2010, Musk had paid nearly $4 million, or an average of…
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Balancing The Three-Legged Stool Of Success In Our Legal Careers
“We are the rose, this is the concrete, and these are my damaged petals. Don’t ask me why. Thank God and ask me how.” — Tupac Last week, I attended a diversity and inclusion event that featured Caren K. Lock, Regional Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Government Relations & Public Policy for TIAA-CREF. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF, Lock was General Counsel with a consumer financial company in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Lock is…
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Supreme Court To Decide On ADA and Fourth Amendment Issues In Police Shootings
“We been hurt, been down before / when our pride was low / looking at the world like, where do we go?” — Kendrick Lamar According to the Portland Press Herald in Maine, “nationally about half of the estimated 375 to 500 people shot and killed by police each year are mentally ill. In many cases, the officers knew from the start that the subjects were unstable.” There remains no national standard for crisis intervention of the mentally ill. Across the…
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Mateen Cleaves, A Kid From Flint
Behind every triumph and heartbreak in the NCAA tournament, there’s a story. The Players’ Tribune presents Tales of Madness, a series of first-person accounts from iconic basketball players recalling their most memorable tournament experiences. In this installment, Mateen Cleaves remembers the National Championship Game against Florida in 2000, and how a team of seniors was shaped by a young coach named Tom Izzo. * I was just trying to find Coach Izzo. On the court, it was madness. Lights flashing and…
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How The Killing Of A Mentally Ill Man In Milwaukee Triggered The Starbucks ‘Race Together’ Initiative
“I like to think that at every opportunity I’ve ever been threatened with resistance, it’s been met with resistance.” —Tupac Last month, Starbucks’s and USA Today’s“Race Together” initiative launched with the article “Why Race Together? Because Diversity Matters.” It begins: Racial diversity is the story of America, our triumphs as well as our faults. Yet racial inequality is not a topic we readily discuss. It’s time to start. Conversation has the power to change hearts and minds. At Starbucks,…
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The Apology Letter Howard Schultz And Starbucks Should Write For The ‘Race Together’ Initiative
“I am a reflection of the community. I am not saying I am going to rule the world or that I am going to change the world. But I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.” — Tupac Recently, we co-launched an initiative with USA Today called “Race Together.” To say the least, this initiative created quite a stir in the social media sphere. We would like to issue a…
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‘Isolation Play’: The Difficult Year of Jeremy Lin
It isn’t Kobe’s taunts or humiliating viral videos that have made this the toughest year of Jeremy Lin’s life. It’s the feeling that, as hard as he tries, he just doesn’t fit in. By Pablo S. Torre for ESPN The Magazine BETWEEN THREE AND a million years ago, after an increasingly intimidating series of meetings with literary agents, I resolved to write a book about the ascension of Jeremy Lin. None of this was my…
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The Curious Case Of Ellen Pao And The Lesson We Can Learn From It
“What brush do you bend when dusting your shoulders from being offended?” — Kendrick Lamar Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination “based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.” Many of us recognize this familiar language, but the actual definition of “discrimination” remains nebulous. As New Yorker writer Vauhini Vara notes, the courts’ definitions for “discrimination” have evolved over time, along with social norms. Employment lawyers like Kathleen…
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What Is The ‘True Threat’ Of Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Infamous Song?
“Woke up an optimist / Sun was shinin’, I’m positive / Then I heard you was talkin’ trash / Hold me back, I’m ’bout to spaz.” — Kanye West On Tuesday, University of Oklahoma’s President David Boren expelled two SAE fraternity members from the school for their “leadership role in leading a racist and exclusionary chant which has created a hostile educational environment for others.” By now you probably have seen and heard the infamous lyrics that some of…
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For Minorities In The Law, What Does ‘Political Correctness’ Mean?
“Wonder how they would feel if our lives got criss-crossed / What if you lost your homie and you felt like Kriss Kross? / Double cross, I swear that Christians don’t even get this cross.” — Big Sean This week, I attended a presentation where the speaker implied Obama was a communist. After he was criticized for some of his remarks, he warned the audience, “political correctness is as pernicious as McCarthyism.” In Jonathan Chait’s…
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Hopeful Beginnings
Author: Howard G. Franklin Today, my novel, Gideon’s Children, is being released, for which I am both extremely excited and equally grateful. My excitement is on high, because finally G.C. now has the opportunity to contribute to the growing discussion about the need to improve the workings of our Criminal Justice System, and thereby protect the individual constitutional rights that are the cornerstone of America’s democracy. And I feel so tremendously grateful, due to my…
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Yale Law Professors’ Triple Package: The Key To Success For Minorities In The Legal Profession?
“The rejected stone is now the cornerstone / Sort of like the master builder when I make my way home.” — Guru, Gang Starr Recently, I had the opportunity to review The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America, the bestselling book by the wife-and-husband team of Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, both professors at Yale Law School. You may be familiar with Chua, who first…
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For Minority Law Students, Black History Month Is More Than Just A Tribute To The Past
“The movement is a rhythm to us/ Freedom is like religion to us/ Justice is juxtapositionin’ us/ Justice for all just ain’t specific enough” – Common February is known as Black History Month, but this month represents so much more to us as minorities. It is a tribute to how far our society has come and a reminder of how much further we must go to address racial inequality. We recognize Black History Month because,…
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The Day Japanese Americans Lost Their Rights
By Esther Toshiko Hirabayashi Furugori, Special to The Seattle Times Gordon Hirabayashi believed the forced removal of 120,000 Japanese Americans was unconstitutional — and he went to prison for his belief, writes guest columnist Esther Toshiko Hirabayashi Furugori. Thursday marks the 73rd anniversary of an American day of infamy. On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which set in motion the forced removal of my family from our Auburn-area home,…
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The Best of Haruki Murakami’s Advice Column
By Lika Kumoi Celebrated novelist Haruki Murakami is a master of the heartbreaking and the surreal. So who better to start an online advice column? In January, the Japanese author began soliciting and responding to reader-submitted questions. Murakami’s website is in Japanese, but we translated some of the best back-and-forths. It’s weird — and weirdly charming — stuff. 1. Nice to meet you, Haruki Murakami. I have a problem. There is a person at work who…
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Throwback Thursday: March On Washington 1963
JOHN LEWIS, “SPEECH AT THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON” (28 AUGUST 1963) [1] We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of. For hundreds and thousands of our brothers are not here. For they are receiving starvation wages, or no wages at all. While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in the Delta of Mississippi who are out in the fields working for less than three dollars a day, twelve…
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Framing The Grammys, Education, And Biglaw With A Racial Equity Lens
“There ain’t no future in your frontin’.” – MC Breed Last week, my friend and fellow classmate Lamar White Jr. tweeted a pale-toned portrait of Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal. In response, the Governor’s Chief of Staff Kyle Plotkin proclaimed this was not an official portrait and accused White of race-baiting. Many others decidedly weighed in and White’s tweet went viral. Time’s Jack Linshi explained why the whitewashed portrait evoked such a deeply unsettling reaction: Modern…
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Humans of New York: Obama
“When is the time you felt most broken?” “I first ran for Congress in 1999, and I got beat. I just got whooped. I had been in the state legislature for a long time, I was in the minority party, I wasn’t getting a lot done, and I was away from my family and putting a lot of strain on Michelle. Then for me to run and lose that bad, I was thinking maybe this…
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Implicit Bias: The Silent Killer Of Diversity In The Legal Profession
“It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success / Hear my words or listen to my signal of distress.” – J. Cole According to the Sentencing Project, “If current trends continue, one of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino males — compared to one of every seventeen white males.” Cornell Law School notes, “Race matters in the…
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Be aware, be altruistic, speak up
By: Trina Chu I believe that Dr. Kristie Dotson’s position on the question of diversity and racial justice is that we should care about racial justice: we should “wake up” or be aware of the various movements that advocate for equality and justice for all. I agree with this position and would like to add that to have a just world we must not only be aware but also speak up. But first, we should…
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Tech Industry Leaders Are Beginning To Accept The Diversity Challenge; U.S. Law Partners Should Do The Same
“The sky is falling, the wind is calling / Stand for something, or die in the morning.” – Kendrick Lamar During the Computer Electronics Show (CES) this month, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich pledged $300 million to increase the company’s workforce diversity. In his keynote speech, Krzanich stated, “It’s not good enough to say we value diversity and then underrepresent women and minorities. Intel wants to lead by example.” Which law firms this year will also…
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Top 10 Theodore Roosevelt Quotes
#10 “I am only an average man, but by George, I work harder at it than the average man.” #9 “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” #8 “There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly bears to ‘mean’ horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid.” #7 “Let us rather…
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What Minorities And Women Can Learn From Michele Roberts, NBA Union Chief
“I’m the black sheep but Chris Farley wears the crown / And I know life is just a game in which the cards are facing down.” – Drake In Michele Roberts’s senior yearbook, she quoted Malcolm X and Nikki Giovanni:“Joy is finding a pregnant roach and squashing it.” Roberts was born and raised by a single mom in a low-income housing development in the Bronx. She attended public schools before earning a scholarship her sophomore…
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Give Us The Vote!
“Those that have gone before us say: No More. That means protest. That means march. That means disturb the peace. That means jail. That means risk. And that is hard. We will not wait any longer. We’re not asking. We’re demanding.” #MLK #SELMA Epic Video of Martin Luther King Speech At Selma
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The Best Bob Marley Quotes
As a man sow, shall he reap. and I know that talk is cheap. But the heat of the battle is as sweet as the victory. Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life. Conquer the devils with a little thing called love! Don’t forget your history, nor your destiny. Don’t worry about a thing, every little thing is gonna be alright. Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery,…
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15 Phrases That Will Change Your Life In 2015
As the new year approaches, many of us will resolve to transform our bodies — but what about our minds? Giving ourselves a mental makeover could be just as important as giving ourselves a physical one. But accomplishing that doesn’t just lie in changing our thoughts — it’s also dependent on changing our words. How we speak — to others and to ourselves — has a huge impact on our overall outlook. So isn’t it…
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How Racially Tolerant Is The Legal Profession In Our Post-Racial Society?
“Now everything I’m not, made me everything I am.” – Kanye West In the 2000 film Finding Forrester, Rob Brown’s character (Jamal Wallace) is offered the opportunity to attend a private school because of his test scores and basketball skills. In the movie, there is a transitory scene of him taking the train from his home in the Bronx to a prestigious prep school in Manhattan. This brief picture displays a black teenager in street clothes surrounded…
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‘You Beat #Cancer by How You Live’ #StuartScott
Stuart Scott’s Moving ESPY Awards Acceptance Speech “I also realized something else recently,” Scott said. “You heard me kind of allude to it in the piece. I said, ‘I’m not losing. I’m still here. I’m fighting. I’m not losing.’ But I gotta amend that. When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer, by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.” “So…
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‘Affirmative Action’ In Law: The Four-Letter Phrase
“If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?” — Kendrick Lamar How come law professors avoid speaking about affirmative action? Are law professors banned from discussing these type of issues? Did Randall Kennedy corner the market on this policy? How come we as a society can’t civilly debate the merits of affirmative action? The 2007 plurality opinion in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District…
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“It’s hard to talk years when you live day to day.” -Troy Polamalu
“It’s hard to talk years when you live day to day. That’s the thing football has taught me more than anything. Anybody who’s ever tried to make plans with me understands that. If you want to meet me in two weeks for lunch, I’m not making those plans. I live day to day. I’m not going to plan for our playoff game [next weekend] because I don’t know what’s going to happen to me this…
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