While it may be difficult to hire minority lawyers, the Rhode Island Bar Association, Roger Williams University Law School and the Rhode Island Law Firm Group are among those trying to make a difference.
Here are some of the efforts and programs:
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- The Bar Association’s Committee on Involvement of Minorities works with Roger Williams University, mentoring law students. “When we have a minority law student who comes to this school he or she is matched up with a mentor,” said Harvey Rishikof, dean of the Roger Williams University Law School. That mentor helps a student not only acclimate to school, but also learn and become a part of the community, said Joseph Ferguson, a partner in the law firm of Godenberg and Muri and chair of the Committee on Involvement in Minorities.
- Ferguson said the committee also visits local colleges, presenting panels to encourage minority students to consider law schools and careers in law. This spring, he said, the committee plans visits to Providence College, Bryant College and Rhode Island College.
- Justin Holden, who co-chairs the RI Law Firm Group, an advocacy group for a more diverse legal profession said the group has continued its efforts to bring minority lawyers and law students together on a periodic basis in informal settings.
- At the law school, Rishikof, who identified the cost to attend law school as a barrier to minority enrollment, said they are increasing scholarships.
- Rishikof also said the school is looking for qualified minority candidates to fill increased adjunct faculty positions that have been designed for “people of color.”
- At RWU they are also putting on programs and lectures to support increased minority enrollment, including the Thurgood Marshall Memorial Lecture.
- The Bar Association’s Committee on Involvement in Minorities is presented a program at the association’s annual meeting on June 8 that spins off the national ABA survey: Miles to Go 2000: Progress of Minorities in the Legal Profession. That program will include a presentation by Elizabeth Chambliss, research director, program on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School and author of the ABA survey, followed by a panel of local lawyers.
