LAWYERS FOR ONE AMERICA

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RESOLUTION 25
(Adopted unanimously on February 2, 2000)

WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justice of State Supreme Courts has a long history of supporting efforts to promote equal justice and diversity; and

WHEREAS, Lawyers For One America is a collaboration of lawyers and organizations in the legal profession committed to working together to insure both that the legal profession reflects the diversity of the society we serve and that the profession provides full service to communities of color so that those communities can enjoy equal access to our system of justice; and

WHEREAS, the collaboration currently consists of senior officers and representatives from the American Bar Association, the American Corporate Counsel Association, the Association of American Law Schools, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Columbus Bar Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Native American Bar Association, the Pro Bono Institute, and other lawyers from law firms, corporations, bar associations, civil rights organizations, and law schools; and

WHEREAS, the collaboration developed out of a challenge to the legal profession made by President William J. Clinton at a White House event on July 20, 1999 to renew the legal profession's commitment to civil rights that grew out of the call to action made by President John F. Kennedy in the summer of 1963; and

WHEREAS, participants in the collaboration made a commitment to seek to encourage pro bono activities to end discrimination, to provide economic opportunities to individuals, communities and entrepreneurs of color, and to seek to promote diversity in the legal profession; and

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WHEREAS, to achieve the mission, Lawyers For One America will:

collect and magnify the work of the lawyers and legal organizations participating in this effort so that their coordinated efforts may be of exponential value and their stakeholders more informed and united in this effort;
identify the leaders of the legal community who are not yet pursuing the goals of Lawyers For One America and obtain their commitment to take action in furtherance of those goals;
seek more active involvement from all sectors of the legal community by developing avenues of participation for our efforts that are targeted to draw from their strengths;
survey, collect and disseminate information about best practices for enhancing diversity and pro bono work from the individuals and organizations that are making a difference and develop means that will allow other organizations to adopt those practices; and
provide the means by which all stakeholders in the legal profession - lawyers, law schools, law firms, corporate employers of lawyers, government lawyers, bar associations, public interest organizations and others in the legal community - can work together to actively pursue equal justice and diversity.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference:

commends the organizations that are participating in the Lawyers for One America collaboration for their efforts to end discrimination against people of color and to promote diversity in all segments of the legal profession;
urges all segments of the legal profession throughout the United States to support the mission and efforts of the Lawyers for One America collaboration to end discrimination against people of color and promote diversity; and
urges its members to encourage all segments of the legal profession in their states to work with and support the mission of the Lawyers For One America collaboration.

Proposed by the Access to and Fairness in the Courts Committee of the Conference of Chief Justices in Austin, Texas at the 23rd Midyear Meeting on February 2, 2000. Adopted unanimously by the Conference of Chief Justices on February 2, 2000.

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