The American Bar Association Midyear Meeting featured a program titled “Why GOOD Guys—Guys Overcoming Obstacles to Diversity — Are So Important.”
The program began with a presentation of recent research by Joan C. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law and Hastings Foundation Chair at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. For too long, the focus has been on how to spot implicit bias. Williams presented a new approach that details how individuals can interrupt bias in real time, in simple low-key ways — and how organizations can do so.
Her presentation was followed by a panel discussion featuring the following experts:
- Alan Bryan, Senior Associate General Counsel of Legal Operations-Outside Counsel Management for WalMart Stores, Inc.
- Bill Sailer, Senior Vice President and Legal Counsel for Qualcomm
- Tom Sager, Partner at Ballard Spahr and former General Counsel of DuPont
- The Honorable Irma Gonzalez, retired Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
Malissia Clinton, General Counsel for the Aerospace Corporation, moderated the discussion.
Sheryl Axelrod, law firm owner and Co-Chair of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, explained why diversity pays off on the bottom line for firms and corporations.
The program was designed to engage men in the advancement of women lawyers — a key factor required in order for true progress to be made. We hope this will be the first of many GOOD Guy programs around the country. We’ve created a toolkit to assist in producing similar programs.
For a summary of the program, including video clips, click here.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Advocate:
Advisors:
Law Office of Frann Setzer, APLC
Peers:
Cosponsors of the event:
- ABA Commission on Women in the Profession
- California Women Lawyers
- Lawyers Club of San Diego
