CBA Record May-June 2020

Beyond Diversity and Inclusion By Sally Daly, CBA Public Affairs Director

T he quote, “We are all implicitly biased because we are all human,” from noted author and national Diversity and Inclusion Trainer Sarah Redfield, speaks to the challenges of promoting the recognition and interrup- tion of implicit bias, an effort that the Chicago Bar Association has put at the forefront by offering specialized diversity and inclusion training. The most recent programmarked the final component of the two-year diver- sity initiative, conducted jointly by the CBA and the State and Local Govern- ment Law Section of the American Bar Association. Titled “Beyond Diversity and Inclusion,” the program, sponsored by Clark Hill, offered advanced training on how to interrupt implicit bias, its sub-categories, and its impact on the legal community. CBA Board of Managers Member Nina Fain, who coordinated the program and served as moderator, noted that the training used interactive exercises and scenarios to promote awareness of implicit bias in the legal profession and its socio-economic ramifications on law firms, the courts, bar associations, and communities across the United States. The program provided the nearly 100 attendees an opportunity to examine their own implicit bias through use of a questionnaire to elicit direct responses to questions revealing how they may have unconscious biases in their lives or work. The training then offered recom- mendations on how participants could interrupt biases they learned about or observed in their workplace.

The “Beyond Diversity and Inclusion” program was held at the Clark Hill law firm in Chicago. Pictured are (left to right) Moderator Nina Fain, a member of the CBA’s Board of Managers and Trust Counsel for JSS Family Trusts; Jamila Jefferson-Jones, an Associ- ate Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Juan Thomas, former President of the National Bar Association and Of Counsel at Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer; and Sarah N. Wariner, Partner at Clark Hill Strasburger in Frisco, Texas.

“The lawyers who came up to me after the program reported that they had experienced some form of implicit bias and that the program validated what they had felt but did not know how to express to colleagues or employers,” said Fain, Trust Counsel for JSS Family Trusts. “Implicit bias in the workplace remains a challenge in the legal profes- sion. It is important that we offer strat- egies to interrupt biases in forthright, positive ways.” Held as part of the CBA’s Black History Month programming, the national adjunct faculty for the pro- gram included Jamila Jefferson-Jones, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City;

Juan Thomas, former President of the National Bar Association and Of Counsel at Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer; and Sarah N. Wariner, Partner at Clark Hill Strasburger in Frisco, Texas. In addition to Fain, the event was co- chaired by Greta Weathersby, Chicago Bar Foundation Board Member and an attorney at WEC Energy, Inc., and Tamara Edmonds-Askew, Director of the State and Local Government Section of the ABA. Copies of Sarah Redfield’s book, “Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias” were available for purchase at the event, which was followed by a networking reception.

Remote Pro Bono The Chicago Bar Foundation has compiled a list of remote pro bono opportunities at chicagobarfoundation. org/pdf/pro-bono/remote-opportunities.pdf. Opportunities include criminal records relief, property tax sale call project, CVLS, SNAP and more.

10 May/June 2020