The two had dinner together and discussed how Emory could lead a program on opportunities for the legal profession to increase diversity. The first symposium took place a few months later. «It`s encouraging to see that so many companies have realized that the only way forward is to improve diversity and inclusion in their ranks,» said Said Sewell, Director of Science, Research and Student Success at AUCC. «In the past, we`ve heard that recruiters can`t find qualified candidates of color or that they don`t know where to look. This has changed as leaders understand that they can actually work with historically black colleges and universities to create pools of qualified candidates who are willing to not only work for these companies, but also take on leadership positions as they develop their knowledge and experience. «Microsoft recently expanded its ongoing partnership with AUCC to create a pipeline of African-American students to support, mentor and train the company to increase diversity and inclusion. «As we continue to expand our presence in the Greater Atlanta area, AUCC`s Intensive Engineering Workshop was the perfect opportunity for Microsoft to make a financial contribution and give students access to Microsoft engineers to learn more about post-graduation career opportunities,» said Kory Hawkins, Microsoft University Relations Manager. «Our strategic collaboration with AUCC demonstrates Carrier`s commitment to making measurable progress toward achieving its diversity and inclusion goals, including recruiting a more diverse workforce and developing and developing talent,» said Chris Nelson, President, CVC, Carrier. «This partnership is more than a financial support. At Carrier, we build the best teams and recruit the workforce of the future. » Providing resources to respond to client diversity surveys While early responses to the consortium`s spring symposia and other programs are indicative of this, the ALDC will certainly continue to rally support for its mission, McLaurin concludes.

«Sometimes people need a reason to change. They must be encouraged or forced to «do the right thing». The legal community is evolving slowly, but it needs to look at itself in terms of the position and direction we want to be in the future. Wardell sees diversity in industrial terms. «Lawyers are trained to operate the gears of the company. That means cutting new ones and discarding old ones,» he explains. «We run the company`s engine room – if people don`t look like the people on the boat, I`m not sure you can have the right gears.» McLaurin, a native of North Carolina, says she has never personally been a victim of racism, but has always been sensitive to diversity. «As an African-American woman, I`ve had the same challenges as any other minority, which is due to [lack of opportunities],» she says, adding that in every law firm she joined, she sought diversity and was often asked to help recruit minority lawyers. The ALDC operates on a tight budget with no intention of increasing its budget and derives most of its $150,000 to $200,000 per year from its memberships. Fees range from $1,500 for a business to $10 for a law student, and charter and lifetime memberships are also available.

The consortium is able to keep its costs low, as sponsors fund most programs and donate printing, postal and other administrative costs, as well as offices. Since many legal employers cannot hire until a position is vacant, employers who recruit into these programs are usually large law firms, government agencies, or companies that can hire months in advance. Although similar groups exist in Chicago, San Francisco and other cities, the ALDC has a broader approach. «Most of these groups are formed around diversity in large law firms,» Wardell says. «We felt that, especially since Atlanta is already a city with a significant number of color professionals and is a city of attraction for graduates, we could and should go beyond the world of large law firms.» Atlanta-based and diversity-loving lawyers now have a local organization dedicated to the success of women`s and minority lawyers in the city`s law firms and businesses. The Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium (ALDC), which hosted its third Diversity Symposium in April 2004, is an umbrella organization dedicated to improving diversity within the Atlanta legal community by supporting the programs of other groups, creating new ones, and fostering dialogue about the importance of diversity in law. McLaurin worked for a large employment and employment company in Manhattan before moving to Washington, D.C. in 1991. After practicing at various law firms, including two minority law firms, she was appointed Associate Director of Diversity at Georgetown University`s Law Center in 2000. In 2001, she moved to Atlanta to work at Emory. The initial goal was to «take the pulse, to do a status review, where we were bringing more diversity to the legal community,» Wardell recalls, adding that the roughly 30 participants came from major Atlanta law firms. After a successful panel discussion on the topic: «It was very clear that this concept was important, and each year we took a different set of snapshots on these topics.» Tom Wardell, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1966, is a senior partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge in Atlanta.

He is also from Montana, who worked for several companies in Boston before becoming CEO of a technology company in the late 1980s. In 1993, he sold his business, retired, and moved to Atlanta, where he picked up where he left off in the bar and joined McKenna Long in 1994. He heads the national group of companies. He may be a white man, but diversity is in his blood, he says. «It comes from the way my family lived and lives today,» Wardell says, citing his presentation as he was exposed to his parents` commitment to the plight of American Indians and, as a married man, the adoption of racially diverse children. Promoting diversity «is part of how I see my role as an American.» Miller & Martin is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Diversity at Miller & Martin means a workplace made up of lawyers and employees with different backgrounds and attributes, including but not limited to real or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability. Students who traveled to Syracuse Law to learn about the legal profession and preparation for law school attended lectures and roundtables on a variety of topics, including diversity, justice, and inclusion; the evolution of accessibility; constitutional law; the study of U.S. law and the legal system; and admission procedures, such as information on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). «Diversity benefits everyone,» says McLaurin.

«It`s the right thing to do, but it`s also a business necessity in the legal community,» she adds. «It`s now common for customers to say, `We`re a diverse company, our customers are diverse, and we want the companies that represent us to be diverse as well.` License our cutting-edge legal content to develop your thought leadership and build your brand. Wardell underscores ALDC`s commitment to the Georgia Law School Consortium Scholarship Program, established by the Supreme Court of Georgia to give educationally or financially disadvantaged students the opportunity to prepare for law school.