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March/April 2007

COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHT


HBA Committee Forges Ahead to Foster Equal Opportunities
for Minority Attorneys

By Leta A. Seletzky

As issues of minority recruitment and retention receive increasing scrutiny in the workplace, academia and the media, the HBA Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Committee presses forward in its longstanding efforts to promote equal opportunities for minority attorneys. In the more than 15 years since the committee’s creation, the percentage of minority attorneys licensed in Texas has increased markedly. According to the State Bar of Texas, in 1993 approximately eight percent of attorneys licensed in Texas were racial or ethnic minorities. By 2005, minority attorneys had become approximately 14 percent of the Bar. The Bar’s composition has not kept pace with the demographics of Texas, however, where minorities became 50 percent of the general population sometime between 2003 and 2004. The committee works to assure that the growing ranks of minority attorneys get a fair chance to contribute their talents to employers and the community at large.
The HBA Summer Minority Law Clerkship and Mentoring Program, which the committee has managed for over ten years, is open to first-year students at South Texas College of Law, the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and the University of Houston Law Center. The program strives to help minority law students establish relationships with mentors and gain legal experience at Houston-area law firms, government agency legal departments, and corporate legal departments.
In 2006, there were 29 firms that agreed to review resumes, and over 130 students applied for clerkship positions. Ultimately, 28 law students were placed in clerkships with 22 different employers. The committee hopes to expand the number of clerkship opportunities offered for summer 2007.
The Spring Workshop, a writing and business etiquette seminar, is mandatory for all students who participate in the clerkship program and optional for students who apply to the program. The workshop features tips regarding business lunches and business attire, as well as a panel discussion on how to get the most out of the clerkship experience. It also featured a seminar on writing, led by a nationally-recognized expert from Washington, D.C.
The committee held the Fall Workshops, panel discussions regarding strategies for academic and professional success, for the first time in November 2006. At these workshops, panelists representing the judiciary, law firms, corporate legal departments, solo practitioners and legal recruiters spoke with students at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, the University of Houston Law Center and South Texas College of Law. Approximately 150 students attended the workshops.
The Summer Associate Luncheon, which the committee has held annually since 1999, features a panel discussion on a topic related to practicing law in Houston as a minority. The luncheon also provides a valuable networking opportunity for summer associates. Over 290 people attended the luncheon in 2006.
As the committee moves forward with its varied roster of programs, it also keeps an eye to the future. Tamara D. Stiner, who co-chairs the committee, said she looks forward to a day when the HBA no longer needs the committee “because firms and companies that comprise the legal profession are truly diverse and consist of individuals from all backgrounds and with different perspectives.”

For more information on the committee or its programs, please contact Rusty Bienvenue at (713) 759-1133 or rustyb@hba.org.

Leta A. Seletzky is an associate at Liskow & Lewis, where her practice focuses on business litigation, energy litigation and government investigations and white collar criminal defense. She is a member of the HBA Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Committee.


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