Improving diversity through pipeline programs

Chief U.S. District Judge James F. Holderman talks to the students about the different judges, whose photos hang on the walls.

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David Morrison, hiring partner at Goldberg Kohn, is working with Scholarship Chicago and the Chicago Committee on their joint pipeline initiative.

He helps, through the initiative, to coordinate the process of creating internships, mentoring, and other opportunities for firms to work with students.

Morrison said he grew up in a family that encouraged education. His father was a college professor, and his grandfather practiced law.

”I knew my path would be different if I didn’t have exposure to higher education and law as something I could do,” he said. ”I didn’t have a family that was wealthy and I didn’t have a family with a lot of connections, but I was able to make a career out of something I was interested in.”

Making a difference
Nineteen-year-old Chanta Williams wants to run for political office or become a U.S. Supreme Court justice some day.

While attending Jones College Prep, she was selected to participate in the Mikva Challenge, which tries to develop the next generation of civic leaders, activists, and policy-makers.

This program sent her to Scholarship Chicago, which selected her to participate in a five-year program that combines mentoring, college access, and career opportunities.

Through that program she worked last summer at Jenner & Block, an internship she plans to do again this summer.

Williams looked up politicians’ backgrounds, and discovered that many of them practiced law. Her internship at Jenner introduced her to different types of legal careers.

”If I didn’t have programs like Scholarship Chicago, I never would have really known that it was possible for me to do this type of thing,” said Williams, an incoming junior at Spelman College in Atlanta. ”Somebody who comes from a family like mine, I didn’t see [lawyers] within my own family … It exposes you to things you wouldn’t otherwise get exposed to. I think that exposure is very important.”

Lindsey Dates, a Jones Day associate, knew in high school he wanted to be a lawyer.

During a high school mock trial class he begged to be a lawyer but was assigned to be a witness. He said he found it odd that the male students were usually assigned to be witnesses or bailiffs, but rarely lawyers.

Dates, a mentor to teens through Phi Rho Eta Fraternity, said he wanted black male teens to see what it’s like to practice law. As the event chair, he helped organize the Donald Hubert Scholars Mock Trial Competition — an event that inspired him.

”There is one particular student in our mentorship program, Terrell Tillman, that we have tried, unsuccessfully, to turn around academically,” Dates wrote in an e-mail. ”He just so happened to be one of the students who had the privilege of sitting on the bench with Judge [David H.] Coar.

”I saw Terrell coming up the stairs at the reception. He made a point to stop me, look squarely into my eyes, and quietly say, ‘I am going to get my grades tight.’ Having worked with him for some time now, I could sense that for the very first time, it clicked for him. He wasn’t just saying it. In that one simple moment, I could see the pride in his face. He will make good on that promise. The tide has turned in his life.”

Dates said the volunteers also benefited from the mock trial competition.

”I have talked to several young African-American male lawyers who all share my experience,” he wrote. ”I have practiced for five years now, but until [the mock trial competition], I never really felt as though I was a member of the profession.

”I went through the motions of being a lawyer, but I never felt as though the profession was my own. I felt like a stranger in a new world, unable to identify with much of what I saw.”

”Now, for the very first time, I feel like I am a member of the club — one that has taken an interest in those who are just like me,” Dates wrote. ”Not only that, I am a member of a noble profession. I was awed by so many lawyers, from every background, who took a genuine interest in this often overlooked demographic — a demographic that is far more likely, than any other one, to have negative interactions with the legal system. For that, I am truly grateful.”

In-house help
Chanel West, a sophomore at Hirsch Metro High School, sits with her friends at a DLA Piper conference table. It’s not where they usually hang out, but they are about to embark on a day of workshops about the legal profession.

”I like interacting with real lawyers and real judges,” West said. ”[Lawyers] help people who need them. I know there is a lot more work than what you see on TV … I think it is a good idea for students to see the profession. For kids who want to pursue the profession of law, to interact with lawyers gives them a goal.”

West was one of about 75 students from Hirsch Metro High School, Wells Community Academy High School, and Mather High School who participated in the Association of Corporate Counsel Chicago/Street Law Pipeline Program. The program is based on a prototype created by Street Law, Inc., and the ACC.

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