Diversity, Pro Bono On MeckBar Agenda |

Michael Dayton, Editor//January 31, 2005//

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Diversity in the legal profession will get a closer look this year from the Mecklenburg County Bar, says Charlotte attorney and MCB president Jonathan E. Buchan.

The committee will initially address race and ethnicity issues, including the recruiting, hiring, training, retention, mentoring and promotion of minority lawyers, Buchan said in an e-mail interview with Lawyers Weekly Click here for the related article..

The 3,600-member organization has set up a special Committee on Diversity, charged with examining “the extent to which the MCB and the various private law practices, corporate law departments, governmental agencies, and judicial bodies that make up the Mecklenburg County legal community have successfully incorporated lawyers from traditionally underrepresented groups in their organizations.”

The Diversity Committee is one of several MCB programs designed to improve the profession and its interaction with the community, Buchan said. Among the initiatives:

The MCB is partnering with the Charlotte Observer for its weekly “Talk To My Lawyer” feature in the newspaper’s business section and has assisted in the production of a television feature, “Ask a Lawyer,” for TV-14.

The MCB has launched a lunchtime speaker series, with UNC Law Dean Gene Nichol as the first speaker. U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David Sentelle from the District of Columbia will present “National Security: The Federal Courts’ Changing Role” on Feb. 24 (see related item, page 6).

The Bar recently co-sponsored a full-day forum to assist local business on immigration law issues.

Pro Bono Efforts

The Mecklenburg Bar’s pro bono and fundraising efforts have received high marks in recent years, according to Buchan. Its Volunteer Lawyers Program won the ABA’s Harrison Tweed Award for the legal help it gave to laid-off Pillowtex workers in Cabarrus County. In 2003, the local Access to Justice program contributed $200,000 for Legal Services programs.

Buchan is pushing for even bigger pro bono participation this year.

“We are trying to follow through on those efforts and encourage all our lawyers — business lawyers and litigators — to find a niche where they can help,” Buchan said.

Buchan said the profession needed to remind young lawyers “that they need to find a balance of economic well-being and personal fulfillment in the practice of law. There is great satisfaction to be found in practicing law and being part of this critically important system of justice our country has developed, but many lawyers are missing it.”

The full text of Buchan’s e-mail interview appears below.

— Questions or comments may be directed to [email protected].