Timeline and Major Accomplishments

2020-2021 Fiscal Year

New Diversity and Inclusion Book Club

The NCAJ Diversity and Inclusion Committee has started a book club to provide all NCAJ members with another avenue for exploration of these important topics. This ongoing, quarterly program is designed to open discussion within the organization and to further Diversity and Inclusion in our practices and at NCAJ. The club’s first selection is "The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of Hour Our Government Segregated America" by Richard Rothstein. The group will meet via Zoom to discuss the book at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 14. 

Monthly Member Webinars Presented by the Diversity & Inclusion Committee

Immigration: Consequences of Criminal Offenses on DACA Eligibility; Jan. 26.  

Presenters: Juan Arreola, Arreola Law Office, PLLC and Helen Parsonage, Elliot Morgan Parsonage. Moderators: Karina Herhusky, Herhusky Law Office, PLLC and Stewart Poisson, Poisson, Poisson & Bower, PLLC

Introduction to the Disability Rights Movement with Holly Stiles, Dec. 15

Attorneys from Disability Rights NC discuss the disability rights movement and celebrate the many battles fought and won to demonstrate the right of people with disabilities to live in the world. Presenters were Holly Stiles and Meisha Evans. 

Trial by Fire: A Conversation with New Lawyers, Nov. 17

NCAJ New Lawyers Division Chair Katie King of Everett Gaskins, LLP, moderated a panel of new lawyers as they discussed what it is like to learn the practice of law in a program designed for new lawyers by new lawyers. Presenters were Drew Culler, Johnson Groninger, PLLC; and Jasmine Little, Deuterman Law Group.

Educator Sexual Misconduct Litigation: Liability & Damages Experts, Nov. 10

Moderator Robert H. Jessup led a one-hour lunch webinar covering emerging trends in educator sexual misconduct litigation with presenters Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, an expert in school policy and practice in sexual abuse prevention, and Dr. Julie Medlin, an expert in resulting long-term psychological trauma from childhood sexual abuse. The discussion addressed the nuts and bolts of the types of expert testimony needed to prove liability and damages in cases involving sexual abuse in educational settings.  

How Civil Practitioners Can Help Fight Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System, Oct. 27

Moderator and NCAJ member Lauren Newton welcomed Amelia O'Rourke-Owens of Emancipate NC and James Williams of NCCRED for a conversation on many topics including developing the skills and willingness to lend legal assistance and guidance to activists who are working to bring change. The program also covered impact litigation on issues such as excessive money bail and ways civil lawyers can assist in pro bono efforts. 

Cultural Changes for Justice, Sept. 22

There are many examples of positive change in our justice system that have resulted from productive dialogue between stakeholders. Retired Police Chief Ken Miller and post-conviction attorney Christine Mumma discussed their first-hand experiences and ideas for further progress in today's complex and highly-charged socio-political environment.

Trailblazers: A View from the Bench, Aug. 25 

Moderator Kristen Dewar, The Law Office Of Marc T. Joyner, PLLC, Member, NCAJ Board of Governors led a discussion with Judge Juanita Boger-Allen, 25th Judicial District; Judge Sophia Gatewood Crawford, District 16A Judicial District; and Judge Ashleigh Parker Dunston, 10th Judicial District; on their experiences with race and gender as a judge in our district courts, in their prior lives as attorneys appearing before our courts, andu essentially, what it means to be a trailblazer - modeling the path for others to follow in the future.

Free CLEs

Recognizing and Responding to Lawyers with Mental Illness with Corye Dunn, director of Public Policy for Disability Rights NC, on Feb. 23 

Diversity and Work-Life Balance in Troubling Times, sponsored by the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism and by Lawyers Mutual, presented by the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, on Sept.16 

The Second Annual Diversity & Inclusion Conference 2020, Oct. 2.  
Program Chairs: Kristen Dewar, The Law Office of Marc T. Joyner, PLLC, Charlotte, Anna Pishko Kalarites, Law Office of David Pishko, PA, Raleigh
Agenda: Race and the Law, Prof. Irving Joyner, NCCU; Implicit Bias: Focus on Inclusion, Jessica Whitney, PhD, Wilmington; Promoting & Ensuring Diversity in the Workplace with Andre Mura, Gibbs Law Group, LLP; AAJ LGBT Caucus Chair; Lisa Grafstein, Legal Director, Disability Rights North Carolina; and Nina Pirrotti, Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirotti, P.C.; Addressing Access to Justice Issues in our Courts, Hon. Cheri Beasley, Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court 

June 2020

Improving the Administration of Justice by Eliminating Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System: A Joint Presentation with the NC Association of Black Lawyers and NC CRED

The police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the murder of Ahmaud Aubrey, among others, have highlighted the failures of justice in our criminal justice system. On June 2, Chief Justice Beasley stated that "in our courts, African-Americans are more harshly treated, more severely punished and more likely to be presumed guilty." 

On this video replay, our panelists discuss:

• ​Disparate treatment in North Carolina courts
• The mission of NC CRED, the NC Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
• Proposals to confront the biases and structural inequities inherent in our system.

December  2019

The North Carolina Advocates for Justice was awarded the 2019 Diversity & Inclusion Award by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.  This is the inaugural year for this prestigious award which recognizes attorneys, firms and organizations that have worked to change the culture and advance diversity and inclusion within the legal profession.  NCAJ members Mark Melrose of Melrose Law, PLLC, Anabel Rosa of The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, and Bryan Sanchez of Lewis Law Firm were individually recognized as attorneys who advanced diversity and inclusion in the legal professions. 

September  2019

• Nearly fifty people attended the inaugural NCAJ Diversity & Inclusion Conference that was held on September 20, 2019 at One Eleven Place in Cary. The Conference highlighted the good works and efforts of the NCAJ Diversity & Inclusion Committee to date along with insightful presentations by nationally renowned speakers Lisa Coleman, the Chief Diversity Officer of New York University and Sybil Dunlop of Green Espel, LLC.  In addition, a panel on the importance of diversity in the judiciary was led by North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls, North Carolina Court of Appeals Chief Judge Linda McGee and Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Ashleigh Parker Dunston.   Immediately following the conclusion of the CLE presentation, attendees continued to engage each other during a networking reception. 

August  2019

• Online registration opens for the inaugural NCAJ Diversity & Inclusion Conference. 

​March  2019

• The NCAJ Diversity & Inclusion Committee conducted its inaugural Committee meeting to discuss important matters.
  • Save the Date!  September 20, 2019 | NCAJ Inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Conference, Raleigh, NC
• NCAJ sponsored the Tackling the Crisis of Racialized Mass Incarceration seminar.

January 2019

• With NCAJ’s continued commitment to diversity & inclusion, the task force was renamed the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and took its place among NCAJ’s other vital and important Standing Committees. To promote the good work of the Committee, NCAJ will look to the Diversity & Inclusion Committee to host an annual fall event. The first such event will be held on September 20, 2019.
• #MeToo Movement issue of Trial Briefs with Valerie Johnson as the Coordinating Editor.
• NCAJ’s Diversity & Inclusion Task Force co-sponsored the NC Lawyers Assistance Program Minority Outreach Conference.

August 2018

At the Sections & Divisions Leadership & Development Training, Karonnie Truzy addressed NCAJ Section & Division Chairs about the importance of diversity & inclusion.

May 2018

• Speaker Diversity Program launched including the Speaker Diversity Database, a resource for CLE program chairs who are looking for speakers who can add diversity to their speaker panels. For more on this accomplishment, see Bradley Bannon's posts on the NCAJ blog.
• NCAJ sponsored Seeking Racial Justice in Your Case, Court, and Community seminar.

April 2018

Karonnie Truzy Invited to serve another year as Diversity Officer for NCAJ. Karonnie Truzy and Sarah Olson invited to serve another year as co-chairs of Diversity and Inclusion Task Force

Education Vice President Meghann Burke coordinated the LGBTQ Rights Across Practice Areas issue of Trial Briefs Magazine

NCAJ Board of Governor's meeting held at the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro

 

March 2018

Immigrant Rights Across Practice Areas issue of Trial Briefs Magazine

 

December 2017

​​Criminal Discovery CLE - all women and people of color as speakers

 

October 2017

The NCAJ Diversity Plan was approved by the NCAJ Board of Governors on October 22, 2017.

 

September 2017

The draft NCAJ Diversity Plan was circulated widely among the NCAJ membership with a call for comments.

 

August 2017

Completed a draft Diversity Plan & presented it to the NCAJ Executive Committee at the Committee’s annual retreat 

 

July 2017

The Task Force launches its webpage at ncaj.com/diversity.

 

June 2017

• NCAJ offers childcare & hosts a social celebrating diversity at Convention.
• President's Diversity Task Force is renamed the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force.
• At the annual meeting the NCAJ membership votes to make the Task Force a permanent standing committee.
• The NCAJ membership is invited to join the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.
• Dr. Ben Reese, Vice President for Institutional Equity at Duke University, provides a two-hour Implicit Bias training at the most-attended BOG meeting in NCAJ history.

May 2017

• Diversity is considered as a factor in awarding the Allen A. Bailey Fellowships to attend NCAJ’s 2017 Convention.
• Data on diversity within NCAJ programs and services is compiled and analyzed, including data on the race and gender of NCAJ’s CLE speakers, Trial Briefs authors, Section/Division leadership, and Convention presenters.
• Task Force members ask NCAJ section chairs to generate diverse lists of members who can be invited to speak at CLEs.

April 2017

• The NCAJ Board of Governors adopts the NCAJ Diversity Statement.
• The NCAJ Nominating Committee recommends that the leadership structure be changed to include a Diversity Officer on the Executive Committee; Karonnie Truzy is nominated as NCAJ’s first Diversity Officer for 2017-2018.
• The Task Force begins reaching out to affinity organizations and local bars to recruit new members and to offer expunction clinics and sidebar social/networking events.

February 2017

• NCAJ President Bill Powers establishes the President’s Diversity Task Force. 
• The Task Force sets a monthly meeting schedule.
• An affirmative statement on diversity is drafted.

Learn more about Diversity and Implicit Bias

• Implicit Association Tests - by Project Implicit
• The Hidden Prejudice. Scientific American Frontiers (Video).
• Blindspot by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald. The authors reveal hidden biases based on their experience with the Implicit Association Test, a method that has revolutionized the way scientists learn about the human mind and that gives us a glimpse into what lies within the metaphoric blind spot.
• Diversity is Being Invited to the Party; Inclusion Is Being Asked To Dance, ABA Journal. Verna Myers.
• 3 Ways to Make Less Biased Decisions, Harvard Business Review. Howard J. Ross.
• How Diversity Makes Us Smarter, Scientific American. Katherine W. Phillips.
• Implicit Bias Review 2016. Kirwan Institute.
• Implicit Bias In The Courtroom. UCLA Law Review.