Recent police killings of unarmed black Americans in Louisville, Ky., and Minneapolis, Minn., have garnered international attention. As citizens gathered in cities across the United States of America to protest racial inequities, companies and celebrities issued statements about diversity and injustice, ranging from forceful calls for change to platitudes encouraging listening sessions and faith for the future. Likewise, law firms and the American Bar Association made statements of their own, vowing to help implement solutions.
Law firms are community leaders, and when they spring into action to respond to natural disasters, the border crisis and COVID-19, they achieve great results. Sadly, many of the corporate statements and social media posts about police killings of unarmed black Americans lack actionable guidance.
“Faith without works is dead,” and if our commitment to equality is bona fide, we must actually do the work to achieve equality. Listed below are four commitments law firms can make to birth tangible, lasting change on the legal community and on our state.
1. Commit to yearly, mandatory implicit bias training for all attorneys and staff.
Excerpted from The American Lawyer. To read the full article, click here. (Subscription required)