Minutes
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8/8/11 9/12/11 | 10/1011 | 11/14/11 | 12/12/11

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
Meeting Summary for December 12, 2011

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met on Monday, November 14 2011 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the offices of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

In Attendance: Ashley Wenger (Co-Chair),  Heather Kliebenstein (Co-Chair), Leslie Altman, Kendra Brodin, Erin Knapp Darda, Sarah Demers, Julia Halbach, Rita Johnson, Krista Schneider, Ashlee Bekish, Sarah Novak, Anna Horning Nygren, Anna Kim, and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff)

Special guest:  Kimberly Espinosa (via teleconference) from the Military Spouse JD Network

Update on fall CLE related to findings of the Diversity Survey Report
The Program is still being considered by the Day 9 Committee.  Hopefully the Committee will know by the next meeting.

Update on law school panels
Ashley Wenger is working on securing February dates from the law schools.  Updates will be given at the next meeting.

Discussion of initiative to provide for provisional bar membership for military law spouse attorneys
Kimberly Espinosa from the Military Spouse JD Network attended via teleconference to speak about the initiative.

Next step: Leslie Altman will contact Peg Corneille at the State Board of Law Examiners to find out what the procedure is for a rule change in Minnesota.  An update will be provided at the next meeting.

Continue discussion re whether to become a MSBA section or stay as a committee
Due to the mixed feedback from Committee members, the Committee voted to table this issue for now and revisit it again in the future.

Next Meeting
The Committee will meet next on Monday, January 9, 2012 at Noon at the MSBA offices. 

Meeting adjourned.

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
Meeting Summary for November 14, 2011

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met on Monday, November 14 2011 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the offices of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

In Attendance: Ashley Wenger (Co-Chair),  Leslie Altman, Kendra Brodin, Erin Knapp Darda, Sarah Demers, Julia Halbach, Casey Nolan, Emma Phillips, Christina Walters, and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff)

Update on fall CLE related to findings of the Diversity Survey Report
The following was submitted to the Day 9 Planning Committee:

The MSBA Diversity and Women in the Legal Profession Committees would like to request your consideration to include our bias CLE for the 9 Days in June programming. We envision the CLE as a lively and informative series of vignettes that Interact actors would perform, and after each vignette, well-known attorneys and judges from our legal community would be present to comment on the vignette and facilitate discussion around it, including best practices.  The vignettes are going to be culled from the results and many comments provided via the MSBA’s Diversity/Sage survey and would provide “two sides to every story.”  We currently envision this to be either a one or two hour program (with a respective 4-8 vignettes).

The Lake Shore Players (http://www.lakeshoreplayers.com/ )which is an amateur acting group that includes a fair number of lawyers and judges is very enthusiastic about our project and offered to take our material (the study) and write up the dialogue, rehearse it, and put it on in June for $1,000 or $1,500 (worst case scenario).

The Day 9 Planning Committee meets next at the end of November to review the proposal.

Report of UMN panel discussion and discussion of possibly organizing additional panels at other law schools
The University of Minnesota Law School Panel held on October 19, 2011 was well received.  Students’ feedback was very positive.  It was the consensus of the Committee that these panels are helpful to students so the Committee will proceed with organizing additional panels at other law schools.  Ms. Wenger will get dates from William Mitchell, Hamline, and St. Thomas.  The Committee will discuss potential speakers and topics at the next meeting.

Discussion of initiative to provide for provisional bar membership for military law spouse attorneys
The Committee continued its discussion regarding the initiative by the Military Spouse JD Network to advocate for provisional bar membership for military spouse attorneys in every state. Ms. Demmers reported on her research regarding what other states are doing:

• Two other states have proposed changes to the bar admission rules that allow easier access for military spouses: Ohio and Idaho
• Ohio’s changes were submitted by the Ohio Women’s Bar Association, and basically allows lawyers who are in the state because their spouse is there on military orders. These lawyer spouses need:
• To have graduated from an ABA school
• Have an OH supervising attorney
• Comply with CLE and New Lawyers training
• Be a member in good standing in another jurisdiction
• Their bar membership expires when the military orders are complete.
• There is a $300 fee for applying, and a fee for the National Conference Bar Exam report
• Idaho has basically the same proposal
• In Minnesota, it is $500 to take the bar exam, and $950 to be admitted on motion
• To be admitted on motion, an attorney needs
• To have worked 5 of the last 7 years in another state
• Or work for a government agency, as a law professor, in military, in house corporate, or a judicial clerk
• So in Minnesota, the main hindrance for military spouses would be the 5 of 7 year requirement, because many have moved around too much to meet this requirement.
• A good resource for information is the Military Spouse JD Network: http://www.militaryspousejdnetwork.org/
• You can find both proposals here

Leslie Altman will contact Peg Corneille at the State Board of Law Examiners to find out what the procedure is for a rule change in Minnesota.  This issue will be discussed further at the next meeting.

 The Military Law Committee is interested in this project but needs to know more.  Tram will circulate Ms. Demmers’ research information to the Military Law Committee.

Report on October 25, 2011 Minority Bar Summit
Leslie Altman and Alan Haynes presented the 2011 SAGE Report on Gender Equity and Diversity at the Minority Bar Summit held on October 25, 2011.  The next summit meeting will probably be held in February.

Other Business:
The Committee continued its discussion of whether to morph into a section of the MSBA or remain a committee.  There was mixed feedback.  Ms. Wenger noted this would be a major change, and one that requires full committee vote.  Ms. Wenger will put together some information to be distributed at the next meeting for review and vote. 

Kendra Brodin is close to completing her data per state research on leadership positions at the state bar associations and any women’s group.  Ms. Brodin will send Tram her completed information for distribution with the next meeting notice.

Next Meeting
The Committee will meet next on Monday, December 12, 2011 at Noon at the MSBA offices. 

Meeting adjourned.

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
Meeting Summary for October 10, 2011

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met on Monday, October 10, 2011 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the offices of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

In Attendance: Ashley Wenger (Co-Chair),  Heather Kliebenstein (Co-Chair), Leslie Altman, Kendra Brodin, Sarah Demers, Julia Halbach, Emma Phillips, Sarah Fassbender Novak, Krista Schneider,  Kate Sykes, and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff)

Update on fall CLE related to findings of the Diversity Survey Report
Ms. Altman, Ms. Kliebenstein and Ms. Horning Nygren attended the CLE planning meeting with members of the Diversity Committee on October 7.  The planning committee is suggesting a half-day seminar, possibly to be held in early 2012 and/or as part of Nine Days in June. The seminar will consist of reporting on significant findings and talk about best practices.  It should be more interactive with possible vignettes from well-known “actors” (possibly from the Courts).  The planning committee is meeting via teleconference on October 12 to continue planning.  Updates will be given at the next meeting.

Discussion of law school panels
The University of Minnesota Law School Panel is set for October 19 at 12:15 p.m. in Room 40.  Panel members include: Rebecca Bernhard, Julia Halbach (Target), Judge Kathleen Sanberg, Krisann Kliebacker-Lee (Cargil), and Rachel Tobberman.

Discussion of initiative to provide for provisional bar membership for military law spouse attorneys
The Committee discussed the initiative by the Military Spouse JD Network to advocate for provisional bar membership for military spouse attorneys in every state. The Ohio Women’s Bar Association has already petitioned the Ohio Supreme Court to consider provisional bar membership for military spouses who meet specific criteria.  Ms. Demmers volunteered to look at other states to see what they are doing and will report back next month.  It was noted that the Military Law Committee might have an interest in this issue.  Ms. Wenger will contact the chair of that committee.

Report of diversity recommendations for MSBA President Brent Routman
The Committee discussed the list of diversity recommendations proposed by Leslie Altman, Kendra Brodin, and Ashley Wenger.  The list was distributed to committee members prior to the meeting and was available at the meeting.

The Committee also discussed the possibility of becoming a section (instead of remaining a committee) of the Minnesota State Bar Association. It was noted that the main differences between a section and committee are that section members pay dues and therefore sections have their own budgets and elect their own officers; whereas committees operate out of the MSBA general fund, have limited budget, and committee chairs and membership are appointed by the MSBA President.  Tram will provide Ms. Wenger with information on how to become a section of the MSBA, statistics on how many women are currently on the MSBA Assembly, the percentage of women compared to men in the overall MSBA membership profile.

Minority Bar Summit
The next meeting is scheduled for October 25 at Noon at the MSBA offices.  Heather Kliebenstein will attend on behalf of the Committee.

Next Meeting
The Committee will meet next on Monday, November 14, 2011 at Noon at the MSBA offices. 

Meeting adjourned.

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
Meeting Summary for September 12, 2011

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met on Monday, September 12, 2011 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the offices of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

In Attendance: Ashley Wenger (Co-Chair), Leslie Altman, Kendra Brodin, Dana Bartocci, Erin Knapp Darda, Sarah Demers, Julia Halbach, Emma Phillips, Sarah Fassbender Novak, Anna Horning Nygren, Krista Schneider, Nancy Mischel (MSBA staff), and MSBA President Brent Routman.  Via Telephone:  Heather Kliebenstein (Co-Chair), Marlene Garvis.

Update on fall CLE related to findings of the Diversity Survey Report
Ms. Wenger reported that she met with David Ahlvers, Chair of the Diversity Committee.  The two of them believe a three part CLE series on the findings of the Diversity Survey makes sense due to the amount of information contained in the report.  The goal is to hold the first CLE in early November.  Ms. Kliebenstein, Ms. Nygren and Ms. Altman agreed to work on this project with volunteers from the Diversity Committee.  Ms. Wenger will distribute the final Diversity Survey Report to the Committee.  She and Mr. Ahlvers also discussed holding focus groups on diversity topics with law students in their third year.

Best Practices Implementation Pilot Project
Ms. Garvis updated the Committee on the efforts of the Best Practices Outreach subcommittee.  Eleven employers have agreed to pilot implementation of some or all of the diversity best practices.  The next step is to meet with the employers and ask them to define their goals, as well as how the subcommittee might assist them.  A question was raised whether this effort could somehow be tied into the SAGE Awards.  This question will be explored as the SAGE Award process is reviewed and revamped. 

Advancement within the MSBA Structure
Mr. Routman informed members that the four MSBA officers are elected in a rotation.  The Hennepin County Bar Association elects one representative, the Ramsey County Bar Association elects another, greater Minnesota districts elect one, and the last spot is the at-large/diversity seat.  Phil Duran currently occupies the at-large/diversity seat.  Thus, one clear way to advance in the MSBA structure is to first advance in the county/district bars.  Mr. Routman recommended identifying your passions and getting involved; taking on responsibilities and fulfilling them in a timely fashion and expressing interest in moving up.  He encouraged members to apply for openings on the MSBA Assembly or other opening as they arise.  He also recommended letting bar officers know of your interest so they can keep it in mind when making Committee chair appointments.  He also suggested the HCBA’s LINC program that focuses on leadership. 

Members asked for Mr. Routman’s suggestions on how to disseminate the information from the Diversity Survey Update Report.  Mr. Routman responded he could include it in a future President’s Column in Bench & Bar magazine.  He also suggested trying to have a CLE program included in Nine Days in June.  Members noted it would need to be an interactive, engaging CLE.  Ms. Brodin, Ms. Altman and Ms. Wenger will work on some recommendations for Mr. Routman as to other diversity efforts he might consider making as President.

Mr. Routman encouraged members to contact him any time with ideas, questions or comments.  His email is: BrentR@merchantgould.com and his cell phone is (612) 703-5063.

Other Business:
Ms. Wenger asked for volunteers for the October 19 panel discussion at the University of Minnesota.  There is only one volunteer to date.

Next Meeting:
The Committee will meet next on Monday, October 10. 

Meeting adjourned.

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee
Meeting Summary for August 8, 2011

The Women in the Legal Profession Committee met on Monday, August 8, 2011 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the offices of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

In Attendance: Ashley Wenger (Co-Chair), Heather Kliebenstein (Co-Chair), Leslie Altman, Dana Bartocci, Kate Sykes, Emma Phillips, Casey Nolan, Sarah Novak, Anna Norning Nygren, Jennifer Jameson, Erin Knapp Darda, and Tram Nguyen (MSBA staff).

Co-Chairs Ashley Wenger and Heather Kliebenstein welcomed everyone to the Committee for the 2011-12 bar year; followed by introductions.

Report of name/mission statement subcommittee; vote on recommendations
Ms. Wenger reported on the work of the subcommittee and indicated that the general consensus was that we should keep our name the same, but change our mission to the following:

"To advance and advocate for the interests of women in the legal profession by building a foundation for achieving success and satisfaction in their professional lives."

Motion was made to adopt the new mission statement; motion was unanimously approved by the Committee. 

The new statement will need to be approved by MSBA President Brent Routman.  Tram will follow up with Mr. Routman and will notify the Committee when it is approved.

Report of legislative criteria subcommittee; vote on recommendations

There was a general consensus from the strategic planning session that we needed some guidelines about when new legislation should be brought up to the entire committee for review.  The subcommittee discussed the idea of developing some basic criteria that legislation had to meet in order to entertain an entire committee discussion.  As far as process, anyone could email one of the chairs of the committee saying they wanted to discuss a certain piece of legislation, but that when they did so they would have to state in their email to the chair(s) how it met the requisite criteria.  The proposed criteria are:

1. Does the legislation have an impact on women?  If so, what is the impact on legal rights and how does this depart from previous legislations?
2. Does our knowledge/experience/insight as women attorneys allow us to offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand?
3. Who else (what other groups, etc.) has taken a position for or against the legislation, and what are these positions?
4. How does it fit within our mission?

Motion was made to adopt the criteria; motion was unanimously approved by the Committee.

Report of SAGE subcommittee; vote on recommendations
Erin Darda Knapp reported on the work of the subcommittee. 

In General:

1. Could we take nominations (from people who work at the firms/organizations or others)? We could promote the nomination process through Bench & Bar and the newsletter, etc.
2. Could the process be two-fold, consisting of a nomination by self or other, followed by a formal application?
3. Should we consider creating tiers based on number of attorneys and/or kind of organization? We could have two categories, such as private (firms, etc.) and public (i.e. judicial, city/county attorneys, legal aid, nonprofit, etc.) and then have categories under the private firms based on size. The applications could be distinct for the two large categories to make the questions more relevant. Under the private firms, they could all fill out the same application, but then we would divide the applications based on firm size into two or three categories (small, medium, and large.)

About the SAGE Best Practices and Participants:

1. Once we have the results of the Diversity Survey, could we revisit the entire SAGE Best Practices? They have not been updated since 2003. Many of the firms who signed on are no longer in existence.
2. We could use the revised Best Practices as a way to get firms/organizations to actively sign on again. We could also use it as a way to get the word out about the Best Practices and the award.
3. We may want to consider ways to create the Best Practices so that they are as relevant to different kinds of employers as possible. Much of the current language does not apply to employers who are not firms.

The subcommittee recommends that the bulk of the work wait until we receive the responses from the diversity survey.

Planning for fall CLE related to findings of the Diversity Survey Report

The Committee discussed the possibility of doing a fall (probably November) 2-hour CLE on the findings of the Employer Diversity Survey and, in particular, unconscious bias. The plan is to potentially take a shortened version of this CLE "on the road" to the law schools, as well as offer it up as a presentations that we could give to interested firms and employers upon request.  Ms. Wenger will check with the Diversity Committee to see if they want to co-sponsor.  Ms. Kliebenstein volunteered to head up the planning for this CLE.

Meeting schedule for 2011-12:
The Committee will continue to meet on the second Monday of each month from 12:00 – 1:00 pm. at the MSBA Offices.

Next Meeting:
The Committee will meet next on Monday, September 12.  MSBA President Brent Routman will be present to talk about advancement within the MSBA structure.

Meeting adjourned.