March 19, 2018

Diversity Conference Notes from the Chair

BY: Carole Capsalis


The Diversity Conference is proud to announce a new program in the fall. The University of Richmond School of Law will host our first Annual Forum on Diversity in the Legal Profession on November 9, 2018. We hope that the forum will 1) have presentations for CLE credit, 2) address issues of implicit/unconscious bias, and 3) connect employers and minority candidates. We hope to provide this forum at various locations around the state, partnering with the law schools around the Commonwealth. Do you lead a bar association or affinity group? We would love to have your organization’s participation. Contact Chair-Elect Luis Perez at [email protected] for more information.

See us in Virginia Lawyer – The Diversity Conference will be featured in the Virginia Lawyer issue for the month of August. We still need authors for articles. Interested? Contact Carole Capsalis now at [email protected].

Our Annual Meeting Programming will be back this June in Virginia Beach on Friday, June 15, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. Our Showcase CLE topic will be Rallies, Riots, and Demonstrations: What does the First Amendment Protect, and What Limits are there for Citizens, Local Governments, and Law Enforcement? Our panel members will be Claire Gastañaga, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia; Kathleen Dooley, City Attorney for the City of Fredericksburg; and Leslie Kendrick, First Amendment Scholar and Vice Dean of UVA Law School. This dynamic and interactive program will be moderated by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Nachmanoff of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division. Our co-sponsors include the Hispanic Bar Association of Virginia; Old Dominion Bar Association; Access to Legal Justice Committee, Northern Virginia Black Attorneys Association, the Virginia Equality Bar Association, the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia.

Our Annual Meeting Mentor-Mentee Initiative program will be back for the 2018 Annual Meeting. The Deans of each Virginia law school have identified two law student mentees from each school to attend the 2018 Annual Meeting. We will soon be seeking attorney mentor volunteers in April. Mentors must be present for the entire meeting. Watch your email for your opportunity to participate in this unforgettable experience. See our article on the 2017 Annual Meeting Mentor Mentee Initiative in the November 2017 article of Invictus for more information.

The Fore Diversity Golf Tournament will be back at the Annual Meeting, and will once again take place at the Virginia Beach National Golf Course on Thursday, June 14, 2018. Registration information will come with the Annual Meeting registration packets. We hope to see you there.

Mark Your Calendars! The Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute will take place on July 8-13, 2018, at the University of Richmond. Applications have been sent to school superintendents throughout the Commonwealth out for prospective students, rising 9th through rising 12th graders. We have room for at least 30 students. To volunteer and for questions, contact this year’s HTI directors, Courtney Frazier and Wesley Allen at [email protected]. We need volunteers to serve as mock trial judges and participants, instructors, and speakers throughout the week long program.

Jazz for Justice is back and expanding to the University of Virginia. Join us at Old Cabell Hall, Sunday,April 15, 2018. It will be an amazing concert with proceeds going back to local legal aid. A special thank you to the music departments at each school for providing the music for each event.

Are you interested in serving on our Board of Governors? We have two seats open on our Board of Governors. One of the two openings can be a non-attorney lay member. Email Carole Capsalis (carole@chcapsalislaw.com) with your nominations. Nominations are due April 11, 2018.

The 2018 Clarence A. Dunnaville Award is open for nominations. Nominations are due by April 30, 2018. The Award criteria and the nomination form is available on the Diversity Conference website at www.vsb.org/site/conferences/diversity/dunnaville_award.