ABA's Equity Summit shines light on DEI issues in legal profession
The 2023 ABA Virtual Equity Summit is scheduled for Oct. 23 and 24. The conference is $99 for ABA members and $149 for nonmembers. The association’s law student members can attend for free. Image from Shutterstock.
The ABA is once again hosting a fully virtual conference to educate lawyers, judges, law students and other legal professionals on crucial diversity, equity and inclusion issues and facilitate robust dialogue about how to address these issues.
The 2023 ABA Virtual Equity Summit, scheduled for Oct. 23 and 24 and sponsored by the ABA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council and ABA Continuing Legal Education, will offer several CLE programs and panel discussions, workshops and other events.
It is the second year for the summit, which was first host in September 2021 in response to ongoing national conversations about racism and inequality. An ABA press release is here.
On Oct. 23, ABA President Mary Smith will open the summit with remarks at 11 a.m. (All times are provided in Eastern Standard Time.) Judge Bernice Donald, who retired from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati in January, will give the keynote address at 12:30 p.m.
CLE programs Oct. 23 include “The Changing Landscape of the Judiciary Panel,” which will be moderated by Judge Adrienne Nelson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and highlight why diversity is essential to a fair and impartial judiciary and public confidence in the courts and rule of law. It begins at 11:10 a.m.
Among CLE programs Oct. 24 is “Disability Justice: Path Toward True Equity and Inclusion.” The panel, which begins at 3:15 p.m., will provide a history of the disability justice movement and how it differs from the disability rights movement. It also will examine how intersectionality impacts the experiences of disabled people who have multiple identities.
Also Oct. 24, a panel of legal professionals and advocates will use caselaw and legislation to examine the evolving role of lawyers as catalysts for social change during “Being an Activist in the Legal Field.” The discussion begins at 5:55 p.m.
Deborah Enix-Ross, the ABA’s immediate past president, will give the summit’s closing remarks at 7:10 p.m.
The conference is $99 for ABA members and $149 for nonmembers. The association’s law student members can attend for free.
More registration information and the full list of programs can be found on the 2023 ABA Virtual Equity Summit website.
