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The Grand Rapids Bar Association’s Minority Clerkship Program was initiated in 1990-91 to address the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Michigan Supreme Court Task Force on Ethnic/Racial Issues. A number of local law firms, the Floyd Skinner Bar Association, and the GRBA joined together attract first-year minority law students to Grand Rapids.

We were proud of the quality of practice here and the quality of life in the Grand Rapids area. The major law firms each had diligently tried to recruit minority lawyers but had not been successful. To the best of my recollection, there was no person of color or Hispanic who were partners in any of the area’s major law firms at the time. There were a few minorities in the associate ranks, but just a few.

The GRBA and our local firms realized we must make our Firm’s memberships reflect the Community we serve. It was the right thing to do and it made good business sense to insure that we reflected the complexion of our Community and the clients and their employees that we serve. So, the Minority Clerkship Program’s goal was to encourage minority law students, primarily students of color, to come to Grand Rapids and evaluate how we practice law.

Over the years the Minority Clerkship Program has been successful in attracting first-year minority law students. However, the challenge has been in retaining them. After the completion of the first-year summer clerkship, there is no obligation for either the student for the Firm to continue the relationship.

In 1990, the GRBA had approximately 1,500 members and of this number, 30 were considered minorities. Today, there are 1,389 members in the GRBA (though my guess the number of lawyers in Grand Rapids is greater than that) and still there are only approximately 30 minority members.

I was President of the GRBA 1990-1991 when the minority clerkship program commenced. Recently, I looked back to see what progress had been made. To be honest, I am not confident that we had succeeded in our original goal. As I write this article, we have only two persons of color who are partners in major law firms, albeit one firm is the Grand Rapids office of a Detroit firm, and we have a small number of associates who are African American or Hispanic in some of our major law firms. This is not from lack of effort by our law firms who partnered with us originally to create the Minority Clerkship Program, because the effort has been there but the numbers are discouraging.

There are those who say, we have to maintain our quality, and we cannot lower our standards. If the last 20 years have taught us anything, it is the quality does not come in shades of color. No one ethnic group has a corner on intelligence. People of color and other minorities are succeeding in every type of profession both in business and in government. We are challenged to increase our efforts, examine our recruiting programs, and look into our hearts to make minority membership in our major firms a reality.

The GRBA will continue to work of the Minority Clerkship Program to encourage minority law students to come to Grand Rapids. The GRBA realizes its commitment to its members to continue our efforts in the area of diversity. So, on March 9, 2010, the GRBA along with its partners will sponsor a roundtable, Retention of Diverse Attorneys. The presentation will concentrate on the recruitment and retention of women and persons of color. We want to continue our progress and make it possible for all people to enjoy the quality of our practice of law in the Grand Rapids area. Your attendance and participation at this event will be a show of support for our taking this to the next level.

Last month, the leaders of the  Regional Policy Conference issued a community update and progress report before the Economic Club of Grand Rapids. Conference Co-Chairs Jeff Connolly of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Doug DeVos of Amway, Jim Dunlap of Huntington Bank, and Peter Secchia of SIBSCO LLC revealed the vision for future progress - State change with regional grassroots support.

In September 2008, conference attendees voted to set an aggressive agenda for turning Michigan’s economy around. Since the inaugural conference, five task forces comprised of more than 130 volunteers have been working to develop action steps needed to accomplish the five directives. The agenda includes: 

•  Eliminate the MBT with corresponding spending cuts
•  Implement a right-to-work status for Michigan
•  Increase funding for health care providers with effective prevention practices
•  Streamline the permitting process within state government
•  Update funding mechanisms for transportation infrastructure

Progress by the Legislature has been slow. The tell-all moment of the presentation was when the Co-Chairs unveiled a report card to Economic Club members, measuring the success, or lack thereof, from Michigan’s lawmakers. The Legislature was given a “D” for the progress made to date on four of the five directives, and an “E” for failing to make Michigan a right-to-work state.

“Our focus from day one has been about re-energizing Michigan to show the world we are open for business,” said Jared Rodriguez, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the Chamber. “Legislators must put partisan politics aside and engage in bi-partisan coalitions and reach across the aisle to get Michigan moving forward again.”  The report card was not meant to assess blame, but rather to show a sense of urgency. The business community must work with lawmakers in crafting public policy and share their feedback to help turn Michigan’s economy around.  

“Our Conference Co-Chairs delivered a critical message to lawmakers, we want to be and need to be a part of the solution,” said Rodriguez. “We are committed to supporting any lawmaker who leads with BOLD ideas for creating jobs and opportunities.”

Moving the Regional Policy Conference agenda forward will hinge on the collective voice of the regional business community. Conference Co-Chairs closed the community report asking for all members of the business community to engage and send a clear message to Lansing: Fix Michigan’s budget with structural reforms and create a competitive business tax.

The Regional Policy Conference asks you to join with us and send a letter to your lawmakers. Please visit www.grandrapids.org/rpc and take action today! If you have any questions or would like to get involved in a task force, please contact Jared Rodriguez at 616.771.0359 or rodriguezj@grandrapids.org.