multi-bar leadership council
A Brief History of the Multi-Bar Leadership Council
By seth D. Kirschenbaum
Davis, Zipperman, Kirschenbaum & Lotito
O
n September 21-22, 2001, less than two weeks after
9/11, the Atlanta Bar Association hosted a retreat at
the Pine Isle Resort on Lake Lanier. The purpose of
the retreat was to bring together the Atlanta Bar Association
and members of six other voluntary bar associations
representing lawyers from diverse backgrounds. Included in
the group were representatives from the Georgia Association
for women Lawyers (“GAwL”), the Gate City Bar Association,
the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“GAPABA”), the
Georgia Association of Black women Attorneys (“GABwA”),
the Hispanic Bar Association and the Stonewall Bar
Association representing the LGBT community.
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to accomplish that objective. Thus, the Multi-Bar Leadership
Council (“MBLC”) was formed.
Opening the retreat, I, as President of the Atlanta Bar
Association, addressed the fifty lawyers sitting around
the conference table. I noted that while they represented
different communities defined by culture, race, gender and
sexual orientation, they all had two things in common; they
were all attorneys and they were all Americans.
It was determined early on that the purpose of the MBLC was
not political activism. Rather, its purpose was to serve as
a mechanism for communication, reaching across the lines
that divide us, and searching for common ground, growth,
education and respect among the diverse groups within our
legal community. Over the years, the MBLC has engaged
in a number of different activities including mentoring law
students, hosting debates for appellate judicial candidates,
hosting panel discussions featuring lawyers from diverse
backgrounds, holding social events for its members and
establishing a Diversity Award to recognize people who
have distinguished themselves as leaders in promoting and
celebrating diversity in the legal profession. The Diversity
Award is now in its fourth year. This year, the winner is Lori
Garrett, Southeastern Executive Director of the Minority
Corporate Council Association.
The timing of the retreat was poignant because the nation’s
psyche was still raw and reeling from the shock of the
September 11th attacks. It was a time when people walking
down the street said hello to complete strangers. It was a
time when America, for a brief moment, pulled together in
recognition of the fact that we were all in this together. Thus,
it was a good time to reach out to each other and start a
conversation about increasing the level of communication
and understanding between members of the legal community
from diverse backgrounds.
Over the ten years of its existence, the MBLC has grown
from its original seven members to fourteen members.
The additional members are the DeKalb Bar Association,
the DeKalb Lawyer’s Association, the North Fulton Bar
Association, the Sandy Springs Bar Association, the South
Asian Bar Association of Georgia, the State Bar of Georgia
Diversity Program and the State Bar of Georgia Young
Lawyers Division. Expanding upon the original group, the
new members have energized the MBLC and have been
very active members of the organization.
Over the course of the weekend, there was an animated
conversation about diversity, issues facing various groups,
and proposals for improving contact and communication
among the diverse members of our legal community.
Friendships were established that, ten years down the road,
are still in existence. On the second day of the retreat, the
question was posed “where do we go from here?” The
answer from the collective was that we should keep this
conversation going and establish some sort of mechanism
The MBLC continues to function as a leader in promoting
diversity, communication and understanding in the legal
community. Over the past ten years, the degree of diversity
has increased in many respects and the issues relating
to different members of the MBLC have continued to
evolve. New challenges face the legal community and the
MBLC takes pride in being a central player in the ongoing
conversation regarding diversity in the legal profession.▪
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
August/September 2011
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association