Diversity panel gets seat at the VSB table

VIRGINIA BEACH – The Virginia State Bar‘s Diversity Conference has gained access to the VSB’s top policy body.

The VSB Council voted 62-5 June 13 to give the three-year-old Diversity Conference representation on the bar’s Executive Committee. The decision puts the diversity body on equal footing with other VSB conferences in its voice on management issues.

The Diversity Conference remains unfunded, however. It is the only VSB conference not to share in the bar’s budget, which is largely funded by lawyers’ dues.

The other conferences are the Young Lawyers Conference, the Senior Lawyers Conference, and the Conference of Local Bar Associations.

Peter C. Burnett of Leesburg, chair of the Diversity Conference board of governors, said he was “thrilled” with the outcome.

Burnett urged approval for the change as the VSB Council gathered at a Virginia Beach hotel. Diversity in the legal community “falls behind the medical community and other professions,” he said. “I think it’s in our interest to see that change.”

Afterward, Burnett said he was surprised by the lopsided vote. “I expected more resistance,” he said.

Concerns more procedural than policy

While questions were raised about the procedural effect of adding another conference representative to the VSB Executive Committee, there was no contention that the bar’s diversity initiative was an effort to impose quotas.

That suggestion was raised in 2009 when the Council first approved recognition of a Diversity Conference.

“The notion that diversity is code for quotas is nonsense,” Burnett told the group, and no one challenged his statement.

The procedural issue involved concern that there would be the same number of specialty conference representatives as ordinary bar Council members on the Executive Committee.

“My concern is dilution of the influence of the rank and file members of the bar,” said Graham C. Daniels of Chester.

Other Council members, however, dismissed fears of voting blocs or party-line votes on the Executive Committee.

“Once you’re in that foxhole, there are no parties,” said Tracy A. Giles of Roanoke, an EC member.

Conference track record praised

Two Council members spoke in favor of Executive Committee representation while acknowledging they voted against the proposition in 2009. The Diversity Conference has proved itself nonpolitical, they said.

“I’ve been very impressed, personally,” said Margaret A. Nelson of Lynchburg.

Council member Thomas A. Edmonds supported Executive Committee representation, but warned of legal pitfalls with any attempt to provide funding.

“The issue of the use of our dues is a serious question we have to anticipate and look ahead to,” Edmonds said.

Several Council members suggested the VSB and the Virginia bar in general remain in need of diversification. Peter D. Greenspun of Fairfax said of more than 30 judges in Fairfax County, only one was African-American and none was Hispanic.

“That’s not diversity in a county that has 52 languages it has to deal with in the schools,” Greenspun said.

After approving Diversity Conference representation on the Executive Committee, the Council voted 40-23 to table a motion to increase the membership of the EC to address the concern about dilution of rank-and-file influence.

Bar leaders said they could not recall any change in by-laws without first seeking public comment. The proposal for adding three more elected Council members to the Executive Committee could be brought up again in October, after a public comment period.

Dues increase on horizon

In other action, VSB budget chair Alan S. Anderson of Alexandria warned of a coming need for a dues increase for Virginia lawyers. The proposal would have to be considered “in the next year or so,” based on budget projections, he said.

Active lawyers in Virginia currently pay $225 in dues plus a $25 fee for the VSB Clients’ Protection Fund.

Bar staffers are scouting sites for a new agency headquarters. The VSB is looking for 25,000 square feet in downtown Richmond, reported executive director Karen Gould.

The VSB is doing “test fit plans” on three sites, Gould said. Once a site is deemed suitable, she said, the bar’s broker will attempt to negotiate a lease deal for the property. The lease would have to get approval from Gov. Bob McDonnell.

The VSB has to leave its location at the 7th & Main Building because owner Dominion Resources has its own plans for the space.