The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.
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32 B&B; • 1.15 The Kentucky Bar Association, the Louisville Bar Association and the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville will host a Diversity and Inclusion Summit on Friday, April 10, 2015, at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville. The summit will involve attorneys from across the state as well as local and nationally recognized speakers in a program of discussions and education. The summit will provide practical resources and ideas for firms to implement their own diversity and inclusion programs. Additionally, information will be provided to assist management and other administrators with handling diversity issues. The program will also emphasize ways to empower attorneys from diverse backgrounds to work through these same issues to become successful contributors in their places of employment. "Diversity brings a wider range of viewpoints to any situation, and that's good for the legal profession, for the pursuit of justice, and for the bottom line in our businesses," said KBA President-elect Doug Farnsley of Louisville, a major organizer of the event. "The summit will provide an opportunity for members of the bench and bar to explore the full meaning of diversity and its relationship to the rule of law." Sharon E. Jones , an attorney who serves as president and founder of the Chicago- based Jones Diversity Group, will serve as speaker for the summit's opening session. Jones, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, specializes in providing diversity/inclusion consulting and training to individuals, law firms, corporations and organizations. Additional summit participants include Judge Bernice B. Donald , the first African-American woman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District in Cincinnati; Judge Amul Thapar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, is the first South Asian Article III judge. Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Denise Clayton , the first African-American woman to serve on the Commonwealth's Court of Appeals; and Judge C. Derek Reed , district court judge for the 10th District Court in Hart and LaRue counties. Renee Shaw, producer and host of KET's legislative coverage and host of "Connections with Renee Shaw," the state's first statewide minority affairs program, will serve as moderator for two of the summit's panel discussions. On Thursday, April 9, in conjunction with the event, 25 attorneys will participate with 25 law students, 25 undergraduate students and 25 high school students in a pipeline service project coordinated by the law school and the Legal Aid Society to rally the involvement of attorneys in mentoring diverse students from the high school level through college and law school. The pipeline project will serve as a continuation of the KBA Young Lawyers Division's annual "Why Choose Law: Diversity Matters" project. Farnsley encouraged attorneys from across the Commonwealth to make plans to attend the summit. He also commended current KBA President Bill Johnson for making diversity in the legal profession one of his chief priorities for his term in office. "Throughout this process, he's provided the planning committee with great support and encouragement," Farnsley said. Thanks to the Kentucky Court of Justice, Frost Brown Todd LLC, the Kentucky Bar Foundation, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Stites & Harbison PLLC, and Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC for serving as "Platinum Sponsors" for this event. Sponsorship opportunities are still available; for more information, please contact Mark Flores at (859) 244-7529 or you can e-mail him at mflores@fbtlaw.com. Please save the date and make plans to attend this important summit. Registration information will be available soon. Diversity and Inclusion Summit April 10, 2015 Galt House Hotel Louisville NATIONALLY KNOWN EXPERT AND TRAIL-BLAZING JUDGES TO SERVE AS FEATURED SPEAKERS FOR THE FIRST INAGURAL KBA DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION SUMMIT B A R N E W S Judge Amul Thapar Sharon E. Jones Judge Denise Clayton Judge Bernice B. Donald Judge C. Derek Reed