Lawyers Club Blog (ARCHIVE)

As with important advancements for women in the past, a fundamental step to further the advancement of women in law and society is to collectively organize.  In the San Diego legal community, there is no other organization that advocates for the advancement of women better than Lawyers Club.  For over 48 years, our organization has championed the causes of women and for equal and fair treatment for all women. 
 

As many of you know, June is Pride Month, a month to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and create awareness for their continued struggle to achieve equality.  This month we join the community in celebrating a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court, which finally recognized that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination and unequal treatment.  Under this decision, the Civil Rights Act now protects LGBTQ employees from being fired or otherwise discriminated against due to their gender identity or sexual orientation. 
 

As many of you know, Lawyers Club’s Annual Dinner is the largest Lawyers Club event, and a must-attend event for the legal profession.  In the past two years, we welcomed over 800 attendees and this year with Ms. Stacy Abrams as our speaker we expected another exciting and successful event. 
 

Over the last week, we have seen thousands of people take to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd and police brutality against people of color. Many have also challenged the systemic racism against people of color that have made the community more susceptible to the effects of COVID-19. In support of the protests, many individuals and organizations have issued well-intentioned statements. Although protesting and issuing statements of support are important, they are not enough to truly change systemic discrimination or the deprivation of the civil rights of the black community.
 

As I prepared my final address for the newsletter, I thought of the message I wanted to leave our members to conclude my service as president. Serving as our 48th president and reflecting on all of the achievements Lawyers Club has accomplished since its founding, some important rights and legal protections remain out of reach for women, like paid family leave, protecting access to reproductive rights, and equal pay.

Lawyers Club has been hard at work during this difficult time to support our members and the community.  We continue to serve the needs of our members by providing valuable virtual programming for networking and connecting, joining amicus briefs for important cases, endorsing judicial candidates for appointment and election, and supporting our law students and diverse legal community.  We need to continue to focus on advancing our mission because the issues affecting women have not ceased during the pandemic.  Indeed, in some respects, the pandemic has exacerbated issues that women face.  Now, more than ever, we need to support each other. 
 

As the Memorial Day holiday approaches, let us recognize the contributions of women to our military. Women have been serving, unofficially, since the Revolutionary War and continue to be an important, if unrecognized, part of our military.  As we honor those members of the military that have passed away protecting our country and its values, please remember that those members include women.   The sacrifice of our women in uniform is just as important as the sacrifice of our men.  For those of you who serve or have served in the past, thank you for your service.   

Completing our daily obligations can be difficult during these trying times.  By now, you probably have tried many techniques to cope with the stress and anxiety caused by the “new normal” and the seemingly unending uncertainty.  This week, I was reminded that sometimes the best technique to cope and move forward is to look for inspiration from others.  As you continue to tackle your responsibilities and find time to support our mission, I provide the following inspirational quote.  “Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, for as long as you can.”  -- Former U.S. Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton.

I would like to congratulate our new board members, Vaani Chawla, Deborah Cumba, Tristan Higgins, Kara Siegel, and Audrey Surridge. All of these women are leaders in our community and we are thrilled that they are joining the board.  Combined they have many years of legal experience, many with over 10 years of experience, and are all accomplished attorneys.  All have been active contributing members to Lawyers Club, including committee co-chairs. They have also been active in the legal community, including past presidents of specialty bars.  Please join me in congratulating them as we all look forward to the great work these women will do for Lawyers Club.

During this time of crisis, it is important to recognize the many brave women who have sacrificed and risked their lives to help the sick during this pandemic, including the countless doctors, nurses, medical staff, and first responders. We are equally grateful to those women who continue to work at essential businesses, including, but not limited to, grocery store works, janitors, and transportation workers. These women have stepped up for the good of society.