Why You Should Attend
Lawyers play a critical role in our society. They represent individuals, organizations, businesses, and corporations, helping them to resolve legal problems and issues in civil and criminal cases. They act on behalf of tribes, local and state governments, the federal government, and the public interest in promoting truth and justice and protecting the rule of law. They serve as leaders in our communities, small and big, working to create social and legal reform, writing case law and statutes, shaping policy, and overseeing the operation of our governing bodies and tribes.

In performing all of these tasks, lawyers have a responsibility to consider the experiences of the full diversity of individuals who reside in the United States, who serve as their clients, and whose lives will be shaped by the laws and policies they create and enact as well as the governments they run. In making these considerations in their legal work, lawyers must take an antiracist approach. They must do so if they want to ensure a racially just world. As Dr. Ibram Kendi has asserted, there is no being “not racist” in the struggle for racial justice. One is either racist or antiracist. A racist is an individual “who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea,” while an antiracist is a person “who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.” A racist “believes problems are rooted in groups of people” while an antiracist “locates the roots of problems in power and policies.” And, a racist “allows racial inequities to persevere,” but an antiracist “confronts racial inequities.” 

As Dr. Kendi explains, each one of us “can be racist one minute and  . . . antiracist the next. What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what—not who—we are.” As this seminar will teach you, it is critical for all lawyers to repeatedly and continuously work to choose antiracist action and thought in all possible instances of their legal work.

This seminar will expose you to tools you will need to engage in antiracist lawyering and will provide guidance on how all attorneys can develop practices that are centered on racial equity and justice.

What You Will Learn

• Definitions of terms that are critical to understanding and developing an antiracist legal practice
• Strategies and tools for embedding antiracist lawyering in all types of legal practice, in all substantive areas, and with clients, co-counsel, opposing counsel, and courts
• The type of impact that antiracist lawyering can have on individual clients, communities, the formation and development of the law, and society as a whole
• The impact that past and current traumas can have on the establishment and development of attorney-client relationships, community relationships, and trust in the legal system, and, vicariously, on attorneys themselves
• Antiracist strategies and tools to employ for lessening the impact of such traumas on clients, pertinent relationships, communities, yourself, and other lawyers

Who Should Attend
This program is intended for all attorneys and allied professionals.