Job Fair Looks to Change the Face of the Legal Field in Kansas City

by David Smale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Sylvester “Sly” James joined the law firm of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin in 1983, he felt “like a raisin in a bowl of milk,” said James. He was the only African-American attorney on the entire staff.

Seven years later, when he became a partner, he was the only African-American partner at his firm, and one of only two at any of the top 10, if not top 20, law firms in Kansas City.

During the first 20 years of his law career in Kansas City, James discovered that many of the larger firms were competing in minority issues, and that none were having much success. He knew that something needed to be done. When he became the President of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association in 2003, his primary goal was to launch and develop the Diversity Initiative.

“It had become a case of each firm promoting itself,” James said. “I decided we needed to get the firms’ names out of the picture and work together to get it moving.” The KCMBA’s Commitment to Diversity was agreed to by representatives of most of KC’s leading firms in December 2003.

One of the key pieces of that commitment was the Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair, and the first annual event will be held September 9-10 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel. Even though the diversity initiative was his idea, James gives all of the credit for the job fair to Tina Harris of Shook Hardy & Bacon, the chair of the job fair for KCMBA’s diversity committee.

“She has been the key person in getting this off the ground,” he said. “Without her and her committee, it wouldn’t have happened.”

The purpose of the job fair is to sell law students on the benefits of Kansas City and the law firms that reside there. “We’re selling the community in general—the quality of life, the residential markets, the business opportunities, the educational opportunities, everything,” said Tom Stewart of Lathrop & Gage, chair of the KCMBA’s managing partners committee. “And our Bar-B-Q is not bad either."

“I don’t think it’s hard to sell. If you’re trying to outsell Wichita, we win nine out of 10. But most of these candidates have opportunities all over the country. They could go to New York, Chicago or Washington. So in that case it’s harder to sell K.C.”

Stewart says it’s unusual for the leading firms to work together like this. “In the 1960s and 70s, and maybe the early 1980s, all the managing partners got together all the time. Through the mid-80s until recently, it became more rare. When competition hit, we were cannibalizing each other. The KCMBA managing partners committee has been active in promoting things where we have a common interest. And we certainly have a common interest in this area.”

The initial goal of the job fair was to attract 100 law school students, though Stewart admits that if they got 50, they’d call it a success. They cut off the registrations at 200 when they received more than 240 registration requests.

“We wanted it to be more regional than local,” Stewart said. “The fact that it became national is a plus. These students are coming for many different reasons: a little out of curiosity, chances for employment, a good job by Tina and her committee, and KC is attractive to these people.”

James is amazed and thrilled at the success of the first effort, but he still has one “expectation” that he hopes is met.

“I still want to make sure enough employers show up,” he said. “The goal is to show that there are students of color to be hired. It requires the firms to do things outside of the box, not to apply the same methods or criteria.

“It’s important that our profession reflects society. Lawyers are the people who protect rights and advance causes. We protect people who in many cases can’t protect their own rights. Many of those people don’t ‘reflect’ law firms. Like any business, law firms recognize that they need to have employees who reflect their customer base.

“And morally, it’s the right thing to do.”