The MELAW Inaugural banquet was a great success. Follow the Read More link below to check out some of the great pictures that we caught. ...

The MELAW Legal Clinic will open its phone line on October 2, 2010. The focus of the Legal Clinic will be on the rights of Middle Eastern constituents in the state of Washington and specifically King County. The Legal Clinic will be staffed by volunteer attorneys and support staff who are knowledgeable in the law and how it influences the lives of Middle Easterners in civil rights, employment law, criminal law, family law, and discrimination. To find out more visit the MELAW Legal Clinic...

MELAW is proud to announce Haleh Esfandiari as the keynote speaker. Dr. Esfandiari is the Director of the Middle East Program at the Washington, D.C. advanced research institution, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She is an expert on Iran’s domestic and foreign policy as well as regional politics. Dr. Esfandiari is the author of numerous articles and books, including My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran, based on Esfandiari’s arrest by the Iranian security authorities in 2007, after which she spent 105 days in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin...

Join your MELAW friends and meet new members at the no-host Social Hour! When: September 22, 2009, 6:00 p.m. Where: Tig Asian, 614 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA (between Cherry St. & Yesler Way) The restaurant is offering special discounts to us, including extending their happy hour. In addition to socializing and networking, you will learn about MELAW’s upcoming plans and provide input on MELAW activities. The board is also setting up committees and you will be able to sign up for those, if you would like to get more involved with our group. Please RSVP and we look forward to seeing you...

The September issue of the WSBA Bar News contains an article entitled  MELAW:  The Birth of a New MBA, written by MELAW President Aneelah Afzali. The article discusses how MELAW started, developed, and its progress to date. You can read the entire article here on our website – Check it...

In early 2008, there were 14 Minority Bar Associations (MBAs) in Washington. Despite this variety, there was no legal voice for Middle Easterners, even as the Middle East dominated international headlines and local communities felt the “legal” and illegal repercussions of a post-9/11 backlash. The South Asian Bar Association of Washington (SABAW) made valiant efforts to welcome our community, and some, like me, were members of SABAW. But SABAW could never represent the entire Middle East, a vast region with a diversity of countries, cultures, religions, languages, and politics that proved...

The MBA Joint Committee on Law Firm Diversity (“Joint Committee”) released a Law Firm Diversity Report last year, which evaluated the top 50 law firms in Washington on diversity issues.  Because MELAW was not yet in existence, it was not a member of the Joint Committee.  This year, MELAW is a member and, with the other members of the Joint Committee, is helping revise the questionnaire and improve the process for the Law Firm Diversity Report.  The Joint Committee anticipates sending questionnaires to law firms by the end of this year. For more information, please contact...

As you may be aware, the domestic partnership expansion law (“everything but marriage” with respect to state rights for same-sex domestic partners), which was passed by the Washington Legislature and signed by the Governor, is going to be put to a vote this fall as Referendum 71. The Washington Families Standing Together coalition is organizing voters to approve the referendum. The MBAs, including MELAW, have been asked to become organizational sponsors of Washington Families Standing Together. At present, there are over 150 organizational sponsors. You can see the full list here (note that it...

On August 27, 2009, MELAW President Aneelah Afzali met with Gail Stone, Director of Justice and Diversity Initiative at the Washington State Bar Association (“WSBA”). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss MELAW’s efforts to modify the demographic form used by the WSBA to collect statistical data on lawyers in Washington State. Currently, the form does not include an option for Middle Easterners. Gail Stone agreed to discuss the issue with the WSBA and work on editing the forms. Another topic of discussion was the language options available on the Lawyer Directory used by the WSBA. That...

On August 24, 2009, MELAW Vice President for Community Outreach, Damon Shadid, attended a meeting with Senator Maria Cantwell’s staff to discuss how the Minority Bar Associations of Washington (“MBAs”) could aid the Senator’s office in improving diversity in the federal judiciary.  Members of 12 of the MBAs attended the meeting, and the discussion focused on ideas to help the Senator utilize the knowledge and expertise of the MBAs in making judicial selections.  The group discussed short term collaboration in helping select candidates for the judicial vacancy in the Eastern District of...

MELAW participated in this year’s Arab Festival, which was held on August 1 and 2, 2009. The Festival, a biannual event held at Seattle Center as part of the Safeco Insurance Festal Series, showcases and celebrates Arab culture and provides information and education about the Arab world and the Arab community in the Northwest. With two stages, dozens of performers, three rooms featuring workshops and lectures, dozens of vendors and booths, including several food booths and a coffee shop, and children’s activities, the Festival was a success. MELAW had a booth on both days, with volunteers...

The WSBA has extended invitations to the leaders of the MBAs, including MELAW, to participate in a gathering to discuss the structure of the bar with respect to diversity.  By way of background, the WSBA Board of Governor’s Diversity Committee hosted a gathering on July 17, 2009, to discuss how diversity should be structured within the bar and how to communicate, cooperate and coordinate the diversity efforts of the committees within the WSBA. Representatives from the BOG’s Diversity Committee, WSBA’s Committee for Diversity, the Young Lawyer’s Diversity Committee, the Washington Leadership...

MELAW — along with the other MBAs — has been asked to sign on to an amicus brief that will be filed by the ACLU in a case pending before the WA Court of Appeals. Information about the amicus brief is below. Please let us know if you have thoughts one way or the other on whether MELAW should sign the amicus brief. If you’d like more information or would like to see the amicus brief when it’s ready, please let us know. We value your input! This is a medical malpractice case that went to trial in Spokane County. A new trial was granted after the trial court ruled that jurors...

MELAW had a booth at this past weekend’s IACA Iranian Festival at Seattle Center. Thanks Polly Peshtaz, Nima Seyedali, Manal Boulos, and Nilly Park for helping staff MELAW’s...

MELAW co-sponsored the third annual Statewide Diversity Conference on Friday, June 12 at Seattle University. The conference was a success, as was the panel MELAW put on regarding Judicial Appointments. Our VP of Community Outreach, Damon Shadid, moderated the panel, and the panelists consisted of Richard Mitchell and Judge Edsonya...

Thanks to all of you who made it to our First Annual Membership Retreat on Saturday, June 6, and thanks to our sponsors: Stokes Lawrence, P.S.; Lotus Law Group, PLLC, and Cherry Street Coffee House. We had a good turnout and a great discussion about a few different things, including the scope of our group’s political activities – conversations we will continue throughout the years. We also voted in our official 2009-2010 board, and the election results are as follows: President: Aneelah Afzali General VP: Sahar Fathi VP of Events: Nilly Park VP of Membership: Polly Peshtaz VP of...