MELAW » Events

MELAW First Annual Banquet

MELAW — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:28:48 +0000

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 Prison.

Date and Time
Friday, Oct. 1, 2010
5:30 – 6:30 Social Hour
6:30 Dinner and Program

Location
W Hotel Seattle

Details
Dinner program will include the presentation of awards and Middle Eastern entertainment.
Business or cocktail attire.

Tickets and Info
$95 per person ($85 student rate).
To purchase tickets please email banquet@melegal.org.

Sponsors
MELAW extends its deep gratitude to the following firms and companies sponsoring the First Annual Banquet. Without your help and support, we would not be able to hold this inaugural event. Thank you!

Top Platinum Sponsor

Stokes Lawrence, P.S.

Bronze Sponsors

Perkins Coie
Lane Powell
Seattle University
University of Washington
Caravan-Serai Tours
Law Office of Susan Amini
True Blue, Inc

Supporters

Starbucks
Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness
Patterson Buchanan Fobes Leitch & Kalzer
Gordon Thomas Honeywell
Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland
Wagih Abu-Rish

MELAW asks you to join its growing list of sponsors. Below are the sponsorship levels. Please email banquet@melegal.org if you would like to become a sponsor.

Platinum……$5,000
Gold…………$3,500
Silver………..$2,500
Bronze…….. $1,500
Supporter…..$500

MELAW Social Hour

MELAW — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:00:02 +0000

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 there!

Coalition Sponsor of WA Families Standing Together

MELAW — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:18:12 +0000

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 is not just LGBT organizations that are sponsors). Along with other MBAs, such as the South Asian Bar Association of Washington and Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, MELAW will sign on as an organizational sponsor. For more info, contact Damon.

Meeting with WSBA about Demographic Form

MELAW — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:04:50 +0000

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 directory identifies “Farsi/Persian” separate from “Persian” as a language option. Aneelah discussed the potential confusion in having these two separate categories, both of which refer to the same language. The WSBA will correct the confusion by having one category entitled “Persian” (along with categories for other languages such as Arabic).

MELAW thanks Gail Stone and the WSBA for their time and responsiveness to MELAW’s concerns.

MBA Meeting with Senators

MELAW — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:08:54 +0000

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 Washington, as well as long term plans for assisting in the judicial selection process.

The meeting with Senator Cantwell’s office followed an earlier meeting between the MBAs and the staff of Senator Patty Murray, who is similarly interested in utilizing the MBAs to improve diversity in the federal judiciary.

MELAW thanks Senator Cantwell, Senator Murray, and the MBAs for planning and participating in these constructive planning sessions. This will hopefully be the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the MBAs and the Senators. For more information, please contact Damon.

Booth at Arab Festival

MELAW — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:21:07 +0000

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 providing information about MELAW and recruiting new members. For more information, please contact Manal.

Diversity Stakeholders Gathering

MELAW — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:14:49 +0000

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 Institute, the Board of Governors and WSBA’s President-Elect Sal Mungia and President-Elect-Elect Steve Toole were at the gathering. Attendees felt that the MBAs would contribute in a meaningful way to the ongoing discussion, which led to the decision to hold a second gathering. That second gathering will be on September 18, 2009, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Summit Law Group. MELAW board members will attend and participate. For more information, please contact Aneelah.

Seattle Iranian Festival

MELAW — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:06:36 +0000

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 booth!

Statewide Diversity Conference

MELAW — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:03:43 +0000

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 Charles.