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...

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...

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...