|
Established in
1998, the Greater Cincinnati Minority Counsel Program (GCMCP) was
founded upon a shared commitment among corporations, majority law
firms, minority law firms and public sector organizations of
Greater Cincinnati. At
that time, only 23 of the approximately 1175 attorneys in the top
“25” law firms in the city were black and only five of them
were partners in those firms as of July 1998. While this was an increase of minority representation,
compared to 1987 when according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, there
were two black attorneys and no partners in the top 25 law firms
in the city, the numbers still remained anemic.
With such a dismal outlook, Judge Nathaniel R. Jones,
Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals and Judge Robert L. Black, Jr.
Retired Judge, Ohio Court of Appeals, co-convenors of the Black
Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (BLAC)-Cincinnati Bar Association (CBA)
Roundtable, urged the Business Opportunity Committee co-chairs,
Dennis Broderick, Federated Department Stores and James G. Keys
Jr., Esq. to find more visible ways to focus attention on
diversity efforts in the legal profession.
Their concern
was not only that the ranks of minority attorneys could be thinned
if law schools no longer gave preference to that group, but also
that the inclination of corporations and law firms to seek out
minority attorneys could begin to wane.
The idea for
GCMCP became the centerpiece of a combined effort to address the
effects of the attacks on affirmative action.
The GCMCP, a completely voluntary program aimed at
increasing opportunities for minority attorneys.
The program would provide listings of minority attorneys to
interested companies, matching interests and specialties in the
law.
The concept was
presented to the CEO’s of three of Cincinnati’s top corporate
employers of outside legal services.
John Pepper, Chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble,
Joseph A. Pichler, Chairman and C.E.O. of the Kroger Company and
James M. Zimmerman, Chairman and C.E.O. of Federated Department
Stores, Inc. all endorsed the idea for the program and agreed to
join in hosting a C.E.O. Forum on October 30, 1998 at the Queen
City Club in downtown Cincinnati.
The purpose of
the Forum was to announce the launch of the Greater Cincinnati
Minority Counsel Program to other major corporate CEO’s and the
managing partners of the twenty-five largest law firms in the
Greater Cincinnati area.
The idea for
starting the program was sparked by the success of the American
Bar Association’s Minority Demonstration Program and the
California Minority Counsel Program.
Unlike the ABA’s program, the GCMCP’s point of entry
with a corporation is at the top level of the company.
With increased
scrutiny from their corporate clients and the legal community, it
was hoped that law firms in Greater Cincinnati would be motivated
to take a more aggressive approach toward their recruiting and
hiring efforts. Having
the necessary resolve to cope with their own biases and to address
the complicated retention issues surrounding minority attorneys
who are often confronted with a hostile work environment was vital
to the success of any such effort.
Our members work
together to specifically provide minority attorneys equal
opportunity to compete for corporate legal work and to generally
ensure a fair and just legal community.
We accomplish this by providing our membership with
networking and educational opportunities.
Response to the program has been encouraging.
GCMCP continues to grow in signatories of various entities.
|
