Page 8 - March-April-CBA-Report

Hon. Jeffery P. Hopkins and Hon. William McClain
clerk’s office is, you can’t do anything. You need to have someone help guide you and round your skills and become the attorney.
The shortcoming when it comes to race, unfortunately — there’s almost a visceral reaction. Some of the [same] things that Judge McClain faced, [like] when we do a project but we don’t quite get it right, sometimes we’re looked down upon. ‘Yup, see, told you so, you can’t handle it’, when that should be an oppor- tunity for us to embrace that person and
train that lawyer up to be the skillful attorney that they can become.
We need to get beyond race and look at the skills and look at the individual character that they bring to the practice and really work hard to integrate. That’s our great challenge right now. It’s just the retention issue and then the promo- tion issue. We can get kids in, but we can’t keep them, for whatever reasons. I just think that we have to overcome our own instincts, our own faults, if you will, in terms of looking at race and looking at ability and associating the two together.
Hon. Jeffery P. Hopkins, in conversation with the Hon. Timothy A. Black and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker
While typically it is harder to prove a negative, I can say with almost absolute certainty that I would not have progressed as far in my career but for the BLAC-CBA Round Table. From the connections I have garnered throughout the years of networking events, to the mock interviews and resume clinics, to the recent sessions
with Dr. Reeves on enhancing inclusion and equity within our organizations and legal community, the Round Table has been pivotal. Each facet of the organi- zation continues to fight the seemingly never-ending battle to not only increase diversity in the Cincinnati legal commu- nity, but also retain that talent by making it a more hospitable career path to those outside of the majority. While neither in spirit nor numerically have these goals been fully realized, yet, the path ahead is brighter because of the Round Table’s past, current, and future work.
Remington A. Jackson, BLAC president
Looking to the Future
The BLAC-CBA Round Table set forth a five-year strategic plan in 2019, focused on programs, resource development, governance, membership and stakeholder engagement.
To see the plan, and for more infor- mation about the Round Table and upcoming events, please visit cincybar. org/roundtable.
Free online deposition
Safe and secure for you and your clients
hosting
When you need expert remote deposition and transcription services, trust The Ohio Reporting Company. Since 2020, we’ve taken over 80,000 remote depositions throughout Ohio and nationwide. We can even provide a free laptop and hotspot to witnesses upon request.
For those of you looking for in-person deposition services, we have you covered. We go wherever you go.
– SPECIAL THROUGH JULY 2022 – No Video Conferencing Fee Via Zoom,
Web Ex, or your Platform of Choice.
(513) 964-4554 | ohioreporters.com
8
THE REPORT | March/April 2022 | CincyBar.org