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The symposium’s historical panel was composed of Jason Gillmer, moderator and professor of law at Texas Wesleyan, Susan Carle, Kevin Brown, Kamille Wolff and Carla Pratt.

The Texas Wesleyan Law Review hosted The Role of Lawyers of Color Symposium on Friday, Oct. 9 at Texas Wesleyan School of Law in downtown Fort Worth. The purpose of the symposium was to explore and examine a range of historical, current and future issues that surround lawyers of color.

The symposium was comprised of 14 presenters from all over the country who came to speak on a variety of topics such as lawyers of color and education, lawyers of color and the legal profession, an historical perspective on lawyers of color, and current social issues surrounding lawyers of color. The presenters were selected on previously submitted papers.

Carla Pratt, professor of law at Penn State University and a former law professor at Texas Wesleyan, was the symposium’s first presenter. In addressing the controversy surrounding President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, Professor Pratt noted that, “No person, judge or justice, black or white, or otherwise, can be divorced from their lived experiences. Once we embrace this reality, we recognize the value of diversity on the bench.”

Other presenters in the symposium’s four panel discussions examined Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the impact of historically black law schools, increasing minority representation on the Bar, ensuring multicultural educational experiences in legal education, the race-conscious affirmative action legal debate, the connection between lawyers of color and politics, and modern opportunities for increased Hispanic representation on the Federal Bench.

“The event was a great success,” said symposium editor Amanda Buffington. “We look forward to publishing the Symposium Edition of the Law Review with the presenter’s papers. They are all very timely and relevant in today’s multicultural society.”

The symposium presenters also included Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowan School of Law; Kevin Brown, of the Indiana University-Bloomington Law School; Susan Carle; Adrienne D. Davis, of the Washington University Law School; Angelique M. Davis, of Seattle University; Johanna Dennis, of the Vermont Law School; Dana Thompson Dorsey, of the University of Illinois at Springfield; Angela Mae Kupenda, of the Mississippi College of Law; Wendy Tolson Ross, of Texas Tech University School of Law; William Turner, of Emory University; Deleso Alford Washington, of Florida A&M University College of Law; Linda Maria Wayner, of the Office of the Mayor of New York City; Patricia A. Wilson, of Baylor Law School; and Kamille Wolff, of Thurgood Marshall School of Law.