Letter from the Chair

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE VIRGINIA STATE BAR DIVERSITY CONFERENCE

Promoting diversity within the Virginia State Bar while bringing access to justice to Virginia’s diverse population AUGUST BEQUAI, ESQ., EDITOR

Letter from the Chair Dear Virginia State Bar Diversity Conference Members and Friends,   I am honored and humbled to serve as the Chair of the Virginia State Bar Diversity Conference for fiscal year 2016-2017.  I follow a strong legacy of leaders who have laid the foundation for furthering the Diversity Conference’s mission of 1) fostering and encouraging diversity and inclusion in admission to the bar, advancement in the profession, and in the judiciary; 2) facilitating diversity and inclusion in professional leadership opportunities; and 3) ensuring that Virginians’ changing legal needs are met. Over the years, like other organizations with a similar mission, the Diversity Conference has faced numerous challenges and perceived setbacks. However, I am encouraged that we can look back and say that we are better because of the trials that we overcame together to make the Diversity Conference what it is today. Throughout it all, the Diversity Conference’s leadership and members have been an encouragement and resource to lead the way for the future. This is a very unique and rewarding year for the Diversity Conference as it is our first year as a funded conference of the Virginia State Bar (VSB). Prior to this year, the Diversity Conference survived as a result of successful sponsorship and grant initiatives, as well as many generous out-ofpocket contributions from board members. This

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critical financial status change has enabled the Diversity Conference the opportunity to think more strategically about how we can best serve within the Commonwealth of Virginia moving forward. Upon receipt of this wonderful news, the Diversity Conference’s Board of Governors tasked itself with outlining several new and continuing programs that align with both the Diversity Conference’s mission stated above and the VSB’s mission that includes, but is not limited to, advancing the availability and quality of legal services provided to the people of Virginia and assisting in improving the legal profession and the judicial system. Some of these programs include: • CLE at the Conference of Local Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm Practitioner Forum: Understanding Diversity: The Changing Realities and Considerations in the Practice of Law in the Commonwealth of Virginia • Co-sponsor of the following CLEs at the 2017 VSB Annual Meeting: Grace and Justice on Death Row; How Attorneys Can Promote and Advance Access to Justice; Autism and the Practice of Law • Law School Mentor/Mentee Initiative at the 2017 VSB Annual Meeting • 7th Annual Fore Diversity Golf Tournament at the 2017 VSB Annual Meeting • 2017 Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute Continued on page 5

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Joe Condo to Receive Dunnaville Award

Diversity Conference came into existence and today thrives, and the encouragement and promotion of diversity is now an integral part of the Virginia State Bar.

Judge Manuel Capsalis At the Virginia State Bar’s Annual Meeting on June 16 in Virginia Beach, the 2017 Diversity Conference’s Clarence M. Dunnaville, Jr. Achievement Award will be presented to Joe Condo. It is a recognition long overdue. Promoting and enhancing diversity and inclusion was the paramount goal of my term as president of the Virginia State Bar in 2008-09.  To initiate the process that eventually led to the creation of the Diversity Conference, we formed a Diversity Task Force.  We knew that the work and any recommendations of the task force would be critically reviewed and for a portion of the bar, perhaps criticized and disparaged.  The success or failure of our diversity initiative was utterly dependent on the success or failure of the Diversity Task Force itself.  We knew that its membership needed to be of the highest caliber and its work thorough and professional. The task force members included jurists, attorneys, and academicians. The work proved painstaking and complex. The hopes and aspirations of so many hung in the balance. Many felt a reckoning of sorts was at hand. The final report and recommendations of the task force were tendered to Virginia State Bar Council. After vigorous debate and by a strong majority, in June 2009 Bar Council by resolution voted favorably for the creation of the Diversity Conference and for amending the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia to include as a power of Bar Council the responsibility “To encourage and promote diversity in the profession and the judiciary.” In January 2010, this resolution was approved by Order of the Supreme Court. Because of the hard work of the task force, the

This monumental achievement never would have occurred but for the noble efforts of the Diversity Task Force. The person who chaired that task force, guided it toward consensus and masterfully spearheaded the successful results, was Joe Condo. If history judges the Virginia State Bar favorably with advancing diversity and inclusion, it is clear that anything we achieved during my term as bar president was done by standing on the shoulders of so many valiant individuals who came before us.  As much as anyone else, this must include Joe Condo.  As president of the Virginia State Bar in 2000-01, Joe prioritized diversity and created the Millennium Diversity Initiative (MDI), which in turn created an impetus and funding for the Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Summer Pre-Law Institute and other diversity-focused projects, including the Diversity Conference itself before it finally gained bar funding in 2016. For 40 years, Joe has been at the forefront of promoting diversity and inclusion on both the state and local level, paving the way for others to carry the torch.  He continues to be a vibrant force for inclusion and is a leader and mentor for an entire generation within Virginia’s legal profession. The Clarence M. Dunnaville, Jr. Achievement Award is presented annually to honor a member of the bar “for setting an example that fellow members can emulate to meet the conference’s goal of fostering, encouraging, and facilitating diversity and inclusion in the bar, the judiciary, and the legal profession.” Joe Condo truly is a worthy recipient.

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The KPMG Foundation: Creating a Pipeline to Diversity in Business through Higher Education Since 1968, the KPMG Foundation has been exploring, supporting, and developing programs to enhance and improve business higher education. The foundation seeks to bring about systemic change in business and society—specifically, an increase in the diversity of ideas. That’s why they invest in business education and volunteerism at all levels, over the long term. Their programs aimed at business higher education include competitive faculty research grants, endowed scholarships and professorships, faculty professional development, and many others (see side bar history on the following page). Their matching gift program is used strategically by conducting campus specific campaigns that restrict the aggregate giving to those areas that address the most critical needs of the university business school, and resonate with the passions and interests of the KPMG employees and partners who contribute to the campaigns.

Over twenty-three years ago, the KPMG Foundation became the creator, primary funder, and driving force behind The PhD Project, one of the most far-reaching and ambitious programs ever conceived to address the under-representation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in business, higher education, and the corporate workforce. A landmark effort, The PhD Project aims to put more minorities on business school faculties, which will attract more minority students and create greater diversity among future business school graduates thereby increasing the pool of diverse candidates available to employers. Continued on next page

We get the calls. You get the clients. www.vsb.org/vlrs

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The KPMG Foundation

(continued)

When the PhD Project began in 1994, there were just 294 minority business school professors (1 percent of all business school professors) in the United States. Today, that number has quadrupled to over 1,350 with 270 minority doctoral students on their way to becoming professors, and these numbers are increasing every day. Fewer than 60 of the over 1,600 business programs have a dean that is either African American, Hispanic American or Native American. The PhD Project is addressing that through professional development programs and engagement with search firms.

Over the years, the KPMG Foundation has provided support and direction to a number of initiatives that have greatly impacted business higher education. This list highlights those programs, many of which are still supported by the foundation. 1968 Foundation Inception Matching Gift Program Direct Grants 1974 KPMG Professorships 1976 Research Opportunities in Auditing

Because of its success and the obvious, longterm need for such a program, The PhD Project became a separate 501(c)(3) public charity, with the foundation continuing to be the lead sponsor, which includes cash and the cost to provide all of the required administration. After creating The PhD Project, the foundation focused on supporting programs that impacted the flow of minority students to college. Our KPMG Families for Literacy focuses on grades K-3 almost exclusively for disadvantaged students at inner city schools. KPMG’s support for Junior Achievement Finance Park addresses financial literacy at middle schools again with a heavy involvement toward the underserved. The foundation has supported the National Academies Foundation for many years, where students in under-resourced high schools attend career academies while fulfilling standard high school curricula that prepares them for college. These programs, combined with support of The PhD Project, represent over 40 percent of the KPMG Foundation’s discretionary grant budget. It is obvious that KPMG and the KPMG Foundation are very serious about diversity.

1980 INROADS 1985 Research Fellowships 1986 Doctoral Scholarships Consortium for Graduate Study in Management 1988 Research Opportunities in International Business Information Tax Research Opportunities

1997 The PhD Project Finance, Management and Marketing Doctoral Students Associations Minority Information Systems Doctoral Scholarships 2000 National KPMG Employee Volunteer Program 2005 The PhD Project Association (launched as a 501(c)(3) Public Charity) 2007 KPMG’s National Audit Case Competition Program 2010 The PhD Project AHEAD – Achieving Higher Education Administration Diversity – is launched to encourage tenured minority faculty to explore positions in administration

Faculty Fellowships

2011 National Academy Foundation (NAF)

1993 Minority Accounting Doctoral Scholarships Historically Black Colleges and Universities

2012 Junior Achievement Finance Park (JA)

1994 The PhD Project The PhD Project Accounting Doctoral Students Association 1996 The PhD Project Information Systems Doctoral Students Association Points of Light Institute

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2015 The PhD Project Faculty Alumni Association Sessions added to summer programming 2016 KPMG Families for Literacy

Autism Speaks U brings Autism Awareness to Colleges and Universities The Autism Speaks U program supports students, faculty members and alumni in their awareness and fundraising efforts to support Autism Speaks and its mission. Autism Speaks is enhancing lives today and accelerating a spectrum of solutions for tomorrow. Since its inception at Penn State in 2006, Autism Speaks U has raised millions of dollars to help fund the mission of Autism Speaks through studentorganized events and Walk Teams. Our chapters, led by their president(s) and vice president(s), are made up of students on the spectrum, students who have family members or friends on the spectrum, or students who want to make a difference in the autism community. Throughout the semester, chapters:

Autism Speaks’ Mission Autism Speaks is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. We do this through advocacy and support; increasing understand and acceptance of autism spectrum disorder; and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. Through partnerships and collaboration, we are committed to: • Increasing global understanding and acceptance of autism

• Have one-on-one advisement calls with the Student Initiatives Team in the beginning of each semester

• Being a catalyst for research breakthroughs

• Attend three webinars hosted by Student Initiatives

• Improving the transition to adulthood

• Host fundraising events, volunteer within their local autism community, and host other events to provide a greater understanding and acceptance of autism

• Ensuring access to reliable information and services throughout the life span

• Fill out a semester report to summarize the work they did and provide feedback on the Autism Speaks U program and how it can continue to grow.

Letter from the Chair (continued) For more information about these programs and other initiatives, please visit the VSB Diversity Conference website at http://www.vsb.org/site/ conferences/dc. As we move into a new year, the Diversity Conference has its eyes set on, among other things, strengthening its membership involvement, establishing a signature program/event, and continuing to partner with like-minded

• Increasing early-childhood screening and timely interventions

If you’d like to start an Autism Speaks U chapter at your college/university, please register at www.Autismspeaks.org/U. For more information on the program in general, please reach out to David Berenbaum, Sr. Coordinator, Student Initiatives, at [email protected].

organizations with an emphasis on advancing our mission and respective goals. I look forward to continue to serve as a champion for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  If you have any suggestions as to how the Diversity Conference can better serve our legal community, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Best, Latoya

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Congratulations Judge Shah! Former Diversity Conference Chair Judge Rupen Shah was elected to the Augusta County District Court and began his six year term on February 1. Here, he is photographed with former Virginia State Bar President Ed Weiner. Judge Shah served as president of the Augusta County Bar Association and was recognized by the Virginia State Bar as a local leader of the year 2009.

Latoya Asia Capers, Esq. Chair Arlington, VA

August Bequai Newsletter Editor McLean, VA

Carole Hetfleisch Capsalis, Esq. Chair Elect Tysons Corner, VA

Christopher Richard Fortier, Esq. Board Liaison Oakton, VA

David Dinan Masterman, Esq. Secretary Vienna, VA

Stephanie Blanton VSB Liaison Richmond, VA   Social media: vsbdc Dcvsb

Luis Antonio Perez-Pietri, Esq. Treasurer Falls Church, VA

www.vsb.org/site/conferences/diversity

Fee Dispute Resolution Program

Now that your work is done, do you find yourself in a dispute with your client over fees and costs? The Virginia State Bar offers another way to settle those disputes, without resorting to costly litigation. The Special Committee on the Resolution of Fee Disputes oversees the Fee Dispute Resolution Program to provide an avenue, other than litigation, for the expeditious and satisfactory resolution of fee disputes between attorneys and their clients through mediation and uniform arbitration proceedings and works to foster trust and communication among attorneys and clients. For information on the program, go to our website at www.vsb.org/site/about/resolution-of-fee- disputes.

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