Minority Bar hails pioneers

One by one, their names were called and they made their way to the stage amid applause and standing ovations. The ballroom was filled to honor these pioneers of the state's legal community, the first 50 minority lawyers admitted to the Utah State Bar.

In some cases, family members or presenters accepted the awards on behalf of the recipient. But largely, the honorees personally accepted the accolades.

Hosted by the Utah Minority Bar Association, the Saturday night gala at the Grand America Hotel paid tribute to the courage and dedication of these "First 50." Their hard work, said UMBA President Sean Reyes, has allowed each minority lawyer coming after them not only to practice but to flourish."

The list begins with Lawrence Marsh, who was admitted to the state bar in 1909, and includes state and federal court judges, private attorneys, former elected office-holders and professors.

In giving the night's keynote address, Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine M. Durham praised the night's honorees but noted that work remains to be done to equalize the legal profession.

"There is good news and there is bad news," Durham said. "The good news is that we have so much to celebrate tonight. . . . At the same time, there is reason for us to rededicate ourselves . . . to the goals of appreciating and committing to difference."

Law school admissions for Native Americans, Hispanics and blacks continue to be much lower than for whites and Asians, she said. And the difference has actually grown in the past 10 years, at a time when the nation's population is diversifying at increasing rates.

Though women and people of color are practicing law, Durham said, they have yet to be "fully integrated into the legal profession." Studies have shown that women and minorities get paid less than their white, male counterparts, she said.

The integration of minorities into the field of law ensures justice in many ways, the chief justice said. Particularly because they often return to serve the communities where they were raised, bringing the law to populations that have been traditionally underserved.

Only 3 percent of the some 7,000 active members of the Utah State Bar are minorities — a figure that leaves Reyes with mixed feelings. "That number is both exciting and depressing to me," he said.

Exciting because it shows that minorities are practicing law in Utah in a measurable amount, he said, but disheartening because it stands in stark contrast to the 15 percent of Utah's population who are minorities.

Also Saturday night, UMBA awarded four $1,000 scholarships to minority students at the SJ Quinney of Law at the University of Utah and the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.

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