Hon. Constance Baker Motley Essay Competition- 2nd Place Winner

The Federal Bar Association’s Hon. Constance Baker Motley Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Young Member Essay Competition is created to celebrate the life of Hon. Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) and promote her legacy by encouraging law students and younger federal practitioners to promote, achieve, and sustain diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.

The competition is named after Judge Baker Motley, the first African American woman appointed to the federal judiciary and the first woman judge in the Southern District of New York. She was a key leader of the African American civil rights movement, a lawyer, judge, state senator, and Borough president of Manhattan, New York City.

Sonny S. Haynes, Second Place Winner of the Hon. Constance Baker Motley Essay Competition

In 1987, Judge Constance Baker Motley described what the U.S. Constitution meant to her when featured on New York subway signs honoring the Constitution’s bicentennial. She remarked that it would not have been possible for her to be a federal judge just 50 years before. She
reflected, “I remember that progress every day that I preside over this court[.]” The reflection may have been bittersweet because she continued, “I remember how far we still have to go.”

Judge Motley made substantial progress during her career with several notable firsts. Despite her accomplishments paving the way for the next generation, her reflection in 1987 rings true today: we still have far to go with diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. As one example, only 2% of federal judges in the United States have been Black women.

Two things are essential to close the space between where we are with diversity in the legal profession and how far we have to go: an intellectually honest understanding of history and radical intentionality.

Conversations about diversity must start with a genuine understanding that the idea of historical underrepresentation in the legal profession amounts to a misnomer. Judge Motley could not have become a federal judge throughout most of the 20th century, not because of underrepresentation but because the bar excluded members of diverse groups.

Understanding historical exclusion, the bar must go beyond making events and opportunities available to diverse lawyers. For developmental opportunities to provide a benefit, taking the extra effort to identify and invite these lawyers can increase participation levels. The generic invitation may not be enough. Targeted outreach should include diverse bar associations, employee resource groups within law firms, and diverse organizations within law schools.

Intentional outreach should include participation, but it should also present opportunities to lead and organize. Borrowing from diversity and inclusion expert Verna Myers, “diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.” If a significant change happens within the federal bar, it is because we go beyond the invitation to dance. Inviting diverse lawyers to participate in planning events makes all the difference. The intentional outreach that can draw diverse lawyers to events can attract them to plan and organize, adding different voices and perspectives.

On radical intentionality, the judiciary can promote diversity in federal practice. Federal judges have increasingly issued standing orders considering whether to hold an oral argument if the attorney arguing is a member of a historically excluded group (the orders also typically include junior lawyers). Beyond suggesting to litigants that diverse lawyers participate, judges may consider requiring the practice. Orders could require litigants to submit plans describing how diverse lawyers will have chances to argue motions, take and defend depositions, and examine witnesses at trial.

With a commitment to historically accurate education and conversations, and intentional outreach, the federal bar can continue to close the gap on where we are and how far we have to go to promote, achieve, and sustain diversity in the legal profession.

About the Author

Sonny S. Haynes is a Litigation Partner in the Winston-Salem, NC office of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP.  She has been a federal court practitioner for over a decade in a broad range of matters, including trying civil rights cases to verdict and litigating ERISA cases.  She has
authored articles for and presented to audiences of Defense Research Institute, and has served on committees of the North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Bar Association.  As a veteran Commissioner of the Winston-Salem Human Relations Commission, her commitment to promoting equity and inclusion extends beyond the legal profession to the community at large.

About the FBA

Founded in 1920, the Federal Bar Association is dedicated to the advancement of the science of jurisprudence and to promoting the welfare, interests, education, and professional development of all attorneys involved in federal law. Our more than 14,000 members run the gamut of federal practice: attorneys practicing in small to large legal firms, attorneys in corporations and federal agencies, and members of the judiciary. The FBA is the catalyst for communication between the bar and the bench, as well as the private and public sectors. Visit us at fedbar.org to learn more.