A tradition in Detroit's African American legal community takes place later this month.

I'm talking about the Barristers' Ball, presented by the Wolverine Bar Association and Foundation.

Now, this event raises money to help Black law students with internships and scholarships, educational courses, and mentoring.

The proceeds also are used to provide legal assistance for the underrepresented community.

For an update on the current state of diversity in the legal profession, I talked with Wolverine Bar Association President Diane Hutcherson and Gregory Conyers, who is Director of Diversity for the State Bar of Michigan.

Diane, let's start by talking about the Barristers' Ball, which is such a great annual event.

Talk about the history of the ball and what it means today.

- Well, it was started in 1961.

And it originally was set for February because that was our tribute to Black History Month.

But over the years, it has because of dates and so forth, has changed to like March, April.

And actually that's better for us women with our gowns and everything because it's not as cold outside.

And hopefully no snow at the end of it.

- Yeah.

Right.

- And so last several years we've had it in either late March or early April.

And it is our signature fundraiser.

It's a party with a purpose.

People also like to call it the Lawyers' Prom, which it really is.

But we also invite the community as well from civic, political, all aspects, all spectrums, we invite to help us party with a purpose.

- Yeah, yeah, and really this is a celebration of the African American legal community and all of the things that that means, right?

That's not just people who are lawyers or judges.

It's how much progress I feel has been made with issues of civil rights in the legal system.

And of course inclusion, which is a really hot issue right now.

- Right.

Definitely, definitely.

And actually, this is my second go-round.

I was first president from 2006 to 2007.

And now this go-round.

So I didn't get enough the first time.

I came back.

- You're a glutton for it, right?

- Yeah, I guess so.

- And talk about what the money that's raised at the ball does for the Black legal community.

- Okay, well, for one thing, like this year we have seven scholarships that we're giving to first, second, and third-year law students.

The newer students like to say one L, two L, and three L. And so this helps us have more diversity in the legal profession because as you probably know, there are only about 5% of African Americans that practice law and it's not much more from years past.

So it's an attempt to increase the numbers of African American attorneys, not only in the state of Michigan but throughout the country because we do have people that come through our association that go out into other areas and other states.

- Yeah, yeah, Gregory, talk about how much Wolverine Bar has meant to you.

- What I have been able to do over the years is lead folks to understand the importance of the scholarship and the importance of this as a representation of the public, of the inclusive public being able to get together, particularly attorneys of color, and fellowship.

It's a prom with a purpose.

It's a party with a purpose.

But the real important aspect is to really understand what the community looks like, to be able to network and work with each other throughout the year, to make some improvements in the profession.

- Let's talk about the role that you play at the Bar Association leading diversity efforts.

This is a really interesting time I think to have that role.

Every day when I go on social media, if I go to regular news sites, what I see is what I would say is a false debate being posed about the value of diversity and equity and inclusion.

Of course, four years ago, we saw lots of people embrace that concept in a different way.

Now there's a real pushback.

Talk about what that looks like in the legal community.

- Well, I would say that the purpose primarily of the Bar Association is twofold.

One is the protection of the public and the other is upholding the rule of law.

And both are buttressed by an inclusive legal profession.

And so the most recent history around looking at DEI and making negative connotations regarding it is really not indicative of the entire body of work that has been done over years and years by the Wolverine Bar Association, by members of the legal profession, and others to really understand the importance of inclusion and diversity to the legal profession, to members of the public, and certainly to upholding the rule of law.

And so we're determined to work on these issues no matter what the climate of the political day is.

And we continue to be able to do that with the help of bar associations and legal professionals and stalwarts in the profession that many of whom attend the Wolverine Bar Barristers' Ball.

- Yeah, yeah, Diane, just for a refresher here, let's talk about how important it is to have African Americans represented well in the legal profession.

Why does that matter for lawyers?

Why does that matter for judges?

Why does that matter in other parts of the judicial system?

- Well, it's important because people want to and I think it's been proven that when African Americans have other African Americans representing them, they feel more comfortable.

They get more things done.

That's also true in the medical profession.

When I can talk to someone that looks like me, you can get more done that way and it could be more constructive, as opposed to well, I'm out here by myself.

I have no one I can relate to.

And I've had some instances in my practice of law where I was the only African American in a room with the court reporter wasn't Black.

I was the only Black person.

And the plaintiff was a Black person.

And they would have certain language that they would say that only I knew.

And I could translate that for everyone else.

And so that's very important because the world is getting increasingly diverse.

And so we got to get with the times.

And we got to get with the fact that diversity is here to stay whether you like it or not.

- Yeah, yeah, Gregory, talk about here in the state of Michigan where the Wolverine Bar Association's diversity efforts are kinda focused and the things that you're really kind of concerned about moving the needle on right now.

- Well, as Diane alluded to earlier, we know that people of color are a small percentage as it relates to what we look like in the general public, the legal profession.

And so our goal is to increase the pipeline to the profession.

We are working again with other bar associations and other constituents to introduce the concept of being a part of the legal profession early to our students.

We've got programming that includes the face of justice, where we go into schools and other settings to work with everyone from high school students all the way through law school students, to have them be in front of people within the legal profession, to what we call jet mentor, just to talk to them about what it means to be a part of the profession and how important it is and give them the opportunity to give us feedback.

We are also at the, after the Barristers' Ball, we host what is known as the Brunch for Bars, where we invite members of the legal community who are a part of bar associations to come and join us.

And we try to collaborate and network and use that opportunity to talk more about how we can improve the diversity and inclusion of the profession.

- Yeah, I'm curious to hear each of you talk about how you got interested in a legal career and what barriers I guess you encountered but also what opportunities you found to help you sorta find your way, Diane.

- Well, I'm a native Detroiter and I'm a current Detroiter.

And neither of my parents graduated from high school.

That's something that is shared a lot among the African American community.

And so I wasn't exposed to any lawyers at all but I wanted to be a lawyer.

I was a voracious reader.

And I had the fortune of going to a school that's now closed called Lutheran High School West.

It's on Greenfield and Joy Road.

And there was a counselor.

And she was in the habit of dissuading African Americans from pursuing any kind of post-secondary education.

And when she asked me, she said, "Well, what do you wanna be?"

I said, "I wanna be a lawyer."

This was in 11th grade and I remember this clearly.

And she was like, "Well, you know, law's a crowded field "and your PSAT score was average."

And I'm like, "PSAT score, whatever."

But I knew I wanted to be a lawyer and I never let that stop me.

And so I really didn't have any barriers.

I started experiencing the barriers once I became a lawyer because not only being a African American, I'm a woman.

And so I'm assumed to be the plaintiff if I do civil law or I'm assumed to be the defendant criminally or I'm the court reporter.

There's nothing wrong with being a court reporter but the last thing many people assume I am is a lawyer.

So and that still happens and sometimes it happens.

Like, I went to Bay City.

They assumed I was a lawyer.

But areas around here in Detroit, they'll assume I'm the court reporter.

- Wow.

Wow.

- Go figure.

Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

Gregory, how did that all happen for you?

- So, I think it's important before I mention that to say that Diane's experience is exactly the reason why we continue to do this hard work because so many times we've heard the stories of people who have been misunderstood and misrepresented and not welcomed as they should be in terms of the practice of law and other areas of the profession.

So I think that really underlines the importance of inclusion to the profession.

For me, I was fortunate and blessed to be exposed to some folks in my family who had practiced law.

And so I was always under the impression that it was a astounding profession.

And I've had the great fortune to meet many of the folks who are the leaders in the community here in the city of Detroit and around the country.

But I came to the practice, I came to the idea of going to law school quite late.

I had already started a family and was working full time.

And so I was again fortunate to be actually working at the state bar doing pro bono administration when I went to law school.

And I was afforded that opportunity by Cooley Law School, which is, you know, certainly not ranked among the top tier of schools around the country.

There's no surprise there but it was a great education and it allowed me an opportunity to do what many people should have the opportunity to do, which is to pursue their goals and to become involved in a profession that they are enamored of.