Life Beyond Your Bubble

BY HON. RUDOLPH “RUDY” K. METAYER

“The person you recommended is simply amazing!! Where did you find her? She’s really unique huh?”

I cannot count the number of times I have heard these words when I am referring either an attorney of color to a well-respected business person or a managing partner at local firm, or a law school student who is spending the summer with the firm as an Austin Bar Association Diversity Fellow. Make no mistake, I feel great pride when I hear about the success these lawyers and law students have found in their respective areas. All of us have to credit the men and women who came before us and blazed the trail of opportunity which we follow. However, it is also a painful reminder of how, even in 2020, many people see it as an oddity to have an attorney of color in a major law firm or working in house (or as outside counsel) for a Fortune 100 business. Many in our profession view finding qualified and talented attorneys and law school students of color who will succeed in these arenas an impossible task. But I can attest from firsthand experience, these women and men can easily be found. It just depends where you are looking.

As we get older, one of the unfortunate side effects is our natural inclination to start segmenting ourselves into smaller and smaller subgroups. From the neighborhoods we live in to the churches/ places of worship we attend, the people with whom we surround ourselves and decide to invest our free time tend to look, and think, like we do. Consequently, our spheres of influence tend to reflect this self-limited reality. This reality is detrimental not only to our practice of law, but to our health and wellness. As rational beings, when we become detached from the realities a significant portion of our society faces, we become unaware of the applicable trials and tribulations that exist. Therefore, when a society-altering event such as the murder of George Floyd occurs right in front of our eyes, it shocks many of us to our core that this could happen in our country because it does not comport with the reality that has been created in our self-made “bubble.” Or, put in another way, it does not fit into the context (nor provide us with the skill set) we have fit into our own narratives of reality. Yet, for the portion of society that has to navigate life both in and out of this bubble, such an event not only comports with our own life experiences, but frankly, has become a way of life to which we have adjusted in order to compensate in our lives. For better or for worse.

Additionally, we have a State Bar that is 78 percent white in a state with a population that is only about 42 percent white. You can see where this leads to a crisis regarding the ability to have the bar reflect the population it serves. A key to expanding your social circles and spheres of influence is by participating in one of the many local affinity bar groups that enable attorneys like me to know and refer a probate attorney who is Black, a tax attorney who is Asian-American, or an oil and gas attorney who is Hispanic.

Expanding participation and knowledge are where organizations such as the Austin Diversity Report Card Committee (ADRCC) become a vital tool to fight the perpetual lack of diversity and opportunity for attorneys of color. This organization was founded more than 20 years ago by Austin attorneys Paul Ruiz and Brian Jammer. They saw the disconnect between the pool of talent available to local law firms and the attorneys who were hired. The ADRCC knew many qualified attorneys who were being overlooked and wanted to find a way to solve this issue. By grading whether or not major firms reflected the diversity they proffered to support, the ADRCC tracked the progress (or lack thereof) that Austin firms were making to diversify their ranks, and gave pragmatic and factually based tools to address the system that repeatedly left out qualified candidates. As a result of ADRCC's efforts, Austin law firms have extended their respective spheres of influence, including participation in the Diversity Fellowship Program, to find attorneys who they often previously said were “unique” and impossible to find, recruit, or hire.

Does that mean diversity issues in the legal professions have been resolved? No. No it doesn’t. The recent comments by State Bar President Larry McDougal and the reaction from members across the bar, make clear that we have a long, long way to go. Yet we should highlight, praise, and appreciate the work of organizations such as ADRCC, for they are in the trenches trying to make a difference in our bar, our state, and our country. When you get a chance, I encourage you to please look at the results of the report card and reach out to the members of the committee. It is 2020, and the Austin legal market is now among the most robust in the state. It is past time for Austin firms to reflect the diversity of our booming, cosmopolitan city and region. The result will not only improve our profession but will also make us better lawyers and, more importantly, better people—people with empathy for and awareness of the experience of those who live outside of our own bubbles. AL