Open Letter to President-Elect Trump from National Legal Associations

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Open Letter to President-Elect Trump from National Legal Associations:

Dear President-elect Trump:

As the leaders of national legal associations, including the National
Association of Women Lawyers, Ms. JD, the LGBT Bar, the National Asian
Pacific American Bar Association, and the National Bar Association, we
urge you and the members of your incoming presidential administration
and Congress to find common ground and lead the nation towards unity and
inclusion.

As Americans and as lawyers, regardless of our party affiliation, we
cherish the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power to a new
administration after each election. At the culmination of this
challenging and contentious election season, we call upon you to lead
the nation towards unity and inclusion. We also call upon you and our
newly-elected Congress to preserve and expand the hard-fought rights
that have been established for all of our citizens, not to diminish them.

The work of our organizations continues to be critical, as we amplify
the collective voice of women and men of all races, ethnicities, gender
identities, and sexual orientations. You, along with Secretary Clinton
and President Obama, all agree that we must come together as one united
people. Actions supporting inclusion and justice for all are essential
to achieving that goal. We call on you to make diverse appointments to
leadership positions on your transition team, to key positions in your
administration and at every level of government, and to the federal
judiciary. We owe it to ourselves, as well as to those who came before
us and those who come after to work together.

The mission of the National Association of Women Lawyers is to
provide leadership, a collective voice, and essential resources to
advance women in the legal profession and advocate for the equality of
women under the law. Since 1899, NAWL has been empowering women in the
legal profession, cultivating a diverse membership dedicated to
equality, mutual support, and collective success. If you are not already
a member, please considering joining. NAWL welcomes the membership of
individual attorneys, including private practice, corporate, academic,
government and non-profit attorneys, and groups, including law firms,
corporate legal departments, law schools, and bar associations. Learn
more at www.nawl.org.

Ms. JD is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the
success of aspiring and early career women lawyers. Ms. JD is governed
by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of law students and legal
professionals. Founded at Stanford Law School in 2006 by a group of
female law students from Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley), Cornell, Georgetown,
Harvard, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, UT Austin, the University of Chicago, the
University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and Yale, Ms. JD is
a 501(c)(3) incorporated in California. Serving as a unique nexus
between the profession and the pipeline of diverse attorneys, Ms. JD’s
online community provides a forum for dialogue and networking among
women lawyers and law students. Ms. JD’s programs provide law student
fellowships, public interest scholarship and international scholarships
for foreign women law students. With campus chapters throughout
the nation, Ms. JD is also home to the National Women Law Students’
Organization. Learn more at www.ms-jd.org

The National LGBT Bar Association (“LGBT Bar”) is a non-partisan,
membership-based professional association of lawyers, judges, and other
legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender legal organizations. The LGBT Bar
promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT
community in all its diversity.

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the
national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law
professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of about
50,000 attorneys and over 75 national, state, and local bar
associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm
lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys, and
lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA engages in
legislative and policy advocacy, promotes APA political leadership and
political appointments, and builds coalitions within the legal
profession and the community at large. NAPABA also serves as a resource
for government agencies, members of Congress, and public service
organizations about APAs in the legal profession, civil rights, and
diversity in the courts.

The objectives of the National Bar Association “…shall be to advance
the science of jurisprudence; improve the administration of justice;
preserve the independence of the judiciary and to uphold the honor and
integrity of the legal profession; to promote professional and social
intercourse among the members of the American and the international
bars; to promote legislation that will improve the economic condition of
all American citizens, regardless of race, sex or creed in their efforts
to secure a free and untrammeled use of the franchise guaranteed by the
Constitution of the United States; and to protect the civil and
political rights of the citizens and residents of the United States.”

Contacts

Caitlin Kepple, NAWL
kepplec@nawl.org
Raychelle
Thrasher, Ms, JD
President@ms-jd.org
Laura
Hoch, LGBT Bar
laura@lgbtbar.org
Brett
Schuster, NAPABA
bschuster@napaba.org
Keith
Andrew Perry, NBA
ED@nationalbar.org