Deputy AG, Santa Clara bar win diversity awards
The Santa Clara County Bar Association and Gordon “Sam” Overton,
a Van Nuys deputy attorney general who has been a leader in legal access and
fairness for the disabled and LGBT communities, are the 2007 recipients of
the State Bar’s Diversity Awards.
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Overton |
The awards recognize the outstanding efforts made by a bar association and
individual attorneys in promoting diversity in the legal profession.
Outside his full Justice Department workload in a practice that has included
health, social welfare, employment, education, land use and coastal zone regulation,
Overton, 58, has voluntarily worked to protect and promote the legal rights
of the often disenfranchised. As a member of the Judicial Council’s Access
and Fairness Advisory Committee since its formation in 1994, he proposed amendments
(adopted in 2004) for jury selection standards in recognizing domestic partnerships.
As chair of the subcommittee on persons with disabilities, he developed a
curriculum for a statewide Americans with Disabilities Act conference. He also
developed a 1996 proposal for a rule of court dealing with accommodations for
persons with disabilities. And he is currently working on a study of the fair
treatment of transgender people, including attorneys, in the courts.
Overton has been continuously engaged in education efforts to further the
diversity of the legal profession and has written numerous articles and pamphlets,
as well as produced a nationally recognized video, on such topics as disability
access, equal justice for women and men, gender bias and diversity in the profession.
From 2004 to 2006, Overton served as co-chair of the Court Access Advisory
Committee for the United States Access Board, which toured and evaluated court
facilities throughout the country. He also has worked to make law schools and
bar examinations more accessible.
The Santa Clara County Bar Association, which hosted the State Bar’s
Diversity Summit in 2006, has long had a Minority Access Committee (MAC), which
works to encourage membership from minority ethnic groups, women, Muslim and
LGBT attorneys, and a Rainbow Committee for LGBT attorneys. The bar hosts an
annual Unsung Heroes reception honoring attorneys and minority organizations
that work to increase access to justice for minority groups and to increase
diversity in the profession.
In 2006, under the leadership of President Christopher Arriola, the Santa
Clara Bar Association established a Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity in
the Legal Profession, which formed subcommittees on hiring and retention and
glass ceiling and pipeline issues. The bar association has been assertive in
encouraging law firms and private sector companies to recruit and hire qualified
minority attorneys and to provide mentors.
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