BLSA Symposium: A Tale of Two Pandemics

Matthew J. Perry Chapter of the Black Law Students Association
University of South Carolina School of Law
A Tale of Two Pandemics
March 26, 2021

Agenda
9:00-9:15 am: Welcome and Opening Remarks
William Hubbard, Dean, University of South Carolina School of Law
Ariyana Gore, Vice President, Matthew J. Perry Chapter of the Black Law Students Association

9:15-10:15am: Global Pandemic Panel
Speakers:
Gary Moore, Assistant Dean for Academic Technology, University of South Carolina School of Law
Speakers:
April Sampson Deputy Solicitor, Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office
Jason Smith Managing Director, Elevate Legal Services

This panel will discuss the racial awakening and incidents that took place across our country in 2020. They will investigate the role of the legal profession in responding to the issues that are so prevalent in our society, particularly with the intersection of COVID-19 and racial injustice. While broadly addressing the shifts we’ve seen in the legal profession during COVID-19, the panelists will touch on the employment market, what aspiring lawyers can do as they enter the profession at this time, the technological advancements we’ve seen in the past year, and the impact that this has on the trajectory of the legal profession.

10:15-10:30 am: Break

10:30 - 11:30 am: Racial Pandemic
Moderator: Etienne Toussaint, Associate Professor of Law, University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law; incoming Assistant Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law
Speakers:
Kambrel Garvin Representative, SC House of Representatives District 77; Attorney, McGowan, Hood & Felder, LLC
Danielle Holley-Walker, Professor of Law and Dean, Howard University School of Law
Barbara Seymour, Attorney, Clawson and Staubes

This panel will examine how COVID-19 will change and has changed the practice of law. Specifically, how legal services are provided, marketed and taught across our country and what steps lawyers, aspiring lawyers and other legal professionals can take to embrace the current quickly evolving circumstances. The speakers will address the lack of diversity in the legal profession, what steps lawyers can take to recognize, understand, and work through latent and implicit biases, and leave the attendees with action plans and next steps as to what can be done.

11:30-12:00 pm: Break

12:00 - 12:30 pm: Keynote Address
Danielle Holley-Walker, Professor of Law and Dean, Howard University School of Law

Dean Holley-Walker will address the current status of the legal profession and expound upon the role of lawyers and legal academia in advocating and fighting for racial justice. Dean Walker will talk about her work as one of the founders of the Antiracist Clearinghouse Project, a project aimed at reshaping legal education and lawyers utilizing their roles to combat racism in our everchanging society. The project was created by five law school deans who want to push for racial justice through teaching, scholarship, admissions, faculty, hiring, and activism in the legal profession as a whole. The speech will also address the importance of continued education, changes in the legal profession and what can be done to embrace these changes and continue making a difference in society.