Wiley Manuel Hosts Legal Fusion

By Dana Flanagan-McBeth, WMBA President

The Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association hosted its inaugural annual event, “Legal Fusion,” on September 22, 2006 at the eclectic Nineteen Ten Design Gallery. Darla Givens of News 10 was the emcee for the event which featured keynote speaker, Timothy Simon, Appointments Secretary to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a member of Wiley Manuel, Mr. Simon impressed upon the area African-American law students the importance of “not isolating” themselves from the broader legal community. He further encouraged the students to walk through the doors “those of his generation marched, struggled and sought legal recourse to open for them” in pursuit of excellence. Finally, Mr. Simon told the students that he did “not believe in chasing the dollar” as attorneys, but, instead, demanded that the students follow their passion and guaranteed that if they did, they would “find that they would never work a day in their lives.”

The WMBA will host “Legal Fusion” annually to build bridges between African-American law students and the broader legal community. WMBA President, Dana Flanagan-McBeth maintains that “more needs to be done to tie area African-American law students to Sacramento so that when these students finish law school, their first order of business will not be to leave Sacramento. Area law firms and the local bench will never increase the number of African-Americans until we commit to these students.”

Surrounded by the melodic sounds of a solo jazz saxophonist, dynamic sculptures, and paintings by world-renowned artists that document African-American history and culture, Presiding Justice Scotland, Judge Raoul Thorbourne and Deputy Secretary Alberto Roldan spent time talking to law students about their plans for the future—hopefully here in Sacramento.

Kimberly Brandon of Morgan Stanley; Dana Flanagan-McBeth, WMBA President; Timothy Simon, Appointments Secretary; and Omar Shareef, Owner, Nineteen Ten Gallery

November/December 2006