The Path to the Judiciary Panelists (pictured left to right) - Chief Judge George Perez, Minnesota Tax Court; Judge Tanya Bransford, Hennepin County District Court; Judge Gail Chang Bohr, Ramsey County District Court; and Judge Pamela Alexander, Executive Director Council on Crime and Justice
When Judge Pamela Alexander, an adjunct professor at William Mitchell, was appointed to the Hennepin County District Court in 1983, she was the first African American female judge in the state of Minnesota. Although she faced intense scrutiny from the media, she remained focused on her work. According to Judge Alexander, she was determined that even if the media and her colleagues did not like her hair style or how she dressed, they were going to respect her for her work.
On July 19, 2012, Judge Alexander, who is a University of Minnesota Law School graduate and now serves as the Executive Director of the Council on Crime and Justice, spoke on a panel, The Path to the Judiciary. The panel, which was part of the 2012 Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Six-week Pre-Law Summer Institute, included three other distinguished panelists ? Judge Tanya Bransford, Hennepin County District Court; Judge Gail Chang Bohr ?91, Ramsey County District Court; and Chief Judge George Perez, Minnesota Tax Court. Judge Edward Toussaint, former Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs at William Mitchell, moderated the panel.
The Path to the Judiciary panel was one of several activities designed to give the CLEO Fellows the resources and confidence they need to succeed in law school and in the legal profession. During the panel, Judge Alexander told the CLEO Fellows to ?study hard and be prepared.? According to Judge Alexander, it is not good enough to be prepared sometimes, but it is imperative to ?be prepared every time you present yourself.? The other panelists also gave advice on law school success. Chief Judge Perez encouraged the students to develop their writing skills, and Judge Bransford told them to try to build their resumes while in law school, by getting involved in activities, volunteering, and applying for clerkships.
Like Judge Alexander, Judge Gail Chang Bohr also holds the title of being a ?first?. Judge Bohr, who served as editor and executive editor of the William Mitchell Law Review while a student at William Mitchell, is the first Asian American judge in Ramsey County. Prior to becoming a judge, she led the Children?s Law Center of Minnesota. When asked whether she had any reservations about being the first, Judge Bohr told the CLEO Fellows that ?being the first is an opportunity to show what you are made of,? and ?how well you do will reflect on those who come behind you.?
After Judge Alexander became the first African American judge in Minnesota, several judges of color soon followed her path, including Judge Tanya Bransford, who graduated from Hamline University Law School in 1983, the year Judge Alexander was appointed to the bench. Judge Bransford said that when she joined the legal profession and saw Judge Alexander on the bench, she realized that she too could achieve her goal of becoming a judge. Almost ten years after Judge Alexander was appointed to the bench, Judge Bransford would follow the trail blazed by Judge Alexander. Bransford joined the Hennepin County District Court in 1994, after working as an Associate at Spicer, Watson & Carp, a Workers? Compensation Judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings, and as a Referee for the Juvenile Division of the Hennepin County District Court. Judge Bransford is very active in the community and serves as Co-Chair of the Court?s Committee for Equality and Justice and a Founding Board Member of Youthprise.
Since pursuing a legal career can be a challenging journey, the panelists stressed the importance of having a strong support system and believing in oneself. Judge Bohr talked about the significant role her family played in shaping who she is today. She told students, ?Don?t forget your values,? and ?be true to yourself.? Judge George Perez, who serves as the Chief Judge of the Minnesota Tax Court, encouraged the students to ?draw inspiration from mentors and families.? He told them, ?You need to have a strong support system and belief in yourself.? Perez, who served on the International Wisconsin Law Review and the International Moot court while at the University of Wisconsin Law School, also encouraged the CLEO Fellows to network while in law school and to ?expect success.?
Although the panelists have all had successful legal careers, they all still find time to give back. For them, giving back is not optional, rather it is a responsibility, and they told the CLEO Fellows that they too have a responsibility to give back. Judge Perez encouraged the students to not just think about what others can do for them, but to also think about what they can do for others. In her closing remarks, Judge Alexander recited a quote by Marian Wright Elderman, ?Service is the rent you pay for being,? and told the CLEO Fellows, ?You owe something to your community. You need to be able to give back to the community. You owe it to the people who went before you. It is your obligation to give back.?
William Mitchell?s?Office of Multicultural Affairs, which coordinated the CLEO Summer Institute, is grateful to Judge Alexander, Judge Bransford, Judge Chang Bohr and Chief Judge Perez for accepting the invitation to serve on the Path to the Judiciary panel. The MCA Office thanks them for blazing the path for the CLEO Fellows and other multicultural law school students to follow.
Special thanks to Mitchell Multimedia and Facilities staff, as well as our CLEO gold level sponsor, Thomson Reuters; silver level sponsor, Twin Cities Diversity in Practice; and bronze level sponsors ? Fredrickson & Byron; Larson King; Leonard Street and Deinard; Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP and Wells Fargo.
Lawrencina Mason Oramalu ?05, Assistant Dean and Director of Multicultural Affairs, served as the CLEO Institute Director, and Sharon VanLeer, Multicultural Affairs Specialist, served as the CLEO Institute Assistant Director. CLEO Faculty included Professors Deborah Schmedemann (Contracts), Michael Steenson (Torts), Edward Toussaint (Civil Procedure/Evidence), John Sonsteng (Criminal Law), Cindy McCollum (Advocacy), Denise Norton (Legal Writing), Debra Schumacher (Legal Writing), David Koob (Legal Writing), and Kristi Nielsen (Legal Writing).
The CLEO Institute and the judicial panel are examples of how Mitchell?s Office of Multicultural Affairs is trying to develop a pipeline of diverse leaders and lawyers. ?CLEO is a nonprofit entity of the American Bar Association. Our mission is to diversify the legal profession. Since our inception in 1968, CLEO has been at the forefront of helping minority, low-income and disadvantaged students gain access to law school, successfully matriculate and pass the bar exam.?
For more information about?diversity at William Mitchell, visit http://web.wmitchell.edu/diversity/. For more information about CLEO, visit http://www.cleoscholars.com/.
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