hope that they, too, would see their way clear to becoming active paying members of the program.” Since its inception, CMCP’s mis-
sion has been to promote diversity in the legal profession by providing attor- neys of color with access and oppor- tunity for business and professional development. “But the Bar Association of San Francisco,” Ramey says, “was also extremely active in attacking disturbing patterns of exclusion of women, people with disabilities, and the LGBT community in the legal profession. We took a position in favor of same-sex marriage in the 1980s, for example, long before other associa- tions and other groups became active around this issue, prompting far more area lawyers to join BASF for the fi rst time than the few who seized that moment to [often temporarily] quit.” CMCP cofounder Rounsaville,
who is now director of diversity at Allen Matkins in San Francisco, says, “Working with Dru [Ramey] to establish the programs was easy. She created the vision/strategy and the rest of us, including myself, merely did what was necessary to implement it. During this time, I became aware of Dru’s commitment to working hard and long in order to achieve her
Ramey was never driven by money.
Her goal was always to become a civil rights lawyer and make a diff er- ence, particularly in matters of race and gender. “Honestly, had I gone into corpo-
rate law, my family would have sat shiva,” she says. Her late parents were forward thinkers who deeply believed in, and virtually insisted upon, public service. Ramey’s mother— Dr. Estelle Ramey—was both a Georgetown Medical School professor specializing in endocrinology and an eminently quotable, nationally known feminist speaker. Her father, James T. Ramey, was one of the most powerful members of the old Atomic Energy Commission throughout some of the Cold War’s tensest years. And though her parents came from very diff erent backgrounds—she the ambitious, blue-stocking daughter of illiterate and impoverished Jewish immigrants and he the scion of a well-off Southern Baptist family with Kentucky roots— they agreed that their daughter must be well educated and have a career. Ramey grew up in the suburbs
of Chicago and Washington, D.C. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University, she entered Yale Law School in 1968. “It was a
Honestly, had I gone into corporate law, my family would have sat shiva. – DRU RAMEY
vision. When she believes in some- thing, she never gives up and won’t let others give up. Her tenaciousness has been of critical importance in the campaign to make the legal profession a place where fairness and opportunity are more than just words.”
MCCA.COM
watershed year,” she says. “T e confl u- ence of the end of deferments for men from the draft for the Vietnam War and the maturing of the Civil Rights Movement resulted in substantially more women and minorities in my class than ever before. For many
students, black and white, law school provided their fi rst personal experi- ence of integration.” Looking back, she adds “When
I was at Yale, I’m not sure I even knew who my dean was, and if I did, it was only to complain or fi ght for a ‘Women in the Law’ class. T ings have changed a lot since then. One of the most pleasant surprises of my experience as dean has been the warm welcome that I’ve received from the students. It’s something I never expected. “Seeing the law students at GGU,
especially the night students who come to class after having worked all day, I’m always reminded just how easy I’ve had it.” Nonetheless, ample advantages have never curbed Ramey’s passion for hard work. After graduating from law school,
Ramey was set to start as a criminal litigator at the Public Defender’s Offi ce in Washington, D.C., but the night before she was scheduled to go to work, Ramey’s best friend advised her to change course. “My parents were living in D.C., and because I had romanticized them, especially my mother, my friend suggested I make a clean break. I knew she was right, so I bolted to San Francisco. And though I didn’t really know anyone there and had only visited once, I knew it was the right place for me.” In the early ’70s few fi rms were
hiring women. Fortunately for Ramey, she landed at the progressive Oakland-based fi rm of Treuhaft, Walker & Bernstein, where her law school classmate Hillary Rodham Clinton had recently held a summer job. It was just what Ramey was seeking—many of the fi rm’s cases were cutting edge. T ey represented the Black Panthers, Angela Davis, the Indians who had occupied Alcatraz, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and the leader of the People’s Park Movement. Ramey handled discrimination cases, but the bulk of her clients were low-income people from Oakland or nearby Emeryville
MAY/JUNE 2012 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®
15
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