Spotlighting
who would otherwise not have been able to aff ord an attorney. From there, Ramey’s passion for
civil rights led her to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “I mostly worked on appeals of massive tri-ethnic school desegregation cases from Texas involving segregation of both Chicano and African American students. T ese were primarily appellate test cases, and while I found them fascinating, especially because we were establish- ing new law for Latinos under the Constitution and under modern as well as post-Civil War civil rights statutes, it was often lonely work, with very little client contact.” Following a brief stint handling
16
civil rights cases with a small pri- vate fi rm, often co-counseling with now-U.S. Judge T elton Henderson, and in search of new stimulation and a livable paycheck, Ramey went on to become a professor at GGU Law School, hired by then-Dean Judith McKelvey, one of the nation’s fi rst two female law deans.
“Back then
(the late ’70s and early ’80s), like now, GGU Law School had a highly diverse, heavily female, and very gutsy student body. As a teacher, I spent time using topical, politically charged subjects to get the students’ attention. I’d insist students use ‘he or she’ rather than simply the generic male pronouns, when referring, say, to hypothetical parties in a case. T ere weren’t a lot of women professors around then. I think it was good for the students to be exposed to a strong woman with a solid background as a civil rights lawyer.” Today, she has concerns about
the lack of diversity in the profes- sion. “Large fi rms, whose record in advancing women and minorities to the higher reaches of their partner- ship has never been good, are moving away from lockstep advancement for associates, and relying on more subjec- tive criteria and on early rainmaking success. As soon as subjectivity comes into the picture so do prejudices and
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MAY/JUNE 2012 One of the ways the GGU helps
to prepare students for the workplace, says Ramey, is to give them, in addi- tion to thorough analytic skills, the practical skills necessary to practice law from the day they graduate, or even before. “When I emerged from Yale Law School I didn’t know what a deposition was,” she says. “Contrary to popular belief, there’s never really been a lot of training in large fi rms, and what there is has disproportionately gone to white male associates with whom the largely white male partner- ship feels most comfortable, so we do a great job in ensuring that our very diverse graduates possess the skills they need to meaningfully represent clients from day one. It is also important for both for-profi t lawyers and those seeking to enter public interest law to know something about the business of running a law fi rm or a nonprofi t.”
not to sweat the small stuff ; [how to manage] big budgets; and how to deal with an extremely active, deeply committed, and progressive board of directors. T at kind of experience is invaluable for deans who often come to the job as professors with a part- time secretary.” Despite an abiding aff ection
for GGU Law School faculty and students, Ramey plans to step down from the deanship at the end of July. After that she wants to focus her eff orts exclusively on improving diversity in the profession, possibly heading a small family foundation. Most assuredly, says Ramey, she will continue to work and do her best to make a diff erence. D&B
Patrick Folliard is a freelance writer based in Silver Spring, Md.
MCCA.COM
unconscious biases, and that doesn’t bode well for women and minori- ties. Neither does the expectation that newer associates be rainmakers from the get-go. Rainmaking has historically been a substantially closed system of white-male-to-white-male hand-off s of business, and though inroads have been made via programs like CMCP and otherwise, it hasn’t really changed much.”
More than her experience litigat-
ing or teaching, Ramey credits her background in associations (she was also executive director of the National Association of Women Judges from 2005 to 2009) with preparing her for her current position. “When I left the San Francisco Bar, there were 140 employees. As executive director I learned the ins-and-outs of dealing with people; how to delegate, how
“As soon as subjectivity comes into the picture so do prejudices and unconscious biases and that doesn’t bode well for women and minorities.” – DRU RAMEY
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