News - News - Mrs Justice Dobbs at Launch of Black Letter Law 2007

The Honourable Mrs Justice Dobbs was the keynote speaker at BLD's Black History Month event, which took place yesterday and was sponsored for the second successive year by Clifford Chance.

The focus of her speech - BMEs in the Law: Contributions - Past, Present and Future,  was the future. She said that whilst there had been some progress for BME practitioners, that progress was "slow and is taking time". She commended BLD's Legal Gateway Scheme and urged support for it, particularly the Today's Children, Tomorrow's Lawyers and the Legal Launch Pad programmes.  "It (the scheme) is of particular interest to me and it is relevant to the theme of future achievements," she said. The junior programme - Today's Children, Tomorrow's Lawyers - would, she said, hopefully arm youngsters with information, raise their expectations, support their aspirations and make their aspirations a reality. The Legal Launch Pad programme, she believed, was of "vital importance". "I have no doubt that this initiative will have a profound impact in increasing the awareness of the opportunities available in the law and will help promote those who decide to enter the law," she said.

Mrs Justice Dobbs also paid tribute to the efforts of Debo Nwauzu, BLD founder and director, in her "uphill struggle" to bring to fruition her "vision" for making a difference by establishing BLD and her subsequent endeavours. She said all BME legal groups should be encouraged to "work together and support each other in order to avoid duplication of effort" and further extolled the importance of mentoring and networking.

Sibghat Kadri QC, co-founder and first Chair of the Society Black Lawyers (SBL), was interviewed at the event by Peter Herbert, the current SBL Chair, about the past, present and future for ethnic minorities in the legal profession. Sibghat spoke about being labelled as a "trouble-maker" in the 1960s and why today's lawyers should not forget the struggles of yesteryears and why he favours positive discrimination as a way forward.

BLD's ground-breaking Black Letter Law 2007 publication, edited by Debo Nwauzu, was also officially launched at the event. Anthony Robinson, former Director of Law at the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and now at the new Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR), recalled the difficulties encountered when compiling the first Black Letter Law last year, as there was no available information from the Law Society or the Bar Council.