Spencer Fane attorney Mary Bacon recently authored an article for Clark County Bar Association’s Communiqué magazine. Titled “Five Actions Attorneys Can Take to Interrupt Implicit Bias and Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Field,” Mary discusses five actions attorneys can take to address implicit bias and promote diversity in the legal industry.
“Understanding our implicit biases is important because experts believe our unconscious thoughts are responsible for about 80 percent of our thought processes, which translates into actions,” Mary writes. “Interrupting affinity bias and other implicit biases is all of our responsibility and can only be accomplished if we each do our part.”
In the article, Mary defines implicit bias and explains the following actions for improvement:
- Be aware: take an implicit bias test
- Participate: join an affinity bar association
- Contribute: volunteer to mentor
- Engage: co-write or co-present
- Advocate: secure equity in your sphere of influence
To read the full article, please click here.