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from the issue of December 7, 2006
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Mentors inspire bar president
BY KIM HACHIYA, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Linda Crump takes her job as head of UNL's Office of Equity, Access and Diversity Programs very seriously. And in her new position as president of the Nebraska State Bar Association, she's working to turn those nouns into active reality for the association.
| | NEW ROLE - Linda Crump, assistant to the chancellor for Equity, Access and Diversity Programs, stands in front of the old College of Law building, which is now part of Architecture Hall. Crump is the second woman and first person of color to serve as president of the Nebraska State Bar Association. Photo by Troy Fedderson/University Communications.
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In October, Crump became the second woman and the first person of color to head the bar association. She hopes her tenure will be marked by a commitment to encourage, nurture and train a new generation of leaders for the 8,400-member association.
She developed the idea of a leadership academy, which will help lawyers find their leadership niche and learn about the many ways they can get involved with bar activities. The first academy, with 25 members, is meeting this year.
More than 40 lawyers applied for this pilot year, she said. At its first meeting, the academy looked at legislative issues. Upcoming sessions will include sessions with the Nebraska Supreme Court, Nebraska's Appeals Court and the news media.
"I really didn't think we were doing enough leadership development and nurturing," she said. "Some leadership positions (in the association) are easy to understand but some are not as transparent."
Among the association's activities are continuing legal education, promotion of free legal services for low-income individuals, and working to help the public understand the judicial system. The association's mission is "helping lawyers help people."
Crump's rise to leadership of the association is somewhat unusual in several ways. Most bar presidents, she said, come from the ranks of large law firms, mostly due to tradition; lawyers from large firms have role models who can direct them toward bar association activities. Lawyers like Crump, who work for government, educational institutions, solo practices, non-profit agencies or non-governmental agencies are less likely to know how to get involved, or be able to take the time to be involved. And, she noted, minority lawyers are less likely to work for large law firms. Just 2 percent of Nebraska's lawyers are people of color, she noted.
She became a lawyer after a successful career as a high school science teacher. Crump wanted to do something different, so she enrolled at UNL with an eye toward earning a master's degree in biosciences. But she didn't immediately find a passion for the topic, so she entered law school, thinking she might become an environmental lawyer. But employment law captured her attention, and she earned her degree in 1990. She was clerking for U.S. Judge Warren Urbom when an opening occurred in what UNL then called the Office of Affirmative Action. She joined UNL in 1993, and in 1997, became director of the office. She has been in her current position, assistant to the chancellor for equity, access and diversity programs, since 2000.
Crump became active in the bar association early in her legal career, mostly because the president at the time personally encouraged her participation. She was first elected to the association's House of Delegates in 1992. She has chaired the association's Professionalism Committee and served on the Minority and Justice Task Force Committee, a joint project of the Nebraska Supreme Court and the Nebraska State Bar Association to study Nebraska's legal system to assess the opportunities, experiences and treatment of its minority population. She also co-chaired the Minority and Justice Implementation Committee charged with the responsibility to implement the task force's recommendations.
Crump hopes to emulate that long-ago bar president's mentoring of her by looking for and nominating individuals new to bar association activities to fill its many committee positions.
"It takes encouragement and mentoring to get involved," she said.
GO TO: ISSUE OF DECEMBER 7
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