Broward County reaches legal feat

Gordon Weekes hopes to turn Black History into Black Normalcy in legal professions.

As newly elected public defender, Weekes joins other Black leaders in the top ranks in the Broward County Courthouse. Harold Pryor was elected Broward state attorney and Brenda Foreman was reelected as clerk of courts. They join the county’s first Black sheriff, Gregory Tony.

Broward County, for the first time ever, has Black leaders atop the flow chart for its public defender and state attorney offices with Weekes and Pryor, respectively.

And while that may indicate that participation is improving for Black people in the legal professions, Weekes still wants to see more.

“I’ve always advocated we need to have black professionals in every area of law — as prosecutors, as judges, as law enforcement professionals, as chiefs of police, as sheriffs, as public defenders,” Weekes said.

There’s more work to be done in private law practices in particular. An annual diversity report

issued earlier this month by the National Association for Law Placement showed the number of Black partners at 2.1% and Black lawyers at 5.1% in U.S. law firms. Those are low numbers, but they’re also the highest marks in the 28 years the association has compiled such data.

The report said the number of Black associates at law firms has increased slightly each year since 2016 after experiencing a decline each year from 2010 to 2015.

Black female lawyers comprised just over 3% of U.S. attorneys, which was the highest total in the history of the report.

But the report also found Black lawyers still aren’t as prevalent as Asian (12.12%) or Latin lawyers (5.64%).

“Law firms are doing a great job recruiting,” said James Leipold, executive director of the NALP. “What they’re not doing a good job of is retaining and developing lawyers of color so that they stay and become leaders.”

Weekes said he’s trying to advance the cause at the professional level.

“I think it’s important that when people of color get into a position of authority that they recognize that there is an importance of diversity,” Weekes said.

The NALP, along with other groups, try to intervene at a grassroots level by going into high schools, talking to juniors and having activities such as mock trials. The thinking is the pipeline needs to be started at a young age.

Weekes says he didn’t set out to become an attorney when he attended Florida Memorial University. But acting on some advice, he took his studies to the Nova Southeastern University School of Law and began his journey down the legal road. He said mentorship like he got is crucial.

“We need to be in the community showing other young people that Black folks can be a lawyer, can be doctors, can be accountants, can be engineers,” Weekes said. “And by seeing that, you see yourself in that role.”

The problem is not enough young Blacks receive such guidance or advice.

Harvard Law School says it graduates more Blacks than any other law school except Howard University Law School.

A Harvard report on the state of its Black alumni said between 2013 and 2016, it experienced a huge decline in the percentage of first-year law students who were Black — from 10.4% to 5.9%.

The report also said Black men comprised just 2.7% of Harvard’s first-year law students in 2016, compared to 4.6% for Black women.

Enrollment for Black men at accredited U.S. law schools dropped 9.4% from 2009 to 2016, compared to a 4.9% drop for Black women.

Weekes and Pryor offer hope to Black people in a couple of ways — that they can get those same jobs, and, just as importantly, get fair representation in courts.

Weekes said he’s excited to go to work every day even though a win for him means a loss for Pryor, his legal adversary in the courtroom but a fellow black leader.

“I appreciate the work that has to be done in the state attorney’s office,” Weekes said, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to back down because while I may like Harold, in the court we have our respective issues. We have to be adversaries.”

Beyond that, Weekes, ever the optimist, feels he’s doing an honorable job, one that could make a historic difference for Blacks on many levels. Weekes acknowledges the U.S. justice system has disproportionately arrested and convicted Blacks. The key, he said, is getting more Blacks inside the system.

“Because something about this system,” he said, “I know it has the ability to be better. It just has to be forced to become better.

“I believe in the inherent good in people, and I’m the eternal optimist. Better the glass half full than the glass half empty.