BWL History
In 1975, a small group of Los Angeles based African-American women judges and attorneys held a luncheon meeting at the Medallion Restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard to discuss the marked absence of an organization which addressed the needs and concerns of African-American women in the legal profession. The dialogue and events that followed became the genesis of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Inc. (BWL)
Over the years, BWL branched out and grew through its various community projects and committee activities. The first BWL scholarship luncheon was held in 1975 at the Medallion Restaurant. Since then, BWL has raised scholarship funds annually for second and third year law students through its fundraising efforts.
The Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law, launched in 1982 as one of BWL's first community based projects, has evolved into the primary provider of pro bono family law services in Los Angeles County. In recognition of BWL's significant community contributions as a founder and co-sponsor of the Harriett Buhai Center, the National Conference of Women Bar Associations presented its first annual Public Service Award to BWL and Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles in July, 1985.
Throughout its years of development, BWL has presented trial advocacy programs, continuing legal education seminars and legislative symposiums to its members, law students and community. Presently, BWL sponsors a panel at the annual State Bar Women in the Law Conference.
In 1991, BWL was among the various ethnic minority bar associations that formed the Multicultural Bar Alliance. Through its continued involvement and support of this alliance, BWL offers a needed channel for communication for attorneys of color, both outside and within the community.
In 1992, the BWL Foundation was established to support and fund BWL's numerous charitable, educational and community-based services. In addition, BWL gives holiday food baskets to needy families, donations to shelters for the homeless and battered women, and strives to expand its outreach programs to schools.
Today, BWL has several hundred supporters and voting members who represent an impressive array of positions in the legal profession, from a justice of the Court of Appeals to the first African-American woman elected to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors; from judicial officers, partners in law firms, and government counsel to attorneys in regulatory agencies and diverse areas of private practice.
BWL continues to address the very needs and concerns that brought that first small gourp of African-American women together many years before...
BWL Past Presidents
Sandra L. Carter
Hon. Irma J. Brown
Shirley A. Henderson
Hon. Veronica S. McBeth
Katherine L. Vaughns
Hon. Beverly E. Mosley
Mablean Ephriam
Joan Whiteside Green
Diane Spencer Shaw
Hermia Shegog-Whitlock
Carla Durham Pittman
Glenda Veasey
Belinda D. Stith
Vera Brown-Curtis
E. Jean Gary
Brenda Johns Penny
Patricia J. Titus
Hon. Barbara R. Johnson
Patricia A. Shade
Carol Codrington
Marguerite D. Downing
Patsy J. Cobb
Eulanda Lynn Matthews
Katessa Charles Davis
Adrienne M. Byers
Nedra E. Austin
