CA Association of Black Lawyers Honors UC Hastings Alumni

Prominent alumni of UC Hastings College of the Law were honored at an awards dinner April 14 held by the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) at their annual conference in Emeryville.

Oakland attorney Vernon C. Goins II ’97, president of CABL, welcomed the honorees, noting it was the 35^th annual meeting. The group held its first meeting in 1977, where the late Wiley W. Manuel ’53, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in California's history, gave the keynote.

• Willie L. Brown Jr. ’58 was awarded the Benjamin Travis Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Kamala Harris ’89, California State Attorney General, was honored as the Loren D. Miller Lawyer of the Year.
• Jan Jemison ’86, of UC Hastings' Legal Education Opportunity Program, was given the CABL Public Interest Award.

Lawrence C. Hinkle II ’95 is an executive officer of the group and a member of the conference committee that organized the event, which was attended by UC Hastings Chancellor & Dean Frank H. Wu and Academic Dean Shauna Marshall.

“The ideals of access to justice are embodied by so many of our alumni,” said Dean Wu. “CABL is an important organization advancing diversity within the legal profession. It was wonderful to see how UC Hastings plays a lead role, with so many of the honorees and speakers being alumni of our institution.”

The conference included a program honoring African-American women on the bench and a reception honoring 25 African-American general counsel in California, including UC Hastings' General Counsel Elise K. Traynum ’86 and Jayne Williams ’74 of the City of San Leandro.