Yolanda Young

Yolanda Young has launched a blog. http://www.onbeingablacklawyer.com You might remember her as the former Covington & Burling staff attorney who chronicled her experience as a minority attorney there in the Huffington Post piece, “Law Firm Segregation Reminiscent of Jim Crow.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yolanda-young/law-firm-segregation-remi_b_91881.html

Young recalls, “I was surprised and disheartened by the intensely negative comments that followed on blogs like Above The Law. Even after Covington issued a statement that was basically conciliatory and in no way a denial of my accusations, those commenting refused to focus on some of the easily verifiable facts in the piece. They chose instead to make personal attacks on me and reduce the discussion to one that centered on anti-affirmative action rhetoric.”

There was, however, a silver lining. Young discovered a large number of attorneys who were sympathetic to her position but didn’t want to post their comments on websites that were generally hostile to minorities. This group instead sent Young personal emails.

Says Young, “I realized there was a real need for a place where African American attorneys and law students could gather to network, disseminate information and poke fun."