NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN |
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A welcome to the National Italian American Bar Association.
(February 2023)
The Board of Directors met in New York City in February 2023. Directors from across the United States, Canada and Italy attended meetings at the Columbus Citizens Foundation.
At the Thursday evening dinner the Board and our many guests were welcomed by the Consul General of New York, Fabrizio DiMichele. The Saturday evening dinner crowd enjoyed remarks from Arthur Aidala, the leading criminal defense lawyer in the City. The Dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Anthony Tamburri, PhD, addressed the Board. The Institute is working with our Director Maria Chiara Parisi on a significant study of discriminatory patterns that continue today. We were visited, as well, by Maria Tamburri, Chair of The National Organization of Italian American Women.
During the Board meeting, there were in person and virtual events of special note:
During the two-year term now concluding, I have been privileged to serve as president. I look forward to continued participation under the new leadership team!
Special thanks are given to those with whom I have served as officers. Our Executive Vice President, Frank Sommario of Chicago, our Secretary, Alice Salvo of Los Angeles, and our Treasurer, P. Charles DiLorenzo of New Jersey, have each been dedicated servants of NIABA and great partners in the last two years. I thank, as well, our Chairwoman of the Board, Cristina Carabetta of Connecticut and New York. Our Chairwoman has led us well and is drawing law students and recent admittees from the bars of all the states to NIABA. Her special attention and regard for the lifeblood of the future for NIABA has been so much appreciated by us all.
In June, a new era under the leadership of Attorney Frank Sommario of Chicago will be underway. As a great indicator of how it will go, I can assure that Frank is already actively engaged and will hit the ground running upon his inaugural event on June 8-11, 2023. Of particular importance to all NIABA members and readers, Frank is strengthening our committee structure and urges participation by any NIABA member in each of those committees. See on this website the collection of committees for the opportunities. Kindly email your interest in service and be assured that with a smoothly functioning committee system, your participation will be real, active, and recognized!
As my term as president nears its end, I look backward with appreciation but look forward with renewed excitement and dedication to our NIABA cause and mission!
Francis M. Donnarumma
President
(March 2023)
Dear Colleagues,
We are reaching out to seek your involvement on an important new project. The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, part of The City University of New York (CUNY), and the National Italian American Bar Association (NIABA) have partnered to conduct a study on Italian Americans and the legal profession. Although data on diversity in the legal profession is often published by national and state bar associations, there has not yet been a study that includes data on the career paths of Italian American law students and lawyers. This study is the first to explore Italian Americans’ representation and experiences in various sectors of the legal field, helping us gain valuable insight into how Italian Americans are currently situated in the legal profession.
We hope you will contribute to the study by filling out a 3-minute survey that we are distributing to Italian American law students and lawyers throughout the country. The deadline to complete the survey is April 30th.
Though we know that Italian American lawyers have made great strides over the last century, this survey addresses salient unanswered questions on Italian Americans and the legal profession. For example, what legal practice areas, such as employment or property law, do Italian American lawyers gravitate towards? How are Italian American lawyers distributed among different employment sectors, such as private firms, non-profits, or government? To what extent are Italian American lawyers represented in the most “elite” legal spaces, such as academia, the federal judiciary, major law firms, or top law schools? How many Italian American lawyers feel that they have been discriminated against in their legal careers due to their ethnicity? And how might the legal paths of Italian Americans diverge depending on age, gender, sexual orientation, or immigration status?
Broad participation in the survey is imperative to build the empirical grounding to start a conversation—both within and outside of the Italian American community—about the unique challenges and opportunities Italian Americans face in their legal careers. We hope you will participate in this opportunity to get a deeper understanding of Italian Americans and the legal profession.
Thank you,
Francis Donnarumma
President, National Italian American Bar Association (NIABA)
Dr. Anthony Tamburri
Dean, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College at The City University of New York (CUNY)