The ABA TECHSHOW: A White Man Affair

The ABA TECHSHOW has a white people problem. There is very little racial diversity.

There is a place where you can go and meet all of your favorite Twitter peeps. For me, this place turned out to be (surprisingly) the ABA TECHSHOW. I got to meet my blog girl crush, Kelly Erb, perhaps better known as @taxgirl. I started following her around six years ago, and I really admire her writing: she makes tax interesting, understandable, and oftentimes funny.

The list of other people I met in real life from social media includes: Sam Glover, Aaron Street, Gyi Tsakalakis, and Steven Chung from the Lawyerist crew; Niki Black from MyCase; and Huma Rashid was kind enough to drive from the suburbs to join us. I also met the author of The Practice (affiliate link), Brian Tannebaum, who turned out to be a real sweetheart, despite his online persona of being a curmudgeon. I also met Gillian Fattal from Clio, and bumped into one of my favorite people in the world, Tim Baran. Of course, I also got to hang out with my fellow ATL columnist, ABA author, and the co-host of our podcast, Resilient Lawyer, Keith Lee.

Last night, we went to the Clio party, which is the place to be at the ABA TECHSHOW. Afterwards, we snuck into the penthouse of Hilton — a mock Grecian mansion on the roof. The penthouse is spectacular, fully equipped with an open bar, baby grand piano, and its own helipad.

When Keith and I walked in, I immediately noticed that I was the only non-white person in the room. If I’m being really honest about it, we were probably some of the youngest people in the room too. After walking around for a bit, I spotted the only other non-white person in the room, Tim Baran.

Being in the penthouse, which seemed to consist of chairs from various bar associations and other leaders, I couldn’t help but notice how white and male it was. I also noticed this while on the Expo floor. Of the 60+ speakers, only a handful are non-white.

I’ll just come out and say it. The ABA TECHSHOW has a white people problem. There is very little racial diversity.

I only post this as an observation and not as criticism. Again, I think the ABA TECHSHOW is really an amazing place to connect, meet, socialize, and learn. However, as an Asian woman, I can’t help but to notice that I’m a super minority on the Expo hall.

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I look forward to coming back next year and reconnecting with old friends as well as make new ones. I also hope that next year, perhaps there will be more diversity.


Jeena Cho is co-founder of JC Law Group PC, a bankruptcy law firm in San Francisco, CA. She is also the author of the upcoming American Bar Association book, The Anxious Lawyer: An 8-Week Guide to a Happier, Saner Law Practice Using Meditation (affiliate link), as well as How to Manage Your Law Office with LexisNexis. She offers training programs on using mindfulness and meditation to reduce stress while increasing focus and productivity. She’s the co-host of the Resilient Lawyer podcast. You can reach her at smile@theanxiouslawyer.com or on Twitter at @jeena_cho.

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