Jackson county bar association and me

Jackson County Bar Association and Me Tuesday, December 03, 2013 By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman “Frustrating” is the best word to characterize my early relationship with the local bar association of Kansas City Missouri’s black lawyers, “The Jackson County Bar Association.” (JCBA) From my initial meeting with JCBA at the old Element Lounge near 53rd and Prospect that I attended in 1977, while an attorney in the Office of the Regional Solicitor, United States Department of Labor, I had met nothing but frustration of my hopes and dreams for black lawyers in KC. The host for the meeting was Edward Pendleton, now deceased, who was also tending the bar and performing over quasi-proprietary functions there. What I most remember is a comment by either: Basil North or Taylor Fields, then-law partners, who responded to my appeal for some type of group activity, thusly: “It’s obvious that you’re not from around here. You’re talking about doing some work.” Laughter ensued. That was that. I was dismissed, disprized, maybe disdained, “as other” from the very start, by lawyers who were among the among the city’s best black practitioners. Welcome to KC! But, stubbornly, I kept at it. Having matriculated at Howard Law School and Howard School of Communications, where I had been very active and accustomed to collaborative comradeship, I was not prepared to accept this subservient perspective on black legal possibilities. Hello, real-world! The next significant memorable event occurred around 1980 at Mooney’s Restaurant and Lounge on 30th and Prospect. At that time, Kamau King, then-President, who had only recently been elected to office, announced that he had accepted a job in Atlanta, Georgia, with Coca Cola, requiring his immediate relocation. This created a constitutional quandary, because then- Vice President, Grover Hankins, was not licensed to practice law in Missouri, a precondition to hold any office, much less be President. Grover had been nominated by Taylor Fields for Vice President because “he doesn’t talk much,” as I recall. At that time, Grover and I both worked for the U.S. Department of Justice: he for the newly-created Drug Strike Force, while I was an Assistant U. S. Attorney, the second in that KC Office’s history. Clifford Spottsville, also of Howard Law School, had been the first black Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving during the Johnson Administration. As then-Parliamentarian, it devolved upon me to find a way out of this morass. Kit “Carson” Roque, a future Municipal Court judge agreed to assist me. Together, we hammered out a new Jackson County Bar Association constitution. This constitution extended Jackson County Bar membership and office qualifications to Missouri lawyers, or to those licensed in contiguous states. That solved the Grover Hankins problem, as Hankins was licensed in either Nebraska or Iowa. It also enabled me to develop a closer relationship with Judge Roque, a near-neighbor, whose ancestors were from that slaveholding class of “free blacks” in Louisiana, he discovered, through genealogical research. We became tennis buddies, chess players, pipe-smokers, and lodge members of Prudence Lodge # 6, Prince Hall Masons, Kansas jurisdiction. In retrospect, the late Grover Hankins was not eligible to be a regular member under the old constitution, much less an officer. But, that was indicative of the loose, laissez-faire nature of the way black lawyers handled affairs, here in KC, at that time. My friendship with Judge Roque was my reward. Later around 1988, my bid to become Jackson County Bar President was frustrated by a feminist movement buzz-saw and cabal. Lawyers Lucille Myles and Beth Cox—both now deceased-- had caused the adjournment of the JCBA meeting in the lobby of The Scarritt Building at 9th and Grand, where my former law office, Larry Delano Coleman, P.C., occupied the 6th floor. At the ensuing meeting, the ladies came out in force and elected Deborah Neal as President. Deborah Neal also became a Municipal Court Judge. A few years later, she was imprisoned and disbarred in connection with ethical issues arising from her notorious casino gambling. After that, I capitulated to the prevailing tides, which were washing me away from the Jackson County Bar Association as historical flotsam. But, before departing Missouri bar work altogether, James W. Tippin and I collaborated on, and devised, a ranking and rating system for Jackson County Judges, in the early 1990’s, some of whom were unambiguously racist—adversely affecting our bottom lines. Recognizing a higher degree of subtlety was required than finger-pointing and screaming could achieve, we looked, instead, at the ethical rules governing judges, and from it drew the grid and substance for our chart. This, we knew, would have an impact on retention elections, coming from us, black lawyers. Mr. Tippin took our evaluation chart to then- Chief Judge Jack Gant of Jackson County for his input. From there, I am not sure what happened. I do know, however, that the judicial survey that lawyers now complete for “Missouri Plan” judges, is based upon me and Tippin’s effort. While, strictly speaking, that item was not a formally approved and adopted Jackson County Bar initiative, it was conceived, perceived and received as such, with malice toward none. Thereafter, I redirected my energies to the National Bar Association, where I would eventually become its first Chaplain, a Regional Director over Region Eight, a member of the Board of Governors, and the founder of its Section on Law and Religion in 2006, all over a 23-year period . Needless to say, I was surprised and deeply honored to be recognized around 2008 by the JCBA, for having practiced law in KC for over 30 years. Other “elders” so honored included James W. Tippin, Mark Bryant, Basil North, Taylor Fields, Edward Pendleton, and perhaps one or two others, at a luncheon at a corner restaurant at 18th and Vine. We even got certificates of achievement! How positively thoughtful! How very nice. A massive stroke ended my law practice in 2010. I became ‘inactive’ in March 2011 with the Missouri Supreme Court, though still in good standing. Members of the Jackson County Bar Association helped to move my office effects home from my 63rd and Blue Ridge Cutoff Office, for which I am grateful. They were Charles Brown, Willis Toney, Willie Epps, and Keith Cutler. Jim Tippin paid for lunch for all. Basil North was also forthcoming. I was ordained an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1998. I pastored three churches, one in Butler, Missouri, Brooks Chapel, and two in St. Joseph, which later merged, and are known as Ebenezer-Grant. I am now enjoying supernumerary status, which is also ‘inactive’ status from ministry. Hence, I am now Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman. So, all is well that ends well! Frustrated formerly; but, gratified presently! Thank you Jackson County Bar Association for everything!