Elimination of Bias: MCLE Program

The Fresno County Bar Association and Central California Legal Services have teamed up to provide you with a fascinating way to earn your required two hours of MCLE credit on elimination of bias, including implicit bias and bias-reducing strategies. We are co-hosting an event on Friday, February 23, with special guest speakers, which you will not want to miss.

The speakers are Cynthia Alkon, Professor and Director, Criminal Law, Justice, and Policy Program at Texas A&M University School of Law, and Matthew Jendian, Ph.D., Professor and Director, The Humanics Program in Philanthropic and Community-based Leadership at California State University, Fresno.

Professor Alkon recently returned from Armenia, where she was invited to train law professors in best practices. Prior to her career as a law professor, she was engaged for many years in the development of the rule of law internationally. She lived and worked in Belarus, Albania, and Poland, supervising projects in over twenty countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucacus, and Central Asia. Professor Alkon has continued her work on legal services in other cultures, providing training and engaging with lawyers, law professors, and others involved in developing legal systems in a variety of countries, including the Czech Republic, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Kingdom of Bahrain. She is the author of numerous books and articles, including “Bargaining without Bias,” Rutgers University Law Review (Summer 2021).

Dr. Jendian is the founding director of The Humanics Program, teaching courses on race and ethnicity, social class and inequality, terrorism and genocide, philanthropy and grant making, and social policy, advocacy, and community organizing. He has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and two books: “Becoming American, Remaining Ethnic” and “#Think: Critical Thinking About Social Problems.” Dr. Jendian’s many honors include Fresno State’s 2012 President’s Award of Excellence, presented in recognition of his integrity, leadership, and commitment to the university and community.

At the upcoming event, we will hear from Professor Alkon on providing legal services in crosscultural contexts, and from Dr. Jendian on cultural humility.

The event will be at Pardini’s on Friday, February 23, from 12 – 2 p.m. To register, please email Angelica Nunez at angelicanunez@fresnocountybar.org or call FCBA office at 559-264-2619.

Gaining insight into understanding and navigating the rich array of cultures in our community will enable us all to provide more effective legal services to our clients. We hope that you will join us for this event.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about this event or would like information about volunteering with CCLS. I can be reached at (559) 981-7788 or sjoost@centralcallegal.org.