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Mission

The mission of the Minority Bar Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (hereinafter PBA) is to assure full and equal participation of minorities in the PBA, the legal profession, and the justice system in general. In order to achieve this mission, the Minority Bar Committee will:

Identify and promote opportunities that allow minorities within the legal profession to participate fully in the work, responsibilities, and rewards of the PBA and the legal profession in general. Included in this objective are matters relating to the advancement of minorities within law firms and other professional and business entities, job opportunities for minorities, elimination of racial discrimination in the legal profession and within the broader community, and effective avenues for minority lawyers and judges to avail themselves of opportunities within the PBA to address issues of special interest to minority lawyers.
Monitor the current status of minorities in the legal profession and the justice system in general, identify their career paths and goals, and actively promote their advancement and achievement.
Develop educational programs in the way of seminars and surveys, among other measures, to address discrimination against minorities within the legal profession, and the justice system in general.
Make recommendations to the PBA Board of Governors and House of Delegates for action on issues affecting minorities within the legal profession and the justice system in general.
Make recommendations to the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government, and other groups within the justice system on issues affecting racial minorities and their communities in accordance with the PBA Bylaws.

Featured Member: Kristine L. Calalang

Kristine L. Calalang is the principal of The Law Office of Kristine L. Calalang which is located in Philadelphia. Ms. Calalang is a family law attorney and has been a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations since 2005 and has a strong record of leadership. She is a member of the Board of Governors and a Co-Chair of the Women in the Profession Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association (Phila Bar). Ms. Calalang was also Phila Bar’s 2022 Chair and 2021 Vice Chair of the Board of Governors, a Cabinet Member and Co-Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Committee. She served as the 2019 Chair of the Phila Bar Family Law Section (FLS) and continues to be an FLS Executive Committee member, Co-Chair of the Custody and Diversity Committees and a founding member of the Diversity Inclusion Scholarship Committee. Ms. Calalang serves on the Judicial Selection and Retention Commission and has also been involved with the strategic planning for the Phila Bar. In the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), she is a member of the House of Delegates (Zone 1), Co-Chair of the Legal Academics Committee, Co-Chair of the FLS Council’s Diversity Task Force and the Diversity Liaison to the PBA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team for the FLS Council, the Collaborative Law Committee and Minority Bar Committee (MBC). She is also on the Council of the MBC and a member of the Solo and Small Firm and Women in the Profession Committees. Among her honors are a 2022 Professional Excellence Award for Diversity Initiative from The Legal Intelligencer and the 2021Weiman Award from the Phila Bar FLS for her exceptional work in family law and service to the families of Philadelphia. Ms. Calalang received her J.D. from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.

Past Featured Members

Jacqueline B. Martinez

J. Lynette Carter

LaToya Winfield Bellamy

Arlene Marshall-Hockensmith

Su Ming Yeh

Anthony D. Cox Jr.

Trent Hargrove