My message to WSBA members is one of reassurance. Your Bar leaders have your back. Your Board of Governors will listen to you.
Q. Tell us about yourself—your background, law practice, and what inspired you to become a lawyer.
My names are Francis Alaba Omorotade Adewale. I was born and grew up in Nigeria, West Africa. My dad wanted all his kids to read law, which I hated because I didn’t want him dictating what I should do with my life. I love history, and so I applied and got admitted to study history. But then the military coup happened in Nigeria, and my brother, my grandpa, and I got arrested while we were on our way to my maternal grandfather’s farm. Unbeknownst to my grandpa, the military in Nigeria had declared a curfew and restricted movement even though our village was nowhere near the state capital. That experience changed the trajectory of my life and eventually made my brother and I decide to read law. We are both attorneys today.
Q. What motivated you to run for WSBA president?
The Washington Leadership Institute (WLI) got me into bar leadership. All I wanted to do was serve my community as a criminal defense attorney, but I was nominated by Judge Linda Tompkins (now retired) and Nancy Isserlis (former District 5 governor) to the 2009 cohort of WLI. It changed the way I look at the practice of law. I could continue to win and lose at trial. It gives me a thrill when I win and sadness when I lose. Sometimes I represent the same defendants over and over again. At one time, I started representing the grandchildren of the defendant I first represented when I arrived in Spokane in 2002. WLI opened my eyes to see the possibility that as a bar leader, I can make a difference in advocacy beyond the courtroom. I have a voice, and I can force the system to examine the root causes that are driving criminality. When I realized I can be a community advocate and still be a good trial attorney for my clients, I was elated and encouraged. This is what got me into bar leadership. But the journey to the WSBA presidency is a different story. The WSBA president is elected by the WSBA Board of Governors. Board members have to see something in you that they believe will be good for the legal profession before you are approached to run for Bar president, as happened to me. I was encouraged to run for president after serving as WSBA treasurer for two terms.
Q. What will your message be to the public as WSBA president?
Over the last 10 years, I have served our profession in different capacities, as Access to Justice Board chair, Spokane County Bar Board of Trustees member, District 5 governor, etc., and my message has always been consistent: “Justice for all. Bend the arc.” This is taken from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s immortal words, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”11 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “How Long? Not Long,” March 25, 1965, available at https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-long-not-long-speech-text/. It suggests that the struggle toward freedom, equality, and justice for all is inevitable, although it takes time. My challenge to all of us this year is to seek to bend the arc of justice for the benefit of all and not just a few.
Q. What will your message be to WSBA members?
My message to all WSBA members is to actively work to pull the arc toward justice, not passively wait for it to happen on its own. Nothing about equity and justice is natural or automatic. It takes conscious human effort and commitment. We all need perseverance and belief. Our profession is facing turbulent and dangerous headwinds. The practice of law itself is on trial. The business of law is assailed on every side from artificial intelligence to unauthorized practice of law. The independence of the judiciary is under constant attack, but through it all, I believe in justice. Justice will eventually prevail. The arc of the moral universe will bend toward justice, if we pull it and not subvert it. We will triumph. My message to WSBA members is one of reassurance. Your Bar leaders have your back. Your Board of Governors will listen to you, whether you are a singular voice of caution or the loud-sounding lullaby of the majority. We will listen to you. We will ensure we bend the arc toward justice.
Q. You care deeply about civil legal aid. How do you plan to use your role as president to support these services?
I was so consumed with criminal justice until Judge Breean Beggs invited me to apply and join another leadership program, JustLead Washington’s Leadership Academy. There I met ada shen-jaffe, Michele Storms, and others who made me realize that the justice gap looms larger in civil legal aid than anywhere else. I discovered that the artificial silos we created between the civil and criminal justice system work to harm many in our community. It is why I worked hard to ensure that civil legal aid attorneys are present at the table in Spokane Community Court, so that when we craft a resolution resolving a criminal charge, our participants get access to civil legal aid. We did that for a number of years, until the funding dried up and the civil legal aid disappeared. This is why “Civil Gideon,” or right to counsel in civil proceedings, is a long-term imperative if we are going to solve the justice gap problem.
Q. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing legal professionals in Washington today?
Externally, the disregard for the rule of law, disruptions by the technology industry, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the attendant unauthorized practice of law environment. Internally, the lack of awareness for wellness among legal practitioners.
Francis Adewale with his daughter, Sarah Adewale, at Spokane Riverfront Park.
Most of my inspiration has come from the women in
my life: my wife, my mom, and my girls.”
Q. How do you think the WSBA can help support practitioners as they navigate these challenges?
I want every legal practitioner in our state to know we’ve got their back. We are here for them. We set up a new Rule of Law Ambassador Program to confront the challenges to the rule of law. The WSBA’s Legal Technology Task Force recently submitted its final report and we hope to implement its recommendations with careful attendance. Our Well-Being Task Force is raising awareness about health and wellness. Self-care is important. You can only represent others and advocate for your community when you are in sound health yourself.
Q. What is one critical misperception the public holds about legal services and legal professionals that the WSBA can help to overcome?
The idea that legal practitioners only care about money is a myth. We care about the health and justice of our community. We live in the community where we practice and thrive. The WSBA’s new Rule of Law Ambassador program is the key to changing minds about our profession and I urge all our members to join in.
Q. What advice would you give to newer members of the Bar just beginning their careers?
We need you! As I write these words, I am preparing to join Gonzaga Law School Dean Rooksby in addressing Gonzaga law students. I teach at the law school and my message is the same: This profession needs you to bring your whole self to bear on the challenges we face as a nation and as a community. I want students from any of our law schools—UW, Seattle U, Gonzaga Law—to stay and practice in Washington. We are a state that cares about justice and the legal profession. We need you in rural areas, small towns, and big cities. We will support you with mentorship and leadership programs that will make you realize your potential. I am a living example of a concerted investment in leadership programs.
Q. Who has inspired you most in your career, and why?
Most of my inspiration has come from the women in my life: my wife, my mom, and my girls. They push me beyond my limits and set boundaries of discipline I fear to cross because to whom much is given, much is expected. In my community in Spokane, the late Sandy Williams gave me a platform to speak to my community and encourage others. In the legal profession, Justice Yu and ada shen-jaffe got me thinking beyond limits and breaking self-limiting barriers to justice.
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your time off?
Walking and reading.
Q. What is one question that we did not ask you, that you would like to address, and how would you answer it?
Why is belonging in the legal profession a difficult challenge? None of my answers make sense to me, so I turned to law professor john a. powell: “We cannot truly succeed and thrive if someone else is struggling and suffering.” And to author Brené Brown: “A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people.” Until we understand we are all interconnected in this community, we will continue to exile one another outside the circle of human concern.
NOTE
1. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “How Long? Not Long,” March 25, 1965, available at https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-long-not-long-speech-text/.