Illumination of Bias: Practical Strategies for Recognizing and Reducing Implicit Bias in the Practice of Law

Sidney Evering focuses his practice on the areas of public finance, economic development, and local government. Prior to joining Parker Poe, he spent four years as an attorney with the South Carolina Association of Counties, where he advised counties statewide on various legal issues and lobbied on behalf of the association and its member counties.

Sidney served as Parker Poe's director of diversity for seven years. In that role, he worked closely with the firm’s Diversity Committee to promote and facilitate a working environment of inclusion, respect, and opportunity for all employees through education, special initiatives and hiring and retention practices.

Chara O’Neale focuses her practice primarily on the representation of hospitals, physician groups, and other healthcare providers in the resolution of legal, regulatory, and business issues for entities involved in the healthcare industry.

She also assists health care providers with operational and governance issues, such as risk management, organizational policies and procedures, and general contract issues. In addition, she advises her clients on business law matters, including merger and acquisition transactions.

Chara is Parker Poe’s director of diversity. She applies enthusiasm and passion to advancing the culture of diversity across the firm, working closely with Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair Shalanna Pirtle.

Michael Kahn holds a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law, and practiced law with the Attorney General’s Office for the State of New Jersey for 6 years.

Although he left the practice of law in 1991, his work thereafter has kept him involved in the lives of lawyers in various capacities. Following a stint as Assistant Director of Career Services with the Tulane University School of Law, Michael obtained his M. Ed. in Counseling from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 1994, and shortly thereafter became a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of North Carolina.

Michael’s areas of focus in his psychotherapy practice have included anxiety, depression, grief/loss, career satisfaction, and men's issues, and he has worked with adolescents and adults in individual and group therapy settings. In 2012, he relocated to Oregon, where, in addition to continuing his speaking career, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education & Counseling.

He currently resides in Vancouver, BC, and he continues to present training seminars and workshops on ethics, grief, self-care, diversity and inclusion, and other topics for attorneys and mental health professionals throughout the U.S. and abroad, including for the U.S. Army.

Chris Osborn and Michael Kahn began providing their innovative CLE workshops on ethics, professional responsibility, diversity and inclusion and mental health/substance abuse awareness in 2007. Since January 2010, their workshops have been enjoyed by hundreds of participants in Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Virginia, as well as Australia and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. In August 2012, their program, “Practicing Dirt Law and Keeping Your Nose Clean”- Stress and Ethical Decision-Making for Real Estate Attorneys, received an Award of Outstanding Achievement in Programming from ACLEA, the Association for Continuing Legal Education Professionals.