The Virginia Association of Black Women Attorneys (VABWA) was founded as a support network for the small number of minority women attorneys practicing in Virginia, to meet their needs as legal professionals in a predominately white and male oriented environment, and to help promote positive images of the legal profession to poor and underprivileged persons.
When the organization was formed in 1982, only 90 African-American women had been admitted to the Virginia State Bar. The number of female African-American attorneys has increased significantly since that time, however, there cointinues to be a need to address issues particular to minority lawyers and the disinfranchised clients they most often represent.
