BWL continues to be ready and willing to be an advocate for itself and its members in legal issues that impact its constituencies. This year, during a critical time in our history, BWL has again provided a voice of equality in response to varying efforts to challenge minorities’ progress and freedoms. BWL co-hosted important town hall discussions involving legal issues that impact lawyers and community alike. Following last summer’s townhall discussion on issues of racial injustice in our country, on February 9, 2017, and in the middle of a series of immigration “ICE raids” throughout the city, BWL continued the discussion on “What Makes America Great?” Panelists for both roundtables included bar leaders, law professors, politicians, political commentators, and high-profile lawyers and advocates across the state, including Hector Villagra, Executive Director, ACLU of Southern California, Laboni Hoq, Litigation Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Mia Yamamoto, Principal, Law Offices of Mia Yamamoto, Kevin De Leon, Senate President Pro Tempore Senate District 24, Dr. Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro, Professor of Political Science, USC. The presentation centered around ways the minority legal community can band together to provide legal assistance to victims of oppression and injustice. The panel also mapped out proposed policy changes necessary to even the playing field and push the legislative envelope for demanding accountability for our lawmakers and law enforcers.