Co-Chair, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Andrew Kassner became Co-Chair of Faegre Drinker Biddle in 2020. He was previously Chairman of Drinker Biddle & Reath, where he led the firm to achieve gender parity on its managing partners committee and executive management team.
As part of LCLD's Leaders at the Front initiative, Andrew created a Leader's Pledge detailing his personal and organizational commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Read Andrew's pledge here.
In 2020, Faegre Drinker used 30 percent diverse candidate pools for leadership and governance positions, lateral hiring, and promotions; instituted a sponsorship program for diverse senior associates; and expanded its portfolio of firmwide education and awareness programs. The firm also tracks the workflow of diverse associates to ensure that they are given opportunities to work on significant matters and with key clients, and measures the diversity of client teams.
Faegre Drinker was named an LCLD Top Performer in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Joined LCLD 2009
Highlights of LCLD Participation
Fellows Program
Fellows nominated:
2023: Remy Nshimiyimana; 2022: Pablo Svirsky; 2021: Sulema Medrano Novak; 2020: Yasmin Best; 2019: Christine Kain; 2018: Christopher H. Dolan; 2017: Joel Sayres; 2016: Steven Reeves; 2015: Miko Hernandez; 2014: Shiv Ghuman O'Neill; 2013: Lica Tomizuka; 2012: Brenda J. Robinson; 2011: Will F. Stute
Pathfinder Program
Pathfinders selected:
2023: Eric Au, Mary Hershewe; 2022: Sharena Smith, Anthony Finnell; 2021: Scholastica Baker, Michelle Francois; 2020: Sumaya Noush, David Yoshimura; 2019: Ruben Gonzalez; 2018: Sylvia Bokyung St. Clair; 2017: Samina A. Kapadia; 2016: Stacie Gonsalves Linguist; 2015: Faris Rashid
1L LCLD Scholars Program
Scholars hosted:
2021: Vicki Wang, Shelby Pickar-Dennis, Nikolas Spilson, Sergio Gonzalez, Maria Sanchez, Kevin Green, Mason Medeiros, Jayashree Vankateswaran, Yue Zhao, Molly Nelson-Regan, Feven Yohannes; 2020: Tenzin Dolkar, Alexis Walker-Dunham, Madison Kemker, Federico Benvenutto, Andrew Park, Phyu-Sin Than, Diego Garcia, Emilie Erickson; 2019: Charles Whiting, Maurice Baynard, Tyler Graham, Zoey Twyford, David Adeleye, Camila Pacheco-Flores, Rachel Palermo; 2018: Gabriel Branco, Cameron Chan, Taylor Kim, Colton Lyons, Bob Onghetich, Yara Rashad, Xiaoqi Tang; 2017: Jessica Cordero, David Gomez, Shawn Kim, Emanuele McMiller, Kiera Murphy, Charles Shi; 2016: Aurora Barnes, Isabelle Chammas, Nyajuok Deng, Alex Kim, Zachary Mahone, Kareem Tawfic, Matthew Thompson; 2015: Melody Bledsoe, Jacqueline Lim; 2014: Marquita Davis, Josh Espinosa, Sylonda Lang, Donna Long, Will Orlady, Noeli Serna, Jonathan Nemani; 2013: Stefanie Dai, Justin Kingsolver, Jennifer Lesh, Priya Patel, Hahn Pham, Raxit Shah; 2012: Sara Canby, Reginald Cuyler, Jr., Anne Lee, Charles Mao, Vince Pham, Juliana Yanez
Success in Law School Mentoring Program
Mentors provided: 2020, 2019, 2017, 2015
Attendance
Annual Meeting (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014)
Members: Andrew Kassner, Thomas Froehle
Diversity Professional: Maria Lewis, Haja Wotorson
