Welcome to the LCLD INSIDER, our monthly newsletter. This publication is for you, and we welcome your feedback and ideas, as well as any news you might be interested in passing along. Please share the INSIDER with your support staff, diversity directors, and marketing departments to keep them better informed about what LCLD is doing.
-Robert Grey, Executive Director
In This Issue:
- Register for the Fifth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting
- Welcome, New Members!
- 2011 Fellow Christine Wheatley Becomes General Counsel
- Mentors Still Needed for Law School Mentoring Program
- COMING SOON On-Demand: Building Competitive Teams: Embracing Generational Diversity
- Fellows Alumni Hit the Streets of Miami
- In the News
Register for the Fifth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting
Register now for the Fifth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting, "ACT," on September 17-18, 2014, when we will return to Phoenix, Arizona, site of the historic 2008 Call to Action Summit that led to the founding of LCLD in 2009.
Five years on, we will take stock of the programs LCLD has built, the lives we've changed, and the progress we've made toward our goal of a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. We will also turn our thoughts to the future, and what the next five years will look like as we add innovative new programs to the strong foundation we've built since 2009.
Invited guest speakers include:
- Two of America's preeminent attorneys, David Boies, LCLD Member and Chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, and Ted Olson, Partner at LCLD Member firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
- Kenji Yoshino, professor of constitutional law at the NYU School of Law, with Dr. Christie Smith of Deloitte University Leadership Center for Diversity. Co-authors of "Uncovering Talent: A New Model of Inclusion" (available here), Yoshino and Smith invite everyone in your organization to take a confidential survey about workplace inclusion. The results will be tabulated and presented at the Annual Meeting on September 18.
Please click here to register to attend the Annual Membership Meeting. If you have questions, please contact Jennifer Denton via jdenton@lcldnet.com or at 804.334.5366. We look forward to seeing you in Phoenix!
Welcome, New Members!
Himanshu S. Amin, Managing Partner, Amin, Turocy & Watson, LLP (ATW). ATW is one of, if not the largest, minority-owned intellectual property law firms in the U.S. Diversity is in ATW's DNA; the firm proudly evinces a percentage of legal practitioners of color that far exceeds the vast majority of peer IP law firms. ATW represents over 15 Global Fortune 500 high-tech companies, and numerous medium-sized entities and start-ups in connection with complex intellectual property matters that include patent, trademark, and copyright procurement; IP monetization; IP portfolio development and management; ideation/forward- patenting; due diligence; valuation; licensing; IP-centric acquisitions; litigation; conflict resolution; executive-level IP strategy; and positioning start-up companies from an IP standpoint for entry into the marketplace, acquisition, funding, or IPO.
Robert C. Weber, Senior Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, and General Counsel, IBM Corporation. IBM is a globally integrated technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. With operations in more than 170 countries, IBM attracts and retains some of the world's most talented people to help solve problems and provide an edge for businesses, governments, and non-profits.
2011 Fellow Christine Wheatley Becomes General Counsel
LCLD is excited to announce that Christine S. Wheatley, a 2011 Fellow, has recently become Secretary and General Counsel of LCLD Member corporation The Kroger Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to being appointed to this role, Christine was Kroger's Vice President, Senior Counsel, and Assistant Secretary. Congratulations, Christine!
Mentors Still Needed for Law School Mentoring Program
The LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program is still in need of Mentor attorneys to be paired with diverse, first-year law student Mentees across the country. All attorneys employed by LCLD Member organizations are eligible to participate. Lawyers interested in serving as Mentors in the program for the upcoming academic year may register now through July 31, 2014.
If you have questions about the LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program, please contact Louise Bald at lbald@lcldnet.com or (804) 658-6019.
Gavin Parsons (right), LCLD Mentor and Partner at Troutman Sanders, and Grace Wallace, a student at North Carolina Central University School of Law, during a Group Mentoring Program event hosted by Moore & Van Allen PLLC in Raleigh, NC. (Photo courtesy of Moore & Van Allen, November 2013)
COMING SOON On-Demand: Building Competitive Teams: Embracing Generational Diversity
Please be on the lookout for information on how to view a recording of the LCLD Mid- Year CLE Seminar and Webinar from May 2014, entitled, "Building Competitive Teams: Embracing Generational Diversity." The seminar included a conversation with Chris De Santis about how economic and historic events have shaped the perceptions, beliefs, and values of the generations that are present in the workplace today. LCLD has partnered with the Practising Law Institute to apply for CLE credit for this seminar.
Attorney panelists from LCLD Member organizations included Paul Jones, General Counsel and Secretary, Harley-Davidson; Genhi Givings Bailey, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, DLA Piper; and Gabriel Martinez, Corporate Counsel, The Clorox Company. We encourage you to share this program with your lawyers, recruiting/HR staff, and summer associates!
For questions, please email Louise Bald, LCLD Program Manager.
Fellows Alumni Hit the Streets of Miami
By Don Belt, LCLD Communications Director
Teaching law to a roomful of restless grade schoolers would be a challenge for anyone, but the LCLD Fellows Alumni made it look easy during a visit to Miami's Overtown Youth Center, which serves more than 400 inner-city kids with after-school educational programs, mentoring, and character-building support.
Leading the impromptu workshop was 2011 Fellow Jimmie McMillian of Barnes & Thornburg, who staged an informative and hilarious test case involving a wobbly chair, an "injury," and an aggrieved seven-year-old plaintiff. Kids matched arguments with the attorneys in the room and "really held their own," according to 2013 Fellow Paula Aguila of Rivero Mestre. Read more.
Jimmie McMillian, 2011 Fellow (center), and other Fellows Alumni speaking to youth at the Overtown Youth Center. (Photo by Jay Haas)
In the News
LCLD Members Jami Wintz McKeon, Partner and Chair-Elect, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, and John Schultz, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Hewlett-Packard Company, were featured in a Corporate Counsel article about an increase in summer internships that are designed to give law students in-house experience. The article also mentions LCLD Member organizations The Clorox Company; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
Nancy J. Faggianelli, Chief Diversity Officer of LCLD Member firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, was honored by the Florida Diversity Council with the LGBT-Allies Leader Award. Faggianelli received the award July 1, 2014 during the council's LGBT-Allies Diversity Summit in Orlando, Florida.
2014 LCLD Fellows Yendelela Neely Anderson (left), Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, and Jaliya S. Faulkner (right), Associate at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, are two of 40 attorneys who will be honored with the National Bar Association's Top Trailblazers Under 40 Awards. The awards gala will take place July 26, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia during the organization's 89th Annual Convention.
Joseph M. Drayton, 2013 LCLD Fellow and Partner at Cooley LLP, and Natalia Martín, Director of Diversity at LCLD Member firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, were two of four attorneys in New York to be recognized by the New York City Bar Association (NYCBA) with a 2014 Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award. They received their awards June 18, 2014 at the NYCBA 30th Anniversary Diversity and Inclusion Celebration Dinner.
Alfred Fraijo, Jr., 2013 LCLD Fellow and Partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, was recently interviewed by Hispanic Executive about his motivations for improving underserved communities in East Los Angeles through his career as a real estate attorney.
Brian P. Seaman, 2013 LCLD Fellow and Associate at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP, co-authored an article in The Legal Intelligencer on Tips for Being a Successful Gay Job Candidate.
LCLD Member corporation IBM was featured by the American Bar Association Section of Litigation as a detailed example of how companies receive financial gains by including diversity in their overall business strategy.
Employees of United Airlines, Inc., an LCLD Member corporation, marched in several parades across the country to commemorate LGBT Pride Month (June). United participated in Pride events in its major airline hub markets: Denver, Chicago, Houston, New York City, and San Francisco.
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Jessica Smith.
