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, President
In This Issue:
- Welcome, New Member!
- Last Call to Register to Host 2015 1L Scholars
- Attend the Informational Call About Nominating 2015 Fellows
- Integrity, Trust, and Respect: The Altria Way
- Atlanta Leadership Lunch
- LCLD Events Calendar
- In the News
Welcome, New Member!
W. Russell Welsh, Managing Partner, Polsinelli, PC. Polsinelli is a national law firm ranked among the Am Law 100 with over 740 attorneys in 19 offices. A culture of entrepreneurship and the recruitment of like-minded attorneys from top law firms across the country has resulted in Polsinelli becoming the fastest growing U.S. law firm for the past six years as ranked by The American Lawyer.
Polsinelli attorneys provide practical legal guidance infused with business insight, and build relationships with a passion for assisting clients in achieving their objectives. The firm focuses on healthcare, financial services, real estate, life sciences and technology, energy and business litigation, and counsels clients in 100 service areas and 70 industries.
Last Call to Register to Host 2015 1L Scholars
LCLD Member organizations have the opportunity to help strengthen the pipeline of future leaders in the legal profession, by hosting one or more 1L LCLD Scholars next summer. Through internships with LCLD Member law firms and corporate legal departments, these diverse, first-year law students have the opportunity to gain both substantive legal skills and essential professional relationships that will help them start their legal career.
November 15, 2014 is the deadline to register your organization to host 2015 1L Scholars.
Please click here for more information about the 2015 1L Scholars Program, including hosting, hiring, and the 2015 1L LCLD Scholars Summit. For questions, please contact Nancy Richardson.
Attend the Informational Call About Nominating 2015 Fellows
2014 LCLD Fellows at their second in-person meeting in Phoenix. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
Each year, LCLD Members handpick high-potential, mid-career attorneys from diverse backgrounds to participate in the LCLD Fellows Program. The Fellows Program is a one-year, multifaceted, relationship building and leadership training experience for lawyers with 8-15 years of practice experience and demonstrated leadership potential.
We invite you to learn more about the program by visiting our website, and by attending the Fellows Informational Call, November 19, 2014 at 1:00 pm EST (call in number: 877-294-8214, access code: 5075876#).
To nominate a 2015 Fellow, please visit www.lcldnet.org/nominate. The nomination deadline is December 31, 2014.
For more information, please contact Nichole Velasquez.
Integrity, Trust, and Respect: The Altria Way
By Don Belt, LCLD Communications Director
Assistant General Counsel and 2013 Fellow Eun O'Donnell (left) interviews Denise Keane (right), Altria General Counsel, during the Altria Learning Experience. (Photo by Doug Buerlein)
Diversity at Altria, both within the Law department and company-wide, is a full-time commitment, said General Counsel Denise Keane, who, along with Assistant General Counsel Kamran Khan and the Altria Law Department, hosted a remarkable, day-long Learning Experience that gave the LCLD Fellows an in-depth look at a company whose legal issues sometimes make headline news.
Altria’s mission, she said, “is to own and develop financially disciplined businesses that are leaders in responsibly providing adult tobacco and wine consumers with superior branded products.” By adhering to Altria’s mission and core values, they are discovering more ways to succeed responsibly, as Altria executives explained in a series of presentations for the Fellows.
Altria Chairman & CEO Martin Barrington, an attorney who served in the company’s Law Department for more than a decade, shared some bedrock principles of leadership that apply at Altria including critical thinking, hard work, a love of problem-solving, comfort with complexity and feedback, and a positive, optimistic attitude.
Click here to read more and view the event photo gallery.
The next Learning Experience will be hosted by Teresa Sebastian, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Darden Restaurants, Inc. The event will take place February 5-6, 2015 in Orlando, FL. If you're interested in hosting a corporate Learning Experience, please contact Nichole Velasquez.
Atlanta Leadership Lunch
We'd like to thank the following LCLD Members who spoke to LCLD Fellows during the Leadership Lunch on November 3, 2014: Bernhard Goepelt, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Legal Counsel of The Coca-Cola Company, and Thomas Bender, Co-President and Co-Managing Director of Littler Mendelson, P.C.
The Coca-Cola Company hosted the Leadership Lunch at its headquarters in Atlanta, GA. Following the event, Fellows were led on the Coke Experience tour.
We'd also like to thank 2013 Fellow Lawrence Dietrich, Corporate Counsel, Labor & Employment at The Coca-Cola Company, who hosted a reception at his home the evening before the event.
For more information about hosting a Leadership Lunch, please contact Nichole Velasquez.
LCLD Events Calendar
Want to know what LCLD events are coming up? Click here to view our improved events calendar. There are filters to sort by the type or month of event, and you can even view past events.
For questions about using the calendar or the LCLD website in general, please contact Jessica Smith.
In the News
Wally Martinez, LCLD Immediate Past Chair and Managing Partner of Hunton & Williams LLP, and LCLD Member law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP were honored by The New York Law Journal with 2014 Lawyers Who Lead By Example Awards in the Pro Bono awards category.
Robert Grey, LCLD President and Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, will be honored with one of the American Bar Association's (ABA) four 2015 Sprit of Excellence Awards. Robert, also a former president of the ABA (2004-05), will be presented with the award during a ceremony on February 7, 2015 at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Houston, TX.
Gaither Keener, LCLD Member and Chief Legal Officer of Lowe’s Companies Inc., was featured in The Legal Intelligencer in an article explaining the importance of including straight white men in conversations about diversity.
LCLD Member contact Therese Pritchard (left), Chair of the Firm at Bryan Cave, and 2012 Fellow Lorraine Campos (right), Partner at ReedSmith LLP, were recently featured in the Profiles in Diversity Journal as two of its 2015 Women Worth Watching.
Traci Rollins, LCLD Member and Florida Regional Managing Partner of Squire Patton Boggs, has been named one of the Top 20 Women in Law by the Daily Business Review.
Thomas Sabatino, Jr., LCLD Member, and Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and General Counsel of Walgreens Co., has been honored by Equal Justice Works with the 2014 Scales of Justice Award.
Karl Racine, a Partner and LCLD diversity representative at Venable LLP, has been elected Attorney General of Washington, D.C. This year is the first time that this role has been an elected position. Karl will begin his term January 2015.
Michelle Wimes, Director of Professional Development & Inclusion at LCLD Member firm Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., was recently interviewed about how she laid a foundation for a successful diversity and inclusion program.
Leyza Blanco, 2014 Fellow and Shareholder at GrayRobinson, P.A., has been selected to join the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Fellowship.
John Cu, 2011 Fellow and Partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP, was recently interviewed by Law360 as part of the Minority Powerbrokers series.
Veronica Gomez (left), 2011 Fellow, and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Exelon Corporation, and Marlene Quintana (right), 2013 Fellow and Shareholder at GrayRobinson, P.A., have been named to the 2014 HispanicBusiness Magazine Top 50 Influentials List.
Laura Wilkinson, 2014 Fellow and Partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, was recently profiled by Chambers Women & Diversity, a blog published by Chambers & Partners that focuses on recognizing and promoting diversity in the law.
LCLD Member corporation MassMutual Financial Group was featured in an article about its expanded partnership with Just The Beginning - A Pipeline Organization (JTB). MassMutual sent three of the top performing high school students from its Summer Legal Institute on a trip to Washington, D.C. where they toured the U.S. Supreme Court, engaged in a discussion with Justice Kagan, and engaged in student-centered networking.
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Jessica Smith at jsmith@lcldnet.com.
