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:
- Save the Date for the LCLD Annual Meeting
- Mentor Registration Reminder
- Fellows Alumna Appointed Judge
- Robert Grey and Brad Smith Featured in Multicultural Law
- Fellows Experience Coffee and Community at Starbucks
- Highlights of the Summer 2014 Fellows Alumni Survey
- Fellows Alumni Meet in the Big Easy
- July Leadership Lunches
- Welcome, New Members!
- In the News
Did You Know? There's a new way to view the LCLD Events Calendar and related news articles. Toggle between the new "Timeline" view and the original "Grid" view by clicking the buttons near the top right of the main Events page.
Save the Date for the LCLD Annual Meeting
Members, please mark your calendars and keep an eye out for more details, coming soon. For questions, please contact Jennifer Denton, Membership & Operations Manager.
Mentor Registration Reminder
Mentors and Mentees gathering at a Group Mentoring Program event at the Duane Morris LLP office in San Diego, CA. (Photo courtesy of Duane Morris)
It's time to register to mentor a law student this fall; we need more Mentors in all of our cities to meet law school interest. All attorneys at LCLD Member organizations are eligible to become Mentors, so we ask that you distribute this opportunity to all lawyers in your organization.
Please register now to be a Mentor for the 2015-2016 academic year. The deadline to register is August 31, 2015.
If you have questions about Mentor registration or the Success in Law School Mentoring Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Fellows Alumna Appointed Judge
LCLD is excited to announce that 2011 Fellow Julie Sneed has been appointed as United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Florida. Prior to her judicial appointment, she was a shareholder at LCLD Member law firm Akerman LLP. Congratulations, Julie!
Robert Grey and Brad Smith Featured in Multicultural Law
LCLD President Robert Grey was the subject of the cover story in Multicultural Law's 2015 edition. In the article, Grey explains how he was inspired by Oliver Hill, the legendary civil rights attorney, throughout his career and as the leader of LCLD. Hill was Grey's neighbor and served as his mentor as Grey grew up in Richmond, Virginia. Read the full article here.
LCLD Board Chair Brad Smith was also featured in the magazine, giving a testimonial on the impact of LCLD and diversity in the legal profession. View the piece here.
Fellows Experience Coffee and Community at Starbucks
By Caitlin Puffenberger, Communications Coordinator, LCLD
Hosted by LCLD Member Lucy Helm, General Counsel of Starbucks, Fellows tasted coffee and learned about the importance of community and diversity at the Starbucks headquarters. Pictured above: Fellows Monica Patel, Annie Chuang, and Blind Arkawi learning about new brewing techniques from a Starbucks partner. (Photo by Caitlin Puffenberger)
SEATTLE —“Every meeting at Starbucks begins with a coffee tasting to remind us why we’re here,” Andrew Linneman, Vice President of Coffee Quality and Engagement, told a room full of LCLD Fellows. Though unusual, the slurping session (at Starbucks, it’s rude not to slurp) was the perfect way to kick off a Learning Experience at a company so grounded in its chief values of coffee and community.
Kevin Johnson, President and Chief Operating Officer, began the day with an overview of the coffee company, which serves 80 million customers a day in 66 countries. The company is committed to bringing quality coffee to its customers in a comfortable setting, he said, but also to making positive changes in the world. Read the full article.
In the next issue, read about the Learning Experience that took place at Target Corporation (June 22-23). For more information on how you can host a Learning Experience, please contact Stephanie Uzel, Program Manager.
Highlights of the Summer 2014 Fellows Alumni Survey
Click on the graphic for a summary of the inaugural survey, which will be repeated and updated this summer. (Graphics by Jessica Smith)
In the summer of 2014, LCLD conducted a survey of Fellows Alumni (the classes of 2011-2013), which revealed a number of interesting findings about their experiences with the Fellows Program. The results also showed how Fellows Alumni have been developing their networks and careers since they graduated from the program.
We invite you to view the infographic that summarizes highlights of the survey data. We were able to draw conclusions about the data with the help of Robert Nelson, Director of the American Bar Foundation, and his team.
On June 24, we distributed a new and improved survey to Fellows Alumni, including the class of 2014. We will share highlights from this year's survey after it closes this summer.
For questions, please contact Lori Lorenzo, Program Director.
Fellows Alumni Meet in the Big Easy
By Don Belt, Communications Director, LCLD
Judicial panel with (left to right): Lauren Campisi (2011 Fellow, moderator); Hon. Marta Chou, Fourth Judicial District Court Judge of Minnesota (2012 Fellow); Hon. Kenneth Polite, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana; and Hon. Susie Morgan, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. (Photo by Charles Belt)
With New Orleans' scenic French Quarter as a backdrop, more than 110 LCLD Fellows Alumni gathered in June for the group's Fourth Annual Fellows Alumni Conference, organized by the Fellows Alumni Conference Committee and co-chaired by Brian Seaman (2013 Fellow, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young) and Darwin Conner (2013 Fellow, Sullivan & Worcester).
The two-day meeting featured a full agenda from a keynote lecture on "covering" and implicit bias (delivered by Kenji Yoshino, Professor of Law at NYU) to sessions on body language, leadership, and technological innovations for the legal profession.
The Fellows Alumni Executive Council, led by Chair Zohra Tejani and Chair Elect Jason DeJonker, also announced a new contributions structure for the Fellows Alumni organization, which has grown since its founding in 2012 into one of the largest and most active programs offered by LCLD. Read the full article and view photos.
For more information about the Fellows Alumni, or the conference, please contact Courtney Nolde, Special Projects Manager.
July Leadership Lunches
LCLD would like to thank Eric Friedman, LCLD Board Member and Executive Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Matthew Mallow, General Counsel and Global Executive Committee member at BlackRock, Inc., for speaking at a Leadership Lunch on July 13, 2015. The event was hosted at the Skadden office in New York City.
In advance, we'd also like to thank LCLD Members Les Bookoff, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Bookoff McAndrews, PLLC, and Ian Graham, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at BAE Systems, Inc. They will speak at a Leadership Lunch on July 28 at the Bookoff McAndrews office in Washington, DC.
For more information about speaking at, or hosting, a Leadership Lunch, please contact Stephanie Uzel.
Welcome, New Members!
James Y. Kerr II (Jim), General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Executive Vice President, Southern Company. With more than 4.5 million customers and approximately 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries, which include electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation business.
A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable, and affordable electricity, Southern Company is developing the full portfolio of resources for America’s energy future, and innovating for the benefit of the communities we’re privileged to serve. Southern Company brands are known for energy innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability, and retail electric prices that are below the national average.
John M. Koneck, President, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Clients have relied on us since 1948 for solutions that help them minimize legal risks and maximize business benefits. At Fredrikson, we’ve built a reputation as the firm “where law and business meet” by bringing business acumen and entrepreneurial thinking to our work, and by operating as business advisors and strategic partners as well as legal counselors.
With 275 attorneys working in offices located in Minneapolis, Bismarck, Des Moines, Fargo, St. Paul, Monterrey, Mexico, and Shanghai, China, we are committed to fostering a culture in which all attorneys and staff embrace diversity and inclusion as a core value and accept responsibility for furthering that commitment. Providing our clients with excellent service and creative solutions is a direct result of investing in a diverse workforce.
Maryanne Lavan, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Lockheed Martin Corporation. Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services. We solve complex challenges, advance scientific discovery, and deliver innovative solutions to help our customers keep people safe and provide them essential services.
Mark A. Smolik, Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, and Compliance Officer, Exel, Inc. Our vision at Exel is to be THE logistics company for the world. Our mission is to make our customers, employees, and investors more successful; always demonstrate respect without compromising on results; simplify our customers’ lives; and make a positive contribution to our world.
Chad E. Walker, General Counsel, Morton Salt, Inc. (2012 Fellow). For more than 165 years, Morton Salt has served as a symbol of excellence and a trusted authority on salt. At Morton, we are passionate about building a sustainable future for our company, the communities in which we operate, and the world around us. We bring this passion to life through a wide range of business, social, and environmental programs that are designed with future generations in mind.
In the News
Linda Addison, LCLD Member and U.S. Managing Partner of Norton Rose Fulbright, was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York.
Brackett Denniston, LCLD Member, and Senior Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel at GE, and Obiamaka Madubuko, 2011 Fellow and Partner at McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, were named 2015 Attorneys Who Matter by Ethisphere.
David Hashmall, LCLD Member and Chairman of Goodwin Procter, spoke about the firm’s diversity measures in an interview.
Michael Rosenberg, LCLD Member and Managing Partner of ROIG Lawyers, was named a “Power Leader in Law & Accounting” by the South Florida Business Journal.
Joseph Hanna, a 2014 Fellow and Partner at Goldberg Segalla, was named Lawyer of the Year by the Bar Association of Erie County.
Effie Silva, 2014 Fellow and Trial Partner at McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, talked about her LCLD experience in a feature article in Florida Super Lawyers.
Multiple LCLD Member organizations and affiliates were featured in recent news, including recognitions by Chambers Diversity and the Women in Law Empowerment Forum.
Jessica Smith, Communications & Marketing Manager, LCLD Insider Editor
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Jessica Smith at jsmith@lcldnet.com.
