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:
- Candidates Now Applying to 2017 1L Scholars Program Internships
- Mentors Still Needed: Become a Mentor Today
- 2017 Pathfinder Selections
- 2017 Fellow Nominations
- Recent Regional Events
- CLEO Edge Features Interviews with Robert Grey and LCLD Fellows
- In the News
Did You Know?
We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and a happy and successful New Year!
Candidates Now Applying to 2017 1L Scholars Program Internships
2016 1L LCLD Scholars at this year's Scholars Summit in Chicago. (Photo by Jay Haas)
Thanks to you, a record 112 Member organizations will host 1L LCLD Scholars Program internships next summer! We have notified more than 100 law schools, nationwide, of the 2017 1L LCLD Scholars Opportunities, which were posted to the LCLD website last Thursday, December 1, 2016.
PLEASE NOTE: If you haven't sent your posting preference (whether you want your organization to be listed under the first or the second table on the Scholars Opportunities page), your organization is currently listed by default under the second table (no direct contact from candidates). Please let Nancy Richardson know by tomorrow, December 16, if your organization needs to be moved to the other list.
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However, if you missed the November deadline to register your organization to participate in the program, we have extended the deadline for this first step to December 30, 2016. Please click here to register your organization, if you haven't already done so.
For questions about the 1L LCLD Scholars Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Mentors Still Needed: Become a Mentor Today
There's still a need for Mentors in the following cities. If you're interested in mentoring a first-year law student in one of these cities, please register to become a Mentor today. We also urge you to pass this message along to other attorneys at your organization who may be interested.
- Baltimore
- Charlotte/Winston-Salem
- Raleigh
- Washington, D.C.
Please help these deserving students get off our waiting list and into a mentorship!
For questions about the Success in Law School Mentoring Program, please email Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
2017 Pathfinder Selections
2016 Pathfinder Will Huynh (center) of Linklaters LLP, with other Pathfinders at their final in-person meeting in Dallas. (Photo by Jay Haas)
As a reminder, please submit your 2017 Pathfinder selections by Friday, January 13, 2017. Please note that many 2012 1L LCLD Scholars are now employed by LCLD Member organizations and are eligible to become 2017 Pathfinders!
The goal of the Pathfinder Program is to provide early-career attorneys with essential "soft" skills including leadership, relationship building, networking, and career planning to benefit both Pathfinders and the organizations they work for. Law firm candidates should have 3-5 years of practice experience. In-house candidates should have up to 3 years of in-house experience, and less than 8 total years of practice experience.
Please be sure to review the program selection criteria and fees before submitting your selection(s). Note that you will also need to identify a Pathfinder Program Facilitator upon selecting your Pathfinder.
For questions, please email Lori Lorenzo, Program Director.
2017 Fellow Nominations
2016 Fellows at their first in-person meeting in Austin, March 2016. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
As a reminder, please submit your 2017 Fellow nominations by Friday, January 13, 2017.
The Fellows Program is a one-year, multifaceted, relationship-building and leadership-training experience for diverse lawyers with 8-15 years of practice experience and demonstrated leadership potential. As LCLD's flagship program, all Fellows must be handpicked by LCLD Members themselves.
Please be sure to review the program selection criteria and fees before submitting your nomination(s). We also encourage you to review the Member Tool Kit for the Fellows Program.
For questions, please contact Lori Lorenzo, LCLD Program Director.
Recent Regional Events
LCLD would like to thank the following LCLD Members and organizations that hosted regional LCLD events this month:
- Harriet Mountcastle-Walsh, Vice President and General Counsel--Aerospace at Honeywell International, who hosted a Fellows Learning Experience in Phoenix, AZ, on December 8, 2016. Look out for an article and photos from the event this winter.
- LCLD Member law firm Osborn Maladon, P.A., which hosted the Welcome Reception for the Honeywell Learning Experience on on December 7, 2016.
- Kimberly Johnson, Partner and Firm Chair at Quarles & Brady LLP, and N. Cornell Boggs, III, Director of Thrivent Financial, and former Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Dow Corning Corporation, who hosted a Fellows Leadership Lunch at Quarles & Brady in Chicago on December 12, 2016.
For questions about how you can host a Leadership Lunch or Learning Experience, please contact Lori Lorenzo, LCLD Program Director.
CLEO Edge Features Interviews with Robert Grey and LCLD Fellows
Left to Right: LCLD President Robert Grey partnered with the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) to interview LCLD Fellows and others on diversity in the profession as CLEO approaches its 50th anniversary. Fellows Tienne Anderson, Darwin Conner, and Cecilly Shelton shared their thoughts on how diversity has changed since they began practicing, differences in how junior and senior lawyers view diversity, and what the next steps are.
“It’s clear from the commentary above that today’s lawyers are anxious for change and willing and able to be trailblazers,” wrote Grey. “As CLEO has been doing for nearly 50 years – and LCLD has for seven – empowering these talented attorneys is an important part of the solution.”
In the News
Brad Smith, LCLD Chair, and President and Chief Legal Officer at Microsoft Corp., wrote an article on the role technology can play in moving the country forward.
Laura Stein, incoming LCLD Chair, and General Counsel and Vice President of The Clorox Company, was recognized as an innovative general counsel by The Financial Times.
Peter Kalis, LCLD Board Member, and Chairman and Global Managing Partner of K&L Gates LLP, spoke about the firm’s $10 million donation to Carnegie Mellon University to support the study of artificial intelligence and the law.
Alan Hoffman, LCLD Member, and Chairman and Managing Partner of Blank Rome LLP, was named a 2016 Most Admired CEO by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Louise Pentland, LCLD Member and General Counsel at PayPal Holdings, spoke about her high expectations regarding commitment to diversity from outside counsel.
Faiza Saeed (left), incoming LCLD Member at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and Sheila Mortazavi (right), 2015 Fellow and Partner at Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP, were among the New York Law Journal’s 2016 Top Women in the Law.
Cyndie Chang, 2011 Fellow, Managing Partner at the Los Angeles office of Duane Morris LLP, and President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, is leading NAPABA’s efforts to create hate crime report kits as reported incidents increase.
Various LCLD Member organizations were also mentioned in the news for partnership milestones and diversity honors.
See "What's Working" at LCLD Member organizations. Read about innovative solutions for creating a more inclusive legal profession and find out if what's working for these organizations can work for yours, too. To submit an initiative, please email Caitlin Puffenberger, LCLD Communications Coordinator.
Read the latest issue of the LCLD Weekly News Digest on major issues in diversity and the legal profession. If you would like to receive the news digest via email each Wednesday, please contact Caitlin Puffenberger.
Jessica Sabesan
Communications & Marketing Manager, LCLD Insider Editor
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Jessica Sabesan at jsabesan@lcldnet.com.
