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:
- Registration Now Open: CLE Seminar on Systems for Solving the Legal Profession's Diversity Problem
- Register Your 2016 1L Scholars
- Hundreds of LCLD Fellows Meet in Austin, Marking Five-Year Milestone
- Upcoming Learning Experience
- Call for LCLD Member Speakers and Hosts: Fellows Alumni Regional Roundtables
- Welcome, New Members!
- In the News
Did You Know?
You can learn more about individual LCLD Fellows by looking them up in the Fellows Directory.
Registration Now Open: CLE Seminar on Systems for Solving the Legal Profession's Diversity Problem
The Fourth Annual Mid-Year Webinar, Building Inclusive Teams: Systems for Solving the Legal Profession's Diversity Problem, will be presented by Professor William D. Henderson of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
The event will take place Monday, April 18, 2016, 1:00 - 4:00 pm ET at the Practising Law Institute (PLI) in New York City. Lunch will begin at 12:00 pm for those who attend in person. You may also attend via live webcast.
We invite you to join William Henderson and LCLD Members in a conversation about identifying the issues facing recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent within law firms and corporate legal departments. We will also discuss the importance of investing in the legal pipeline and the active development of diverse talent and specific ways to ensure that a diverse talent pool is identified when looking at organizational leadership.
LCLD Member organization panelists will include Richard Meade, Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, International, at Prudential Financial; Monica Parham, Counsel at Crowell & Moring LLP; Mackenzie Phillips, Senior Vice President & Chief Corporate Counsel at Jones Lang Lasalle Incorporated; Rachel Simmonds-Watson, Diversity Manager at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; and Robert Grey, Jr., LCLD President and Partner at Hunton & Williams LLP.
We encourage you to share this invitation with your lawyers and HR staff!
Click here to register to attend this event in person, via an individual webcast, or via a group webcast. The registration deadline is Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Please note that registration is managed directly by PLI; for any technical questions, please call 1-800-260-4754 or email info@pli.edu.
For questions about the event, please contact Lori Lorenzo, Program Director.
Register Your 2016 1L Scholars
The 2015 class of Scholars at the 2015 1L LCLD Scholars Summit in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
Thanks to you, 111 Member organizations will host 1L LCLD Scholars to participate in internships at their organizations this summer! We are looking forward to our largest group of Scholars joining us at the 2016 LCLD 1L Scholars Summit, May 19-21, 2016 at the JW Marriott Chicago.
Please register each Scholar for your organization by Friday, May 6, 2016.
You may reserve rooms at the JW Marriott Chicago for your Scholars using this link, by Friday, April 29, 2016, to take advantage of the special group rate. Please also complete and fax the Credit Card Authorization Form to Patricia Yniguez at (312) 660-8201 no later than Friday, April 22, 2016.
For questions about the 1L LCLD Scholars Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
Hundreds of LCLD Fellows Meet in Austin, Marking Five-Year Milestone
By Don Belt, LCLD Communications Director 
2015 and 2016 Fellows gathered to hear Brad Smith (left), President of Microsoft, interviewed by LCLD President Robert Grey on leadership, diversity, and the 21st century legal profession. Smith also serves as Chair of LCLD's Board. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
This week in Austin, Texas, two of the largest classes in LCLD history helped the organization celebrate the first five years of the Fellows program, a period of rapid growth and refinement that began in New York City in March, 2011.
As their year-long program came to close, the 2015 Fellows held their third and final meeting before graduating, while the Class of 2016—at 227 Fellows, the largest class ever—met for the first time to embark upon an ambitious program of professional development, leadership training, and relationship building.
The agendas for the concurrent meetings can be found here (2015) and here (2016).
The highlight of the event was an interactive Q&A session with Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer of Microsoft Corporation and Chair of the LCLD Board for the past three years. He was interviewed at length by Robert Grey, President of LCLD. All 2015 and 2016 Fellows and the LCLD Board attended. Read the full article and view photos.
Upcoming Learning Experience
LCLD Member Daniel Troy, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at GlaxoSmithKline, will host a small group of LCLD Fellows for a Learning Experience on April 18, 2016 in Philadelphia.
The welcome event for the Fellows the evening before the Learning Experience will be hosted by LCLD Member firm Reed Smith LLP.
Look for an article about the Experience in the LCLD Insider later this spring.
For questions about hosting an LCLD Fellows' Learning Experience, please contact Nichole Velasquez, LCLD Program Manager.
Call for LCLD Member Speakers and Hosts: Fellows Alumni Regional Roundtables
Members Mike Harrington, General Counsel at Eli Lilly and Company (center), and Kim Johnson, Firm Chair at Quarles & Brady LLP (second right from center), speak to a group of Fellows. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
LCLD Fellows Alumni have begun to plan the 2016 season of general counsel and managing partner Regional Roundtables. The purpose of the roundtable series is to create a forum for Fellows Alumni to engage with a general counsel or managing partner on an intimate level about a specific topic that interests the group.
Click here to read about the inaugural Regional Roundtable event, which was hosted by LCLD Member Ivan Fong, Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, and General Counsel at 3M Company.
If you're interested in participating in or hosting a 2016 Regional Roundtable event, please email Program Development Roundtable Subcommittee Chair Anny Huang, a 2014 Fellow and Partner at Sidley Austin LLP, for more information.
Welcome, New Members!
Susan S. Brewer, CEO, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. Steptoe & Johnson is a U.S law firm with core strengths in energy, labor and employment, litigation, and transactional law. We have more than 300 attorneys working in Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. Our attorneys have a reputation for providing strategic legal guidance to solve today’s problems while being mindful of the implications for the future of your company.
Steptoe & Johnson has been serving clients for more than 100 years. Our goal is to create a workplace that embraces diversity and inclusion, as it is our belief that our workplace should reflect the communities in which we live and conduct business.
Li Chen, Managing Partner, Chen Malin LLP. Chen Malin LLP is an award-winning law firm founded on the belief that effective advocacy is never formulaic; that complex issues may be explained simply; and that clients deserve clear answers whenever they seek counsel.
Andrew I. Glincher, P.C., CEO & Managing Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP. At Nixon Peabody, we see the law as a tool to help shape the future for our clients and our communities. Our attorneys navigate businesses through today’s exciting and challenging times, foresee obstacles, and ensure that they are equipped with winning legal strategies.
We’re driven by an extreme understanding of our clients and their industries, and a forward-thinking culture that taps into our diverse perspectives and collective intelligence, connecting networks and creating value for clients. We provide counsel on the full range of corporate transactions, disputes, and regulatory challenges.
Francine Griesing, Managing Member, Griesing Law LLC. Griesing Law LLC was founded by three women with the goal of creating an environment where everyone could reach their full potential professionally while sustaining a fulfilling life outside the workplace and contributing to the community.
Our schedules are flexible to accommodate both the planned and unplanned responsibilities that arise in our personal lives, which helps relieve the stress associated with finding the perfect work/life balance. Everything we do is to further our mission to provide the highest caliber of legal services economically, while creating an environment where our employees do not have to choose between thriving in their careers and having a fulfilling personal life.
In the News
Mark Wasserman, LCLD Member and Managing Partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, is leading a team in the Women in Law Hackathon, a competition to promote the retention and advancement of women in BigLaw.
Paulette Brown, LCLD Diversity Professional at Locke Lord LLP and President of the American Bar Association, spoke about diversity at the ABA House of Delegates’ midyear meeting.
Brigida Benitez (left), 2016 Fellow and Partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Monica Neuman (center), 2015 Fellow at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, and Raquel Tamez (right), 2011 Fellow and Principal, Litigation and e-Discovery, at SourceAmerica, were named among the 25 Most Influential Hispanic Lawyers.
S. Jeanine Conley (left), 2015 Fellow and Partner at BakerHostetler, and Laura Wilkinson (right), 2014 Fellow and Partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, discussed the importance of Black History Month and its implications for the legal profession.
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, LCLD Communications Coordinator.
Various LCLD Member organizations were also mentioned in the news.
Jessica Smith, Communications & Marketing Manager, Editor
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Jessica Smith at jsmith@lcldnet.com.
