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:
- San Diego Hosts Largest Gathering of LCLD Fellows in History
- Last Chance to View CLE Webinar on Systems for Solving the Legal Profession's Diversity Problem
- Register Your 2017 1L Scholars & Sign Up to Lead Mock Interviews
- Several LCLD Members Interviewed in General Counsel Diversity & Inclusion Report
- Recent Group Mentoring Program Events
- Welcome, New Members!
- In the News
Did You Know?
You can learn more about the 2017 Fellows by looking them up in the Fellows Directory.
San Diego Hosts Largest Gathering of LCLD Fellows in History
By Don Belt, LCLD Communications Director
A group of 2017 Fellows during their first in-person meeting at the Omni San Diego Hotel. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
The two largest classes of LCLD Fellows in history, including the 250 diverse attorneys tapped for 2017, convened in San Diego March 2-5, 2017, for a packed agenda emphasizing leadership skills, professional development, and relationship building. On March 4, both classes heard advice from Rick Palmore, Founder of LCLD, in an on-stage Language of Leadership conversation with LCLD President Robert Grey.
The Class of 2017 joins the classes of 2011 through 2016 as participants in one of most comprehensive legal talent development programs in the country.
“Our Fellows program is a unique learning experience designed to empower a new generation of lawyers,” said Laura Stein, LCLD Chair and Executive Vice President—General Counsel & Corporate Affairs of The Clorox Company. “These talented individuals have been singled out for leadership by their organizations, and represent a broad spectrum of backgrounds as diverse as the country they serve.” Click here to read the full article; click here to view photos from the 2016 Fellows Third Meeting and click here to view photos from the 2017 Fellows First Meeting.
Click here to read LCLD's official press release announcing the 2017 class of Fellows.
For more information about the Fellows Program, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager.
Last Chance to View CLE Webinar on Systems for Solving the Legal Profession's Diversity Problem
Did you miss last year's webinar, Building Inclusive Teams: Systems for Solving the Legal Profession's Diversity Problem, presented by Professor William D. Henderson (left) of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law?
All attorneys at your organization have until April 18, 2017, to view this webinar on demand and apply for CLE credit with the Practising Law Institute (PLI).
View On Demand:
- Please click here for an individual viewing.
- If you would like to schedule a group viewing, please send an email to groupcasts@pli.edu.
- More more information about the webinar, please click here.
Stay tuned for more details about this year's CLE Webinar featuring Kate Ebner, Director at the Institute for Transformational Leadership at Georgetown University and Founder of the Nebo Company. This year's event will take place Friday, June 9, 2017, at PLI's New York City Conference Center.
For questions about the webinar, please contact Lori Lorenzo, LCLD Program Director.
Register Your 2017 1L Scholars & Sign Up to Lead Mock Interviews
2016 1L LCLD Scholars at their 1L Scholars Summit in Chicago, May 2016. (Photo by Jay Haas)
Register Your 2017 1L LCLD Scholars
Thanks to you, 123 Member organizations will be hosting 1L LCLD Scholars to participate in internships at their organizations this summer! If you haven't already done so, please take a moment now to provide your 1L Scholars' information to us using this form.
We ask that you submit each 1L Scholar's information by Friday, May 5, 2017, although the sooner, the better. We are also looking forward to our largest group of 1L Scholars joining us at the 2017 LCLD 1L Scholars Summit, May 23-25, 2017, in Philadelphia, PA. We have an exciting agenda planned for your Scholars, which will be available later this month.
Attorneys, Register to be a Mock Interviewer
This year's Scholars will participate in mock interviews Tuesday, May 23, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm ET at Duane Morris in Philadelphia. We're currently in need of LCLD attorneys to interview the Scholars for this exercise. Please share this opportunity with any attorneys at your firm who are in the Philadelphia, D.C., and/or New York/New Jersey metro areas. Click here to register by Friday, April 28, 2017. Click here for more information about the mock interviewing process.
For questions about the 1L LCLD Scholars Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Several LCLD Members Interviewed in General Counsel Diversity & Inclusion Report
LCLD Member firm Paul Hastings LLP partnered with two legal publications, The Legal 500 and GC Magazine, to produce a report on diversity and inclusion, featuring interviews with many leading general counsel. The following members of the LCLD community participated:
- Alex Dimitrief, LCLD Member, General Electric Company
- Tim Murphy, LCLD Member, MasterCard
- Louise Pentland, LCLD Member, PayPal Holdings
- Karen Roberts, LCLD Board Member, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
- Mark Roellig, former LCLD Board Member, MassMutual Financial Group
- Tony West, LCLD Member, PepsiCo
Representatives from LCLD Member organizations Accenture PLC and Adobe Systems Incorporated also participated in the report.
Click here to learn more about Paul Hastings' methods in putting the report together.
Recent Group Mentoring Program Events
LCLD Mentors and Mentees at a reception at Frost Brown Todd LLC in Louisville, KY, January 2017. (Photo by Sara Abner)
LCLD would like to thank the following LCLD Member organizations and affiliates that hosted local Group Mentoring Program (GMP) events in this month:
- Faegre Baker Daniels, which hosted an LCLD Group Mentoring Get Together in Indianapolis on March 7, 2017. We'd also like to thank 2015 Fellow Kiamesha Colom, Partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP, and LCLD Mentor Andy Campbell, Partner at Faegre Baker Daniels, for serving as the featured speakers for the event.
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which hosted a Career Paths in the Law event in San Francisco on March 16, 2017. We'd also like to thank the panelists Angela Grant, Director of Ethics & Compliance at Esurance (2016 Fellow and Mentor), Leah Recht, Corporate Partner at Kirkland & Ellis (Mentor), Shireen Wetmore, Employment Litigation Associate at Seyfarth Shaw (2016 Pathfinder and Mentor), and moderator Jordan Wappler, Corporate Associate, Kirkland & Ellis (Mentor).
- AT&T, Bryan Cave LLP, Fee, Smith, Sharp & Vitullo LLP, and Fish & Richardson P.C. will host a Networking Happy Hour on March 24, 2017, at the Green Door restaurant in Dallas.
For more information about the Success in Law School Mentoring Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Welcome, New Members!
John Beulick, Managing Partner, Armstrong Teasdale LLP. Armstrong Teasdale's mission is to always exceed expectations through teamwork and excellent client service.
Jim Chosy, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, U.S. Bancorp. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States, with $446 billion in assets as of December, 31, 2016. The company operates 3,106 banking offices in 25 states and 4,842 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, investment, mortgage, trust, and payment services products to consumers, businesses, and institutions.
U.S. Bank is committed to diversity and inclusion and proud to have more than 60 percent of its workforce comprised of women, which is best-in-class in diversity rankings. Additionally, the company has more than 10,000 employees engaged in its business resource groups, which are focused on strengthening its growing diverse employee base, and remains committed to hiring active and veteran military members. Grounded in ethics and integrity, the one U.S. Bank philosophy drives its focus on delivering a strong financial performance, unifying the customer experience, getting better every day, and becoming the most trusted choice.
Horacio Gutierrez, General Counsel and Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, Spotify Group. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like, or what music you love. At Spotify, we believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and background lead to a better environment for everyone. It’s also what makes us innovative.
Lisa Love, Co-Managing Partner, Love and Long, L.L.P. The mission of Love and Long, L.L.P. is to provide high quality legal services to our clients in a manner that is consistent with our clients’ business objectives, meets or exceeds our clients’ expectations, and adheres to the firm’s tradition of excellence and integrity. Our firm provides legal services directly and through strategic alliances that meet the demands of the marketplace and the global economy, apply the inherent value and creativity of interpersonal diversity in solving legal problems for our clients, apply and sustain an inclusive workforce of the best and brightest attorneys and staff, and exemplify leadership in our community and our profession.
Ted Mayer, Managing Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. Hughes Hubbard & Reed is a New York City-based international law partnership with a relentless focus on providing the best service for our clients, delivering extraordinarily successful and pioneering results in the most complex of matters, and exceptional pro bono achievements.
Known for our teamwork – with one another, our clients, and with other law firms – we have long held that diversity and inclusion make us stronger, more creative lawyers for our clients because we approach challenges from the variety of perspectives borne out of different life experiences. With our uncompromising commitment to diversity and a comprehensive program to implement it, Hughes Hubbard is pleased to be a part of LCLD’s mission of building a more open and diverse legal profession.
Tim Murphy, General Counsel and Chief Franchise Officer, MasterCard. MasterCard is a technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business, and managing finances – easier, more secure, and more efficient for everyone.
In the News
Brad Smith, Immediate Past Chair of the LCLD Board of Directors and President of Microsoft Corp., was named one of the top 10 corporate law leaders on Twitter.
Alex Dimitrief, LCLD Member and Senior Vice President and General Counsel at General Electric Co., discussed his role and his legal team with Corporate Counsel.
Hoping that it will improve retention rates, Jami McKeon, LCLD Member and Chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, announced that the firm will now let associates work from home.
LCLD Members Elisa Garcia (left), Chief Legal Officer at Macy’s Inc., and Kim Rivera (pictured below), Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at HP Inc., were named among the 50 Most Powerful Latina Leaders of 2017.
Kim Rivera, LCLD Member and Chief Legal Office of HP Inc., announced a new policy in which HP will withhold fees from firms that do not meet diversity requirements.
Christopher Pickett, Chief Diversity Officer and 2013 Fellow at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C., wrote an article for St. Louis Lawyer on the firm’s diversity efforts.
Ronda Fisk, 2014 Fellow and Partner at Osborn Maledon, PA, was recently appointed to the Maricopa County Superior Court, with her term to begin on April 3, 2017. Her first rotation will be as a judge in the criminal department.
Richik Sarkar, 2017 Fellow and Member at McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, wrote an article for the CMBA Bar Journal on the need for diversity in law firm leadership.
Various LCLD Member organizations were also featured in the news.
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.
