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:
- Mentor Registration Now Open
- Register to Attend the Annual Meeting
- Cu and Headrick Honored with Rick Palmore Awards
- Four Fellows Alumni Join Top Leadership
- Fellows Alumni Take Leadership to the Big Apple
- 2017 1L Scholars Meet in Philadelphia
- LCLD Diversity Pros Answer the Call to Action
- Katten Hosts Group Mentoring Event
- In the News
Did You Know?
You can engage with LCLD on social media: Like us on Facebook, follow LCLD President Robert Grey and Program Director Lori Lorenzo on Twitter, and join the LCLD Members LinkedIn group.
Mentor Registration Now Open
A Mentor attorney (right) speaks to a group of Mentee law students at Cozen O'Connor in Philadelphia, PA, November, 2015. (Photo courtesy of Cozen O'Connor)
Please help LCLD recruit attorneys from your organization to become Mentors for the 2017-2018 LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program. In the fall, registered Mentors will be matched with diverse, first-year law students in major cities across the country. Although registration will be open through August, Mentors will be matched in the order in which they registered.
Click here to register to become a Mentor for the 2017-2018 academic year.
We look forward to working with your organization as part of the Mentoring Program this year! Thank you in advance for your help.
For more information about becoming an LCLD Mentor, please review this brief FAQ page. For any other questions, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
Register to Attend the Annual Meeting
On Monday, October 16 - Tuesday, October 17, 2017, LCLD Members and their guests are invited to join us at the Eighth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting - Vision 2020: The Power of Networks, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C.
On the evening of October 16, we will also host a Welcome Reception at the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Featured speakers will include Kenneth Frazier, Chairman & CEO of Merck & Co., Inc., and Joshua Cooper Ramo, Co-CEO of Kissinger Associates, and International Best-Selling Author of The Age of the Unthinkable and The Seventh Sense. A full agenda will be available in the coming months.
Click here to register for the meeting. We have reserved a block of rooms at the Mandarin Oriental hotel at the rate of $415 a night. Click here to reserve your room.
For questions about registration, please email Stella Askin, Programs & Events Specialist. For questions about the agenda, please contact Jennifer Denton, LCLD Membership & Operations Director.
Cu and Headrick Honored with Rick Palmore Awards
By Jessica L.S. Sabesan, Communications & Marketing Manager, LCLD
Left to Right: 2017 Palmore Award winners John Cu and Cassandra Headrick, with the inaugural Palmore Award winner, Bruce Strothers. (Photo courtesy of John Cu)
The third annual Rick Palmore LCLD Fellows Alumni Award was presented to 2011 Fellow John T. Cu, Partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP, and 2012 Fellow Cassandra H.M. Headrick, Executive Counsel at The Travelers Companies, Inc., by the LCLD Fellows Alumni Executive Council at the Sixth Annual LCLD Fellows Alumni Leadership Symposium on June 2, 2017.
The Palmore Award recognizes the outstanding achievements, commitment, and leadership of LCLD Fellows Alumni who have paved the way for and assisted with the advancement of LCLD Fellows, Fellows Alumni, and other LCLD program participants.
Rick Palmore is the Founding Chair Emeritus of LCLD, and it was his combination of vision and hard work that was responsible for the founding of the organization. He continues to inspire LCLD Members and other leaders within the legal profession to push the frontiers of diversity and inclusion.
Please read below to learn more about how Cu and Headrick each earned this prestigious honor.
John T. Cu
As the first Fellow at Hanson Bridgett LLP, John Cu has acted as a local and national leader in supporting the advancement of diverse attorneys and legal professionals, by serving as the chair of the Hanson Bridgett’s Diversity and Inclusion Network from 2010-2015 and mentoring diverse attorneys and law students. Cu has contributed to the LCLD Fellows and Fellows Alumni communities by speaking at LCLD events and raising the profile of Fellows Alumni conferences as the co-chair of the Second Annual LCLD Fellows Alumni Retreat in 2013 (now called the LCLD Fellows Alumni Leadership Symposium). Additionally, Cu is active in the San Francisco Bay Area as a board member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Vice President of the Angel Island Immigration Station Board of Directors, and a member of Ascend. Read more.
Cassandra H.M. Headrick
Cassandra Headrick has served as an exceptional leader in her law practice, having mentored and paved the way for other attorneys as a diversity partner during her tenure at Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Headrick has also helped to lay the foundations of the LCLD Fellows Alumni Communications Committee and the Regional Roundtable event format. She has most recently been elected as the Chief Data Officer for the Fellows Alumni Executive Council (EC). Headrick also gives back to her local community in the Twin Cities as a member of the Arthritis Foundation’s Minnesota Leadership Board of Directors; a Membership Committee member for Twin Cities Diversity in Practice; and as a marathon runner who has raised funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Read more.
Four Fellows Alumni Join Top Leadership
LCLD would like to congratulate the following four LCLD Fellows Alumni who have recently been promoted to top leadership roles!
2011 Fellow Jocelyn Bramble is now General Counsel at the D.C. Department of Insurance Securities & Banking.
2011 Fellow Raquel Tamez was named Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Read more here.
2012 Fellow Christine Marlewski was appointed to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court. Read more here.
2013 Fellow Jennifer Robbins is now Managing Partner at MADEL PA.
Fellows Alumni Take Leadership to the Big Apple
By Don Belt, Communications Director, LCLD
Fellows Alumni, left to right: Erica Mason ('12), Leadership Symposium Committee Co-Chair Aja Sae-Kung ('12), Bonnie Lau ('13), Marlon Fetzner ('12), Leadership Symposium Committee Co-Chair Patricia Palacios ('12), and Jack Chen ('11). (Photo by Nabil Foster, '12).
More than 200 LCLD Fellows Alumni welcomed the Class of 2016 to their ranks in early June, during a three-day, high-energy Leadership Symposium in midtown Manhattan hosted by a cluster of LCLD Member organizations including Microsoft; Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer; Proskauer Rose; Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton; and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Organized by the Leadership Symposium Committee, the event began, as always, with a local community service project supported by the Alumni. This year, at the offices of Steptoe & Johnson, the Alumni met with several dozen students from the Eagle Academy for Young Men in Brooklyn, coaching them on the finer points of networking and business relationships. The Alumni also raised more than $12,000 to support the Eagle Academy. Read more.
2017 1L Scholars Meet in Philadelphia
Three 2017 1L Scholars participate in a "BINGO" networking activity at the 2017 1L LCLD Scholars Summit. (Photo by Jay Haas)
For enabling more than 200 1L Scholars to participate in challenging summer internships, LCLD would like to thank the 125 LCLD Member organizations and non-Member partnering organizations for hosting these up-and-coming attorneys. Click here to see the full list of participating organizations.
We'd like to extend a special thank you to Duane Morris LLP and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which served as sponsors of the 2017 1L LCLD Scholars Summit, May 23-25, 2017 in Philadelphia.
During the summit, Scholars had the opportunity to participate in mock interviews with attorneys from Duane Morris and the greater Philadelphia area. Former LCLD Board Member Susan Blount, Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and retired general counsel of Prudential Financial, along with LCLD Program Director Lori Lorenzo, shared their advice for managing legal careers as the industry changes.
Later, LCLD Fellows Alumni shared their insights on what to expect in judicial clerkships, practicing in-house, and using a law degree in business or non-practicing positions. Additionally, Scholars had several networking opportunities and learned ways to navigate their intenships and the early years of their practice, how to build a successful personal brand, and how to engage with professionals across generations. Click here to learn more about the summit's information-packed agenda.
For questions about the 1L LCLD Scholars Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
LCLD Diversity Pros Answer the Call to Action
By Caitlin Puffenberger, Communications Specialist, LCLD
Left to Right: Maria Lewis, Shannon Williams, and Asker Saeed from team “Data Demons” present their hackathon idea. (Photo by Jay Haas)
CHICAGO – Diversity professionals from 67 LCLD Member firms and corporations gathered for a two-day, action-oriented program aimed at finding solutions to some of the biggest diversity challenges facing the legal profession.
“The hands-on experience these individuals bring to the table is a crucial piece of LCLD’s mission to build a truly inclusive legal profession,” said Lori Lorenzo, LCLD Program Director.
The agenda for the meeting was created through discussions with a working group of LCLD diversity professionals, as well as surveys sent to 100 diversity professionals and 400 Fellows to identify pressing topics in diversity and inclusion.
The program included a presentation from Robert Grey, LCLD President, about LCLD’s goals for the future and how diversity professionals can strengthen them, and a presentation on LCLD’s What’s Working portal. But the majority of the time was spent on interactive table exercises and group discussions designed to develop strategies for making their organizations more inclusive. Read more.
For questions about the What's Working portal, please contact Caitlin Puffenberger, LCLD Communications Specialist.
Katten Hosts Group Mentoring Event
LCLD would like to thank LCLD Member firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP for hosting the LCLD Group Mentoring Program event "Navigating a Firm's Practices as a Summer Associate," on June 20 at their Chicago office. The event featured a panel discussion of insights and best practices for law students on how to identify which practice group is right, how to develop key relationships within a desired practice, and how to ultimately receive an offer for employment, followed by a networking reception.
We'd also like to thank the following panelists who spoke: Longtime LCLD Mentor David Crichlow, Partner at Katten (moderator); Theresa Davis, Partner at Reed Smith LLP; Mentor and 2013 Fellow Jason DeJonker, Partner at Bryan Cave LLP; Daniel Lange, Shareholder at Vedder Price; and 2011 Fellow Diane Webster, Partner-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.
For more information about Group Mentoring Program events, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
In the News
Under the leadership of Laura Stein, LCLD Chair and Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, The Clorox Corporation received a Best Legal Department of 2017 award.
Under the leadership of LCLD Member Michelle Browdy, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, IBM was also named a Best Legal Department of 2017.
Ivan Fong, LCLD Member and General Counsel of 3M Company, was honored as a “visionary male general counsel who has worked tirelessly to help women advance in the profession.”
Matthew Lepore, LCLD Member and General Counsel at BASF Corp., received one of two GC Impact awards from the New Jersey Law Journal.
Kia Scipio, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Fish & Richardson, shared her thoughts on the firm’s new diversity strategies.
Jovita Foster, Partner, Inclusion Committee Chair, and 2017 Fellow at Armstrong Teasdale LLP, was honored at the Salute to Women in Leadership Gala by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. The gala recognizes distinguished women in leadership at the local and national levels.
Valeria Chapa (l), 2013 Fellow and General Counsel, Latin America of Honeywell; Barack Echols (c), 2013 Fellow and Partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP; and Felipe Paez (r), Diversity Professional and Chief Compliance Counsel for GE Global Research, shared perspectives on diversity and inclusion at the Diversity and Inclusion in the Latin American Legal Profession conference.
Michelle Park Chiu, 2016 Fellow and Litigation Associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, wrote an article on self-promotion for young lawyers in Law Practice Today.
Meshach Rhoades, Partner and 2011 Fellow at Armstrong Teasdale LLP, has been named among the 2017 Top Women Lawyers in the state by Law Week Colorado.
Various LCLD Member organizations have recently been 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.
