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:
- Reminder to Register 2018 1L Scholars
- Attorneys Needed to Conduct 1L Scholar Mock Interviews
- 2018 Pathfinders Meet at Walmart and Abercrombie & Fitch
- Becoming Fluent in Leadership Temperament: Register to Attend
- What's Working: Develop a Diversity Directory
- Negotiations and Networking at Columbus Group Mentoring Event
- Recent Leadership Lunch
- Adding the LCLD Website Shortcut to Your Home Screen
- Welcome, New Member!
- In the News
Did You Know?
You can learn more about individual 2018 Pathfinders in the Pathfinder Directory.
Reminder to Register 2018 1L Scholars
For participating Member organizations that haven't already done so, please register each of your 2018 1L Scholars here by Friday, May 4, 2018.
We are also looking forward to our largest group of 1L Scholars joining us at the 2018 LCLD 1L Scholars Summit, May 22-24, 2018 at the Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill in Philadelphia, PA. The summit will include mock interviews, panel discussions, distinguished speakers, and networking opportunities designed to help Scholars get the most out of their summer internships and plan ahead for their legal careers.
You may reserve a room for your Scholars at the Sheraton here or by calling the Central Reservations Team at (800) 325-3535 and providing the room block name, "2018 LCLD 1L Scholars Summit." Please note that our group rate expires on Monday, May 1, 2018. The Credit Card Authorization form for your Scholars should be completed and faxed to (215) 925-2575 no later than Friday, April 20, 2018.
For questions about the 1L Scholars Program or the 2018 1L LCLD Scholars Summit, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Attorneys Needed to Conduct 1L Scholar Mock Interviews
A group of 2017 1L Scholars awaiting their mock interviews, May 2017. (Photo by Jay Haas)
The 2018 1L Scholars will participate in Mock Interviews Wednesday, May 23, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm ET at Reed Smith LLP in Philadelphia. We're currently in need of attorneys from LCLD Member organizations to interview the Scholars for this exercise. Please share this opportunity with any attorneys at your firm who are in the Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and/or New York/New Jersey metro areas.
Please click here to register as an interviewer by Friday, April 27, 2018. Click here for more information about the mock interviewing process.
For questions about the 1L Scholars Mock Interviews, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
2018 Pathfinders Meet at Walmart and Abercrombie & Fitch
Half of the 2018 class of Pathfinders listen during a lunch Q&A presentation from LCLD Board Member Karen Roberts (right), General Counsel at Walmart Inc. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
The 2018 LCLD Pathfinders split into two groups to attend their first in-person meetings at Walmart Inc. in Bentonville, AR, and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. outside Columbus, OH, this month. With 173 Pathfinders representing 114 LCLD Member organizations, the 2018 class is our largest yet, by far.
During both meetings, Pathfinders learned from experts about leadership, career-development strategies, and building professional networks, as well as from LCLD Fellows Alumni, Pathfinder Alumni, and executives at the hosting corporations.
At Walmart (agenda here), Pathfinders also heard from LCLD Board Member Karen Roberts, Executive Vice President and General Counsel. At Abercrombie & Fitch (agenda here), Pathfinders heard from LCLD Member Robert Bostrom, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. LCLD Member firm Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease LLP also co-sponsored the meeting at Abercrombie & Fitch.
We thank everyone at Walmart, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease LLP who made these meetings possible!
Please check the agenda pages linked above in the coming weeks for photo galleries from both Pathfinder Meetings.
For questions about the LCLD Pathfinder Program, please contact Erin Hess, Program Manager.
Becoming Fluent in Leadership Temperament: Register to Attend
LCLD Fellows/Alumni, Pathfinders/Alumni, Mentors, and Mentees are invited to attend the LCLD Fellows Alumni Speaker Series: Personality Types - Becoming Fluent in Leadership Temperament, presented by Tracy Spears, Founder of Exceptional Leaders Lab. The event will take place live Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP from 11:30 am - 2:00 pm ET in Washington, D.C. (lunch will be provided). Attendees can also participate through a viewing party in either Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Miami, or via personal computer.
Spears will discuss how to enhance interoffice communications by giving attendees a blueprint to create a high performing team. Participants will leave with a new vocabulary and appreciation of how to balance different personalities and temperaments at work including leveraging those differences and reducing workplace drama. The workshop will include a segment on temperament testing.
Click here for more information or to register to attend the live event, a viewing party, or via personal computer.
For questions about this event, please contact Erin Eversole at Pillsbury. For general questions about the Fellows Alumni Speaker Series, please contact Erin Hess, LCLD Program Manager.
We thank the LCLD Fellows Alumni; Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Farrett & Dunner LLP; Hunton & Williams LLP; Miller & Chevalier Chartered; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP; Saul Ewing LLP; and PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. for sponsoring this event.
What's Working: Develop a Diversity Directory
To build a truly inclusive law firm, it’s not enough to hire diverse attorneys—both clients and firm leaders have to know who they are and give them opportunities to do great work. LCLD Member firm Reed Smith LLP hopes its Diverse Attorney Directory will help fill that gap.
In early 2018, Reed Smith launched a new diversity website as part of a holistic effort to upgrade the firm’s messaging around diversity and inclusion, with its new Diverse Attorney Directory (pictured above) in a prime spot. The directory lists most of the firm’s diverse attorneys, with contact information and practice areas, and the firm hopes it will help women and minorities, as well as LGBT, disabled, and veteran attorneys, gain exposure both internally and externally.
“I had a meeting with a client who said they wanted opportunities to send more work to diverse attorneys, but that it was hard to identify the right people,” said John Iino, Global Chair, Diversity & Inclusion, and Chief Diversity Officer at Reed Smith. “The client thought it would be helpful to have at their fingertips a directory of diverse attorneys who could work on their matters.” Read more.
Read more about "What's Working" at LCLD Member organizations for creating a more inclusive legal profession and find out if what's working for these organizations can work for yours, too. To submit a "What's Working" initiative, please contact Caitlin Puffenberger, LCLD Communications Specialist.
Negotiations and Networking at Columbus Group Mentoring Event
By Caitlin Puffenberger, Communications Specialist, LCLD
Sara Valentine (left), 3L at Capital University Law School, chats with Annie Duprey, Mentor from Frost Brown Todd LLC. (Photo by Ira Graham III)
COLUMBUS—Law school provides students with many important skills, but it’s still very different from practicing law. At a recent Group Mentoring Event hosted by LCLD Member firm Frost Brown Todd LLC, LCLD Mentees got a taste of what it’s like to be a practicing lawyer.
“The materials from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School provide a great introduction to negotiations in the legal world,” said Erin Orndorff, Senior Associate at Frost Brown Todd, who led the exercise.
Mentees and their practicing lawyer Mentors were divided into pairs; one person was tasked with representing “Sally Soprano,” an opera singer looking for work, and the other represented the Lyric Opera House, seeking a soprano for an upcoming performance. Each side received a set of materials to prepare them for the negotiation, with background information on the client and what they hoped to get out of the negotiation. After reviewing their materials individually, each pair was sent to a separate room to carry out their negotiation. Click here to read more, watch a video about the event, and view photos.
For questions about the LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Recent Leadership Lunch
We'd like to thank LCLD Member Daniel Moylan, Co-Managing Partner at Venable LLP, and Kristen Campbell, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Hilton Worldwide, for hosting a Leadership Lunch for LCLD Fellows at Venable's Washington, D.C. office on April 12, 2018.
For questions about hosting a Leadership Lunch, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager.
Adding the LCLD Website Shortcut to Your Home Screen
It's easy to add the LCLD website to the home screen of your smartphone, essentially turning it into an app that places a wealth of LCLD content, including the latest news, upcoming events, and directories, at your fingertips. Click here for iPhone and Android instructions.
Welcome, New Member!
David A. Krutz, Firm Managing Partner, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Different perspectives and voices are critical to the success of any business, and the practice of law is no different. Diversity is one of our core values, and we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive culture; hiring and retaining diverse attorneys and staff; and helping advance their careers.
In this spirit, we continuously recognize the need to be nimble and responsive to the needs of our clients, communities, and our people. Michael Best is proud to partner with LCLD, and we are dedicated in supporting their mission to create a diverse culture for future generations.
In the News
Karen Roberts (l), LCLD Board Member and General Counsel of Walmart Inc., and Kerry Koutoc (r), LCLD Diversity Professional and General Counsel of Sam’s Club, spoke about their paths to leadership at a company that supports women with diverse backgrounds.
The following LCLD Members (pictured left to right) are being named Legends in the Law by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform: Robert Bostrom, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Abercrombie & Fitch; Tim Murphy, General Counsel and Chief Franchise Officer, Mastercard; Kim Rivera, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, HP Inc.; and David Zapolsky, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, & Secretary, Amazon.com.
Marie Huber, LCLD Member and Senior Vice President and General Counsel at eBay Inc., spoke on a panel about how her legal department works to build inclusive spaces and boost diversity.
LCLD Members Kimberly Johnson (l), Chair of Quarles & Brady LLP, and Sharon Barner (r), Vice President and General Counsel of Cummins Inc., spoke about ways to build a more diverse legal industry.
Ajay Patel, 2018 Fellow and Associate General Counsel at Amazon Studios, was profiled for his pro bono work at Amazon.
Shana Simmons, 2017 Fellow and Corporate Counsel at Google, Inc., was profiled for her work in Silicon Valley and her commitment to diversity.
Marlen Whitley, 2011 Fellow and Executive Director of Diversity Recruiting at Reed Smith LLP, wrote an article about how to build inclusive law firms.
Various LCLD Member organizations were also featured in the news.
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.
