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:
- Innovation in the Spotlight—The 2018 Annual Meeting
- 2019 Fellows Informational Call
- Critical Need for Attorney Mentors
- Deadline This Friday: Register to Host 2019 1L Scholars
- Revisiting the Civil War, Fellows Alumni Gain Insight into Their Own Narratives
- 2019 Learning Experience Hosts Needed
- Recent Regional Events
- What's Working: How to Collaborate and Measure for Success
- Welcome, New Members!
- In the News
Did You Know?
LCLD's 2018 Top Performers and Compass Award winners have been announced!
Innovation in the Spotlight—The 2018 Annual Meeting
A star-studded LCLD panel. From left: Laura Stein, The Clorox Company; Dev Stahlkopf, Microsoft Corporation; Martha Minow, Harvard Law School; Deneen Donnley, USAA; Kim Rivera, HP Inc.; and Ellen Dwyer, Crowell & Moring LLP. (Photo by Joe Mahoney.)
How can LCLD harness the power of innovation to produce a more diverse and inclusive legal profession? How can we, the leaders of the profession, actively remove impediments for minorities and women while helping our organizations achieve even greater levels of success?
These are questions asked at the 2018 edition of LCLD's Annual Meeting, which serves as one of the country's most effective D&I laboratories—incubating new ideas, testing them against tough-minded peers in small group sessions, and sharing them with the full membership of LCLD, more than 300 of the world's most powerful legal minds.
And at this year's meeting, held on October 16 in Washington, DC, Members not only heard from some of the true pioneers in this effort, but they also generated a wealth of ideas worth exploring in the year ahead, as LCLD moves to harness the power of innovation within organizations to fulfill our mission.
Click here for a recap of the meeting.
SAVE THE DATE: The Tenth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting will be held September 23-24, 2019, in Washington, DC.
For questions about the meeting, please contact Jennifer Denton, Membership & Operations Director.
2019 Fellows Informational Calls
The registration period for 2019 Fellows is still a few weeks away, but we hope you'll take this time to thoughtfully identify your candidate(s) for the program. Please mark your calendars for the following informational call:
Wednesday, November 28, 2-3 pm EST
Call-In Number: 877-294-8214; Access Code: 7717602
Nomination Period: Monday, December 3, 2018 - Friday, January 18, 2019
The Fellows Program is designed to connect high-potential attorneys (with 8-15 years of experience) from preeminent organizations for a year-long professional development series that focuses on leadership and relationship building. Click here for more information, or contact Nichole Velasquez, LCLD Program Manager.
Critical Need for Attorney Mentors
Annie Duprey (right), a Mentor at Frost Brown Todd LLC, chats with law school student Sara Valentine, at a Group Mentoring Event in Columbus. (Photo courtesy of Ira Graham III.)
Many LCLD attorneys have already been matched with diverse first-year law students for LCLD's Success in Law School Mentoring Program. However, there remains a critical need for Mentors in the following cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, District of Columbia, Lexington, Louisville, West Virginia, Nashville, New York, Pittsburgh, and Raleigh/Durham.
There is a minimal time commitment for this volunteer position, and it is a great way to pay it forward to help a student navigate the world of law school. If you have not registered, please take a moment to consider being a Mentor to make a positive difference in a student’s life. You can register to be a Mentor here.
For questions, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
Deadline This Friday: Register to Host 2019 1L Scholars
A 2018 1L Scholar gets ready for her mock interview during the 2018 1L Scholars Summit in Philadelphia. (Photo by Jay Haas.)
LCLD Member organizations will be able to register to host 1L Scholars for summer 2019 internships through this Friday, November 16, 2018.
The 1L Scholars Program is designed to strengthen the legal pipeline by expanding the number of opportunities for diverse first-year law students. Prior to completing an internship at your organization, 1L Scholars will be invited to attend the 2019 1L Scholars Summit on June 4-6, 2019, at the Sheraton Atlanta. This is a career-development conference designed specifically for the 2019 1L Scholars.
For more information about the program, you may review the Scholars Program FAQs and the Scholars Program Fact Sheet.
For questions, please contact Nancy Richardson, LCLD Program Manager.
Revisiting the Civil War, Fellows Alumni Gain Insight into Their Narratives
Christy Coleman (center, in pink), Director of the American Civil War Museum, with Fellows at a Speaker Series event in Richmond, VA.
Finding new perspectives on the Civil War may seem impossible, given that it is one of the most studied, and written about, chapters in American history. Yet for Christy Coleman, Director of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, VA, the war illustrates the ongoing power of a narrative to change and yield new insights, depending on who's telling the story.
In welcoming the LCLD Fellows Alumni to her museum on September 18, Coleman urged them to see the story of the Civil War from a diversity of perspectives—from the viewpoint of the Confederacy, from the viewpoint of the Union, and from the often overlooked viewpoint of enslaved and free African Americans.
"History has power to help people move forward," she said—but only if they make an effort to see it from new vantage points. She calls this process "navigating narrative change," and regards it as a vital part of America's unfinished business related to the Civil War.
That was a message that organizers of the event—Fellows Alumni Rudene Haynes, Partner with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and Valyncia Saunders, Assistant General Counsel withAltria Group, Inc.—believed would resonate with the Richmond-area LCLD Fellows, Pathfinders, Members, and other diversity leaders in the legal community who attended.
Read the full article here.
The following are upcoming events in the Fellows Alumni Speaker Series:
- On December 12, 2018, Duane Morris LLP is hosting a general counsel roundtable at its Miami office. The roundtable will be moderated by Joe West, Partner and Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Duane Morris, and Miles Plaskett, 2016 Fellow and Partner at Duane Morris.
- On December 17, 2018, Fellows are invited to attend a lunch and conversation with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky in San Francisco. Additional details are forthcoming.
For more information about the Fellows Alumni Speaker Series, please contact Erin Hess, LCLD Program Manager.
2019 Learning Experience Hosts Needed
Fellows at a Learning Experience hosted by The Walt Disney Company in December of 2017. (Photo courtesy of Disney.)
Learning Experiences are one of the main components of the LCLD Fellows Program. These events give Fellows the opportunity to get an insider’s look into an LCLD Member Corporation.
LCLD is seeking Corporate Members to host Learning Experiences in 2019. To learn more about hosting, click here, or contact Nichole Velasquez, LCLD Fellows Program Manager. All 2019 Learning Experiences will be announced at the 2019 Fellows First Meeting on March 1-3, 2019, in Austin, Texas.
Look out for articles and photos from these Learning Experiences in future issues of the LCLD Insider:
- On August 28, 2018, the LCLD Fellows visited the campus of AT&T, Inc. for a Learning Experience hosted by LCLD Member David McAtee II, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel. LCLD Member Law Firm Baker Botts L.L.P. hosted a Welcome Event on August 27.
- On November 8-9, 2018, the LCLD Fellows visited Adogadas MX for a Learning Experience hosted by Valeria Chapa, Founder and 2013 Fellow.
The next Learning Experience will be hosted at LPL Financial in Charlotte, NC on February 7, 2019, by LCLD Member Michelle Oroschakoff, Chief Legal & Risk Officer.
Recent Regional Events
LCLD Fellows with LCLD Members Allen Parker and Jami McKeon (seated in front) at the Charlotte Leadership Lunch Plus. (Photo courtesy of Wells Fargo & Company.)
We'd like to thank the following LCLD affiliates for hosting regional events last month:
- LCLD Members Allen Parker, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Wells Fargo & Company, and Jami McKeon, Chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, spoke to Fellows during a Leadership Lunch Plus at the Charlotte headquarters of Wells Fargo on October 4, 2018.
- LCLD Member Teresa Roseborough, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of The Home Depot, Inc., and Joann Jones, Atlanta Office Managing Partner of BakerHostetler, spoke to Fellows during a Leadership Lunch at the Atlanta office of BakerHostetler on October 9, 2018.
- AT&T, Inc., Fish & Richardson P.C., Haynes and Boone, LLP, Frost Brown Todd LLC, Locke Lord LLP, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and Fee, Smith, Sharp & Vitullo hosted a Mentoring Meet and Greet at the Dallas headquarters of AT&T, Inc. on October 22, 2018.
- Thompson & Knight LLP and McGlinchey Stafford PLLC hosted the most recent installment of the Fellows Alumni Speaker Series in Houston on October 22, 2018. The session was entitled "Bragging Rights: Acing Your Self-Evaluation" and led by Monica Blacker, Founder of BAX Advisors, LLC.
- Barnes & Thornburg LLP hosted Mentors and Mentees for a mixer at its Indianapolis office on October 23, 2018.
- Alonzo Weems, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Eli Lilly & Company, and Adrian Thompson, Chief Diversity Officer and Cleveland Office Managing Partner of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, spoke to Fellows during a Leadership Lunch at the Chicago office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP on October 30, 2018.
For questions about hosting a Leadership Lunch, please contact Nichole Velasquez. For questions about hosting a Group Mentoring Event, please contact Nancy Richardson. For questions about other regional events, please contact Erin Hess.
What's Working: How to Collaborate and Measure for Success
When Matt Lepore joined chemical giant and LCLD Member corporation BASF in 2014 as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, one of his top priorities was to increase diversity with his outside counsel. Twenty-five of the company's law firms were selected to take part in a statistical analysis.
Lepore and his team wanted data that was relevant and actionable, so that the information collected could serve as the basis for constructive conversations with BASF's firms.
Click here to learn more about BASF's Diversity Snapshot, and click here to visit the What's Working portal.
For questions about or submissions to What's Working, please contact Caitlin Puffenberger, LCLD Communications Specialist.
Welcome, New Members!
Craig Glidden is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of General Motors Company. The General Motors Legal Staff strives to be a role model for General Motors by delivering high performance legal services with high integrity. In doing so, we aim to promote diversity and inclusion through professional growth and retention of a diverse staff, establishment of leadership roles in diversity organizations we support, and fostering diverse outside counsel teams that support GM Legal Staff.
Robert Lundy is Founding Partner and Mark Reagan is San Francisco Managing Partner of Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, P.C. We believe that the complexity of health care law requires a depth of understanding that goes beyond that commonly found in general practice firms with health care law departments. Such depth can only be achieved through industry specialization and experience. That is why we have dedicated our practice since its inception in 1987 exclusively to understanding the intricacies of the health care industry.
In the News
Robert Grey (left), LCLD President, wrote an editorial for the Boston Business Journal on how the Boston legal market can increase its diversity—featuring insights from Abim Thomas (center), 2017 Fellow and Head of Global Litigation at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Tarae Howell (right), 2018 Fellow and Associate at Nixon Peabody LLP.
Louise Pentland, LCLD Board Member and Chief Legal Officer at PayPal Inc., shared her “unwritten rules” for success—which include a focus on diversity—at Berkeley Law School.
Kim Rivera, LCLD Board Member and Chief Legal Officer of HP Inc., spoke with Chief Executive on the critical need for greater diversity in the legal profession and how HP Inc. is working to be more inclusive.
Francine Griesing, LCLD Member and Founder of Griesing Law LLC, was named the 2018 National Woman Business Owner of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners and Bank of America.
Kim Johnson (left), LCLD Member and Chair of Quarles & Brady LLP, and Jason Barnwell, 2016 Fellow and Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft Corporation, shared their perspectives on alternative fee arrangements.
Johnson also recently interviewed Betiayn Tursi, Co-Founder of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, on achieving greater representation of women in positions of leadership and influence.
Jorge Mestre, LCLD Member and Managing Partner of Rivero Mestre LLP, was recently elected President of the Hispanic National Bar Foundation.
Trish Walsh, LCLD Member and Chief Legal Officer at Voya Financial, spoke about LCLD, diversity, and more with Law360.
Fentrice Driskell, 2014 Fellow and Shareholder at Carlton Fields, was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, defeating an incumbent to represent the 63rd district.
Various LCLD Member organizations were 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.
Caitlin Puffenberger
Communications Specialist
If you have any news or honors that are relevant to LCLD Members, please email Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com.
