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 Reminder
- Reminder: LCLD Members, Register for the LCLD Annual Membership Meeting
- Careers of Newest LCLD Board Members Show Deep Commitment to Diversity
- Heu-Weller and Lucas Honored with 2018 Rick Palmore Award
- An Electric Experience: LCLD Fellows Visit Southern California Edison
- Fellows Alumni Pitch in for Homeless Youth in LA
- Welcome, New Member!
- In the News
Did You Know?
You can engage with LCLD on social media: Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and join the LCLD Members LinkedIn group.
Mentor Registration Reminder
As a reminder, attorneys at LCLD Member organizations may register to become Mentors as part of the 2018-2019 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.
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.
Reminder: LCLD Members, Register for the LCLD Annual Membership Meeting
October 15-16, 2018, LCLD Members and their guests are invited to attend the Ninth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting* at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C. On the evening of October 15, there will be a Welcome Reception at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
You may click here to register for the meeting. Please click here to book your hotel room at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C. under the "LCLD Annual Meeting 2018" block rate of $425 per night, by Monday, September 17, 2018. Rooms at this rate will be available until September 17, or until the block is sold out--whichever comes first.
Keep a lookout this summer for the Annual Meeting agenda.
*2018 Fellows, please note that you are invited to attend the concurrent LCLD 2018 Fellows Second Meeting, October 15-17, 2018 at The Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C. The Ninth Annual LCLD Membership Meeting is designed specifically for LCLD Member Managing Partners, General Counsel, and their invited guests.
For questions about registration or hotel reservations, please contact Stella Askin, Program & Events Coordinator. For questions about the meeting, please contact Jennifer Denton, Membership & Operations Director.
Careers of Newest LCLD Board Members Show Deep Commitment to Diversity
By Joe Slay, Strategic Initiatives Director, LCLD
The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity has announced three new members for the LCLD Board of Directors. They are Marie Oh Huber (left), Louise Pentland (center), and Kim Rivera (right).
“Not only are these incredibly talented and successful leaders,” said Laura Stein, Chair of the LCLD Board of Directors. “They have advanced diversity and inclusion throughout their careers.” Learn more about our newest board members.
Heu-Weller and Lucas Honored with 2018 Rick Palmore Award
Rick Palmore (center), Founding Chair of LCLD, presents the 2018 Rick Palmore Award to Merisa Heu-Weller and Kassem Lucas. (Photo by Jay Haas)
Merisa Heu-Weller (Class of 2016) and Kassem Lucas (Class of 2011) were honored with the Rick Palmore Award at the 2018 Leadership Symposium of the LCLD Fellows Alumni in Los Angeles, June 21-23. They join a select group of five other recipients, chosen from the 1,600-member Fellows Alumni community since the creation of the award four years ago.
Named for the founder of LCLD, the Rick Palmore LCLD Fellows Alumni Award recognizes the outstanding achievements, commitment, and leadership of Alumni who have paved the way for the advancement of LCLD Fellows, Fellows Alumni, and other LCLD program participants.
Heu-Weller and Lucas embody those characteristics: exemplary in their careers, generous in their service to the broader community, resolute in their commitment to diversity, and tireless in their support of other LCLD Fellows.
“You are both shining examples of servant leadership,” said Palmore, founding Chair Emeritus of LCLD, during the evening ceremony at Paramount Studios. “I cannot be more proud of you.”
Added Jack Chen of Microsoft, a member of the Fellows Class of 2011: “You are people who over time have advanced the mission, intent, and purposes of LCLD for current and future participants, always putting other people into the path of success.”
Click here to read more about the 2018 Rick Palmore Award honorees.
An Electric Experience: LCLD Fellows Visit Southern California Edison
By Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager, LCLD
LCLD Fellows at Southern California Edison in Los Angeles. (Photo by Marvin Johnson)
For the first LCLD Learning Experience of 2018 on June 20, the Fellows visited Los Angeles and the campus of Southern California Edison (SCE), where they were given a warm welcome by LCLD Member and General Counsel Russell Swartz.
The high-energy tone of the event was established by Pedro Pizarro, President and CEO of Edison International, the parent company of SCE. Pizarro, of Puerto Rican descent, ticked off challenges facing the energy sector in the current economic climate. He also offered some advice that struck a chord with many Fellows, urging them to think of themselves not just as attorneys, but as business people with legal training.
The day’s agenda reinforced that idea, by showing the Fellows what it means to run an energy company.
Two morning panels focused on SCE’s business operations and featured many of the company’s top leaders. Read full article.
The next Learning Experience will be hosted at The Clorox Company in San Francisco on August 9, 2018, by LCLD Board Chair Laura Stein, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Affairs. For more information about hosting an LCLD Fellows Learning Experience, please contact Nichole Velasquez, LCLD Program Manager.
Fellows Alumni Pitch in for Homeless Youth in LA
LCLD Fellows Alumni with youth at Covenant House California. (Photo by Jay Haas)
In the LCLD tradition of community service, the Fellows Alumni spent the afternoon of June 21 with their sleeves rolled up, working on behalf of Covenant House California, a non-profit organization founded in 1998 that serves more than 2,300 homeless and trafficked young people every year in Los Angeles.
According to Alana Weinroth, the non-profit's Development Officer, the need for such facilities is growing exponentially in Los Angeles and the 30 other cities, including in Latin America and Canada, where Covenant House operates.
There are other factors, as well: Half the young people at Covenant House California were raised in foster care; 40 percent identify as LGBTQ, and one in four is a survivor of human trafficking.
Covenant House California provides for them through a "holistic approach" that includes individual attention, shelter, three meals a day, medical care, educational opportunities, and career counseling. Read more.
Welcome, New Member!
Michael “Micky” J. Grindstaff, Managing Partner, Shutts & Bowen LLP. Established in 1910, Shutts & Bowen is a full-service business law firm with more than 280 lawyers with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. Learn more about Shutts & Bowen at www.shutts.com.
In the News
Ivan Fong, LCLD Member and Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs & General Counsel at 3M Company, spoke about his department’s commitment to pro bono.
Brad Karp (left), Chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Gary Wingens (right), Chairman of Lowenstein Sandler LLP, wrote an editorial about the role lawyers can play in protecting asylum seekers and their families.
Mark Wasserman, LCLD Member and Managing Partner of Eversheds Sutherland US, shared the firm’s goal of reaching 30 percent female equity partners by 2021.
Margaret Chase, 2011 Fellow, and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Fannie Mae, spoke about changes in the mortgage market with Bloomberg Law.
Hannah Choi, 2015 Fellow, and Partner at Baker Botts L.L.P., co-wrote an article on the need for inclusion in the legal profession, highlighting the work Rick Palmore and LCLD have done.
Alanna Rutherford, 2016 Fellow, was profiled for her move to Visa Inc., where she is now Vice President of Global Litigation.
Forty-eight of the attorneys on this year’s list of the Most Influential Black Lawyers in America are members of the LCLD community.
Various LCLD Member organizations were 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 Specialist.
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.
