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:
- Fellows Alumnus Reaches Leadership Ranks
- 2018 and 2019 Fellows Gather in Austin
- Register Your 2019 1L LCLD Scholars
- Reminder: Atlanta Attorneys Needed to Conduct Mock Interviews
- Now Accepting Nominations for the Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award
- Upcoming Learning Experiences
- Group Mentoring Events
- Welcome, New Members!
- In the News
- In Memoriam
Did You Know?
LCLD Members and Diversity Professionals should save the date for the 10th Annual LCLD Membership Meeting.
Fellows Alumnus Reaches Leadership Ranks
2013 Fellow Anthony Sharett was recently promoted to President and Chief Pet Insurance Officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Congratulations, Anthony!
2018 and 2019 Fellows Gather in Austin
2019 Fellows gather in Austin. (Photo by Joe Mahoney)
Two classes of LCLD Fellows recently met at the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas, where the Class of 2018, during its third and final meeting, welcomed the record-setting Class of 2019 to its inaugural LCLD event.
The 2018 Fellows went on to join the ranks of Fellows Alumni, who have grown to more than 1,600 since the Fellows Program was launched in 2011.
To review the 2018 Fellows final meeting agenda and a gallery of photographs, please visit this page. A similar resource for the Class of 2019 is available here.
For questions about the Fellows Program, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Felllows Program Manager.
Register Your 2019 1L LCLD Scholars
L to R: 2018 Scholars Kenya Freeman, Isaac Newell, Farhaan Anjum, and Deeksha Kohli at last year's 1L Scholars Summit in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Jay Haas)
Thanks to you, 132 Member organizations will be hosting 1L LCLD Scholars to participate in internships at their organizations this summer! Please click here to register each of your 2019 1L Scholars by Friday, May 3, 2019.
We are also looking forward to our largest group of 1L Scholars joining us at the 2019 LCLD 1L Scholars Summit at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel June 4-6, 2019 in Atlanta, GA. Click here to review the agenda and instructions for reserving hotel rooms for your Scholars. LCLD's hotel conference rate is available through Monday, May 13, 2019, or until the block sells out--whichever comes first.
For questions, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager, LCLD.
Reminder: Atlanta Attorneys Needed to Conduct Mock Interviews
LCLD still needs attorney volunteers to conduct Mock Interviews for 1L LCLD Scholars at the 2019 1L LCLD Scholars Summit. The summit will take place June 4-6, 2019, in Atlanta, GA. Mock Interviews will be held June 4, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Atlanta.
If you are interested in conducting interviews, please click here to learn about the time commitment and the interview process. The deadline to register as a mock interviewer is Friday, April 26, 2019.
For questions, reach out to Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
Now Accepting Nominations for the Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award
Past winners of the Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award, pictured with Rick Palmore, Founding Chair Emeritus of LCLD.
LCLD Members, Fellows/Alumni, and Pathfinder Alumni are invited to submit nominations for the Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award. Named for LCLD’s founder, the Award is the LCLD Alumni community’s highest honor. The Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award recognizes the outstanding achievements, commitment, and leadership of LCLD Fellows Alumni and Pathfinder Alumni whose exemplary contributions have had a substantial and lasting impact on the LCLD Fellows and Pathfinder network and in advancing the mission and goals of LCLD in the communities in which we practice and the legal profession more broadly.
The Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award was first awarded in 2015 to honor the contributions of Rick Palmore to LCLD and to recognize LCLD Fellows Alumni whose vision, commitment, and contributions have exemplified the mission of LCLD and the LCLD Fellows Alumni community, and have had a lasting impact on LCLD Fellows and Fellows Alumni specifically and their communities more generally. In 2019, in recognition of the expanding LCLD Alumni community and in the spirit of collaboration and inclusion, we will now celebrate the exemplary contributions and impact made by LCLD Fellows Alumni and Pathfinder Alumni.
Please click here to learn more about the Rick Palmore LCLD Alumni Award selection criteria and click here to nominate one or more Fellows Alumni or Pathfinder Alumni. Up to two winners will be named this year. All nominations must be submitted by Friday, April 5, 2019, at 5:00 pm ET.
For questions, please contact Maritza Okata, Immediate Past Chair of the LCLD Fellows Alumni Executive Council and 2012 Fellow, at mokata@velaw.com, or Courtney Nolde, Fellows Alumni Program Manager, at cnolde@lcldnet.com.
Upcoming Learning Experiences
We're excited to announce that there are two Learning Experiences coming up in May. We'd like to thank the following LCLD Members and organizations in advance for hosting these events:
- Maryanne Lavan, Lockheed Martin Corporation Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, will welcome the LCLD Fellows to Lockheed's Global Vision Center in Arlington, VA, for a Learning Experience on May 8, 2019. LCLD Member Law Firm Crowell & Moring LLP will host a Welcome Event on May 7, 2019.
- Thomas O'Neill, Exelon Corporation Senior Vice-President and General Counsel, will welcome the LCLD Fellows to Exelon's Corporate Headquarters in Baltimore, MD, for a Learning Experience on May 22, 2019.
For more information about hosting a Learning Experience, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager, LCLD.
Group Mentoring Events
LCLD would like to thank the following Member organizations and attorneys for organizing and hosting LCLD Mentees and Mentors at Group Mentoring Program (GMP) events this month:
- AT&T, Inc.; Fee, Smith, Sharp & Vitullo; Fish & Richardson P.C.; Frost Brown Todd LLC; Haynes and Boone, LLP; Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP; and Locke Lord LLP will host a Spring Group Mentoring Happy Hour at HG Sply Co. in Dallas, TX, on March 28, 2019. RSVP to Ricardo Bonilla at rbonilla@fr.com by Monday, March 25, 2019.
- West Virginia University (WVU) College of Law hosted a Networking Reception on March 19, 2019. Representatives from LCLD Member firms, WVU College of Law, and the West Virginia State Bar spoke with LCLD Mentees in a panel discussion exploring the benefits of mentoring relationships. We also thank 2014 Fellow Marilyn McClure-Demers, Vice President, Associate General Counsel for Nationwide Insurance, and Dean Gregory Bowman, who gave opening remarks.
For questions about the Success in Law School Mentoring Program or hosting a Group Mentoring Program event, please contact Nancy Richardson, Program Manager, LCLD.
Welcome, New Members!
Tonit Calaway, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary, BorgWarner Inc. BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is a global product leader in clean and efficient technology solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles. With manufacturing and technical facilities in 68 locations in 19 countries, the company employs approximately 30,000 people worldwide. The company’s vision is a clean, energy efficient world, realized through the clean propulsion and efficient technology solutions we provide to our global customers and partners.
Julie Fink, Managing Partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. Founded in July 2017 by renowned litigator Roberta Kaplan, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP has quickly emerged as one of the most formidable litigation boutiques in the country, fusing high-stakes commercial litigation with a groundbreaking public interest practice. Clients trust Kaplan Hecker & Fink with some of their most pressing challenges, from white collar criminal defense, to complex appellate litigation, to business disputes, and Titles VII and IX matters.
Kaplan Hecker & Fink was formed with three goals in mind: assemble an exceptional group of lawyers with the talent, experience, and creativity to help our clients face legal and business challenges both today and into the future; fuse together a cutting-edge litigation practice with a pioneering public interest practice for the mutual benefit of both; and build a law firm for the future rooted in principles of equity, integrity, and justice.
David B. Fountain, Senior Vice President–Legal, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary, Duke Energy. Fountain oversees communications with the company’s Board of Directors and ensures they are apprised of corporate governance and compliance matters. In addition, he has responsibility for corporate legal issues, such as employee relations, mergers and acquisitions and disclosures, corporate audit services, and fostering an accountable, transparent, and ethical culture.
Previously, Fountain served as Duke Energy’s North Carolina President, serving approximately 3.3 million electric retail customers and 717,000 natural gas customers. He was responsible for the financial performance of Duke Energy’s regulated utilities in North Carolina and managing state and local regulatory and government relations, and community affairs.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., with approximately 29,000 employees and a generating capacity of 49,500 megawatts. Duke Energy offers energy services to approximately 7.6 million customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, and retail natural gas services to approximately 1.5 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The company’s mission is to power the lives of its customers and the vitality of its communities by leading the way to a safer, cleaner, and smarter energy future.
James Murphy, Chairman, Murphy & McGonigle, P.C.
Murphy & McGonigle serves the regulatory counseling, enforcement defense, and litigation needs of clients across the full spectrum of the financial services industry – from national banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and hedge funds, to national and international securities markets and exchanges.
Since our founding, a commitment to diversity has been an operating principle of our firm. We embrace different backgrounds and perspectives as a way to foster an inclusive culture that we believe is requisite to being a great firm. We continue to work on enhancing our diversity and inclusion efforts, internally and externally, and we are thrilled to be in partnership with LCLD.
Jonathan Santelli, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Raymond James Financial, Inc. Raymond James is a leading diversified financial services company providing private client group, capital markets, asset management, banking, and other services to individuals, corporations, and municipalities. The firm is engaged in various financial services activities, including providing investment management services for retail and institutional clients, the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products.
The firm also provides corporate and retail banking services, and trust services. Established in 1962 and public since 1983, Raymond James is an S&P 500 company and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Putting the client first is at the core of the firm’s values. Raymond James believes in maintaining a conservative, long-term focus in its decision making and that this disciplined decision making approach translates to a strong, stable financial services firm for its clients, advisors, associates, and shareholders.
In the News
Louise Pentland, LCLD Board Member and PayPal Executive Vice President and Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer, celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) and PayPal’s #BalanceforBetter campaign by leading a conversation featuring women business leaders discussing their experiences and ideas about how to bring gender balance into the workplace and beyond.
Kim Rivera, LCLD Board Member and HP’s Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, was cited in a Forbes article alongside HP CEO Dion Weisler for their work to advance D&I in the workplace. The legal department has seen a 30% increase in law firms that meet the diversity staffing requirements set by Rivera’s diversity initiative.
Robert Grey, LCLD President, wrote in a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed that LCLD’s programming is changing the face of the law and helping to create a legal profession that is as diverse as the nation it serves.
Stasia Kelly, LCLD Member, former Board Member, and Co-Managing Partner at DLA Piper, sat down for Corporate Counsel’s GC Speak podcast where she recounted intense and challenging moments of her career and shared lessons learned.
Don Liu, LCLD Member and Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and General Counsel at Target Corporation, was recently recognized by Minnesota Lawyer for Outstanding Service to the Profession.
Wesley Bizzell, 2014 Fellow, and Senior Assistant General Counsel and Managing Director of Political Law & Ethics Programs at Altria Client Services, has been named President of The National LGBT Bar Association.
Adine Momoh, 2013 Fellow and Partner at Stinson Leonard Street LLP, was recently recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as an Attorney of the Year.
Roshan Rajkumar, 2017 Fellow and Co-Managing Partner of the Minneapolis office of Bowman and Brooke LLP, and his firm, were awarded the 2019 Diversity Leader Award, presented by the Profiles in Diversity Journal.
Lousene Hoppe Schwarz, 2019 Fellow and Shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., has been named Treasurer of The National LGBT Bar Association
Travis Torrence, 2015 Fellow, and Global Litigation Bankruptcy & Credit Team Lead at Shell Oil Company, has been named Treasurer of The National LGBT Bar Foundation and 2019 Chair of the Houston Bar Foundation.
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 Don Belt, LCLD Communications Director.
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 Jessica Sabesan, LCLD Communications & Marketing Manager.
In Memoriam
Sandra Seville-Jones, LCLD Member and Co-Managing Partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, passed away on March 9, 2019 due to complications following surgery.
In a statement released by Munger, Tolles & Olson: "This is an enormous loss for our firm, our clients, and the entire legal profession," said Ron Olson, the firm’s name partner. “Sandra was a close friend and colleague, a beloved firm leader, a champion of diversity and junior lawyers, and a great legal mind. She owned the values our firm most cherishes and enhanced them every day she was with us. Our firm is shocked and deeply saddened by Sandra’s passing, and our thoughts are with her family.”
Click here to read more about Sandra's career at Munger, Tolles & Olson. Click here to read Sandra's obituary, published in the Daily Journal.
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.
