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 Alumni Join Leadership Ranks
- Last Chance to Become a Mock Interviewer at the 1L Scholars Summit
- 2019 Pathfinders Meet at Eli Lilly and Company
- LCLD Fellows “Think Small” at Big Company LPL Financial
- Recent Regional Events
- Welcome, New Member!
- In the News
Did You Know?
See if “What’s Working” in innovative diversity and inclusion initiatives at LCLD Member organizations can work for your organization, too.
Fellows Alumni Join Leadership Ranks
Congratulations to the following LCLD Fellows Alumni!
2017 Fellow Will Delgado and 2018 Fellow Megan O’Neill have started a new firm, DTO Law, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
2016 Fellow Chahira Solh is now the head of Crowell & Moring’s Orange County office.
2018 Fellow Venu Talanki has been elected to Vedder Price’s Board of Directors.
Last Chance to Become a Mock Interviewer at the 1L Scholars Summit
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 tomorrow, May 24, 2019.
For questions, reach out to Nancy Richardson, Program Manager.
2019 Pathfinders Meet at Eli Lilly and Company
2019 Pathfinders at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis. (Photo by Caitlin Sullivan)
The 2019 LCLD Pathfinders attended their first in-person meeting at Eli Lilly and Company’s headquarters, May 17-18, 2019, in Indianapolis, IN. With 220 Pathfinders representing 140 LCLD Member organizations, the 2019 class is our largest yet, by far.
The meeting kicked off with an Opening Reception at Lucas Oil Stadium on the evening of May 16, sponsored by Faegre Baker Daniels LLP. Pathfinders were welcomed by Faegre Partners Ellen Boshkoff and Lica Tomizuka (2013 Fellow), as well as Mike Harrington, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, at Eli Lilly and Company and LCLD Board Member, and LCLD President Robert Grey.
Harrington opened the meeting on Lilly’s campus the following day, where Pathfinders learned from experts about leadership, career-development strategies, leveraging personality type, and building professional networks. They also toured the Eli Lilly Museum and learned from Michael Overdorf, Senior Director of Operations at Lilly, about the company’s corporate strategy.
The 2019 Pathfinders also had several opportunities to network with one another, through small Peer Circle group assignments and a team-building activity.
We thank everyone at Eli Lilly and Company and Faegre Baker Daniels LLP who helped make this meeting possible.
Please check the agenda page in the coming weeks for a gallery of photos from the LCLD 2019 Pathfinder First Meeting.
For questions about the LCLD Pathfinder Program, please contact Erin Hess, Program Manager.
LCLD Fellows “Think Small” at Big Company LPL Financial
By Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager, LCLD
LCLD Fellows at LPL Financial's campus in Charlotte, NC. (Photo Courtesy of LPL Financial)
In February, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows visited the Carolinas campus of LPL Financial, the largest independent broker/dealer in the United States, for a Learning Experience that taught the value of thinking “small” in a big industry by putting the individual investor front and center.
Founded in 1989, LPL grew rapidly as investors sought new and independent sources of financial advice. Unlike some of the large brokerage houses that exacerbated the stock market crash of 1987, LPL succeeded by emphasizing service to independent brokers and their clients, and by anticipating trends and exhibiting a willingness to embrace and advocate the unconventional. It was a formula for a new, client-centric way of doing business, with the company’s large-scale growth built on countless small-scale successes. Today, LPL operates from primary offices in Boston, San Diego, and Fort Mill, SC., just south of Charlotte, where the Fellows gathered for a truly memorable Learning Experience.
During the event, LCLD Fellows were welcomed by LCLD Member Michelle Oroschakoff, LPL Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer, who delivered an introduction to the company and its values. She emphasized that diversity is a key to LPL’s success, not just for employees, but for the thousands of independent financial advisors supported by LPL. “Diversity of input leads to better output,” she said, noting that this has become her mantra. Read more.
This summer, look out for articles about LCLD Learning Experiences that took place this month: LCLD Member Maryanne Lavan hosted a Learning Experience at Lockheed Martin Corporation in Crystal City, VA, on May 8, and LCLD Member Thomas O'Neill hosted one at Exelon Corporation in Baltimore, MD, on May 22.
For more information about hosting a Learning Experience, please contact Nichole Velasquez, Fellows Program Manager, LCLD.
Recent Regional Events
LCLD would like to thank the following Member organizations and attorneys for organizing and hosting regional events this month:
- LCLD Board Member Kim Rivera, CLO & President, Strategy and Business Management, HP Inc., who will speak to San Francisco Bay-area Fellows Alumni in the first session of the 2019 LCLD Sustainable Partnership Program. We also thank all of the attorneys and Fellows Alumni at HP Inc., Coinbase, and The Clorox Company who are speaking, and we thank these Member organizations for sponsoring the program.
- 2012 Fellow Heather Hutchinson and Jan Campbell, who spoke to Fellows at the LCLD Fellows Alumni Speaker Series Event: "Live Your Best Life by Understanding Your Strengths" on May 14, sponsored by LCLD Member firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and the Fellows Alumni All In! Fund.
- LCLD Member Lawrence Gesner, Co-Managing Partner of Venable LLP, and guest Vince Mathis, Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of K12, Inc., who spoke to Fellows at a Leadership Lunch hosted at Venable's Washington, D.C. office on May 9, 2019.
Please contact the following LCLD staff members for questions:
- Fellows Alumni Speaker Series and Sustainable Partnership: Erin Hess
- Leadership Lunches: Nichole Velasquez
Welcome, New Member!
Kevin Weakley, Managing Partner, Wallace Saunders. For over fifty-five years, Wallace Saunders has provided superior legal services to its clients across the Midwest. Yet, our core philosophy —“Partners with you,” hasn’t changed. Today, Wallace Saunders is proud to say that it is regionally ranked in six practice areas by U.S. News - Best Lawyers® Best Law Firms, and with this elite designation comes a renewed commitment to be the diverse and inclusive law firm that our clients can count on for years to come.
We offer a no-nonsense approach to handling business transactions, civil litigation, and worker’s compensation defense to our corporate, insurance, and individual clients. We build client relationships that reflect our Midwest values, and our collaborative, respectful approach attracts and retains the kind of legal talent you want to have on your side. From the boardroom to the courtroom, we leverage our deep industry knowledge and experience to help identify the issues up front, in order to secure the best possible outcome.
In the News
Brad Smith, Immediate Past Chair of the LCLD Board of Directors and Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, discussed Microsoft’s decision to turn down a request by a California law enforcement agency for facial recognition software in vehicle and body cameras because current technology has been shown to disproportionately target minorities and women.
Ben Wilson, LCLD Board Member and Principal at Beveridge & Diamond P.C., shared his thoughts on how to help black attorneys in law firms build their book and ascend the leadership ladder.
Ivan Fong, LCLD Member, and Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, and General Counsel at 3M Company, was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Minnesota Lawyer In-House Counsel Awards 2019 for his work not only in private practice but his commitment to pro bono work.
Jami McKeon, LCLD Member, and Partner and Chair at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, was profiled for her role as a mentor to a South African attorney as part of the U.S. State Department and Fortune’s Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership.
Juan Arteaga, 2011 Fellow and Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, will be recognized by the NYCBA with a 2019 Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award for his work to advance D&I in the legal profession.
Natalie R. Bolling, 2014 Fellow and Senior Attorney at Vulcan Materials Company, shared tips for professional women including how she landed leadership opportunities and some ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ she’s learned in her career.
2019 Fellow Fatema Merchant, Partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, was interviewed in Washington Lawyer magazine, which highlighted that she recently became the first hijab-wearing woman to make partner at a Washington, D.C., AmLaw 100 law firm.
Nipun J. Patel (left), 2015 Fellow and Partner at Holland & Knight LLP, and Rick Richardson (right), former LCLD City Lead and Vice President and Associate General Counsel at GlaxoSmithKline, provided a framework for law firms to better support diverse attorneys within their organizations.
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 Manager.
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.
