2015 Jul/Aug - Diversity & The Bar Magazine

MCCA

THE BAR

Empowering People. Inspiring Leadership.

How Pro Bono Efforts Are Changing

DIVERSIFYING YOUR MENTOR BASE

HOW ONE GC BECAME SUPERINTENDENT

MEET TWO EMPOWERED ATTORNEYS WITH DISABILITIES PAVING THE PATH FOR OTHERS

JUL/AUG.2015

DIVERSITY

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Diverse Teams are

Effective Teams

DAVID PI

These are just a few of our diverse attorneys who deliver efficient advice and winning strategies.

FELICE ROSE

LYNN WATKINS

#1 Diversity for Women #2 Diversity for Minorities - Vault 2015 U.S. law firm rankings PATRICIA BROWN HOLMES

Leading Attorneys and Practice Groups Nationwide - Chambers USA CLAY TILLACK

BINA JOSHI

JOEL DEJESUS

Leading Law Firm for LGBT Inclusiveness and Equality - Equality Illinois LEAH WARD SEARS

NICK KAHLON

Talk To Us About Diversity

“Top 50 Best Law Firms for Women” - Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers CALIDA MOTELY

CINDY YANG

GABE RODRIGUEZ

Strong Advocates. Trusted Advisers.

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Diversity at Seyfarth Individual by nature. Bound by character.

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2015 MCCA Diversity Gala

At Seyfarth Shaw, we believe that diversity—in terms of people, perspectives and experiences—can create more innovative solutions and greater contributions from everyone.

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CONTENTS

Visit www.mcca.com for the latest information on our events, awards and research.

FEATURES

14 How Pro Bono Efforts are Changing

By Patrick Folliard Experts agree that employee engagement and opportunities for pro bono teamwork increase workplace moral and add value for those institutions that get involved. But how do smaller firms and law departments handle their pro bono efforts? What are some new areas of focus in the pro bono area? How are millennials impacting pro bono efforts?

17 Diversifying Your Portfolio of Mentoring Relationships

By Brita A. Horvath There is a natural tendency for mentoring relationships to stem from general likeness or affinity, though there are tremendous benefits from mentoring relationships that are not developed out of obvious commonalities. Find out how six lawyers stepped outside their comfort zone and created engaging, productive, beneficial and fun professional relationships.

24 Head of the Class: How One General Counsel Became a Superintendent

By Glenn Cook The superintendent of Guilford County Schools in North Carolina, a successful corporate attorney who made a midcareer switch into public education more than a decade ago, says his story “is not that interesting.” We disagree. Find out why this former litigator turned general counsel left corporate practice to work in a school system.

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MCCA® BOARD OF DIRECTORS JUL.AUG.2015

Stuart Alderoty

Sandra Leung

Dawn Smith

Ricardo Anzaldua

Don H. Liu

Mary E. Snapp

Michelle Banks

Gwen Marcus

Senior Executive Vice President & General Counsel HSBC North America Holdings Inc. Executive Vice President & General Counsel MetLife, Inc.

COLUMNS 6 | NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO Change Comes Inevitably By Joseph K. West

8 | DIVERSE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Leveraging Diversity & Inclusion for Business Value By Matt Nolan

9 | BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

The Impact of Lending Rules on Private Equity: Will the Trend Continue? By Alonzo L. Llorens

10 | CAREER EVOLUTION

A Checklist of Soft Skills for Lawyers By DeAnna D. Allen

11 | LITIGATION MATTERS

Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary Xerox Corporation

Good Decision Making: Turning Ambiguity into Actionable Legal Advice By Miguel Rivera Sr.

DEPARTMENTS 28 | PERSEVERANCE IN PROFILE

Stuart Pixley: Empowering Attorneys with Disabilities By Tom Calarco

32 | LAWYER’S LANTERN

Won Shin By Lekan Oguntoyinbo

35 | NEWS YOU CAN USE 36 | MOVERS & SHAKERS

Corporate VP, Deputy General Counsel Microsoft Business Development and Evangelism

Executive Vice President, General Counsel Showtime Networks Inc.

Lawrence P. Tu

Suzan Miller

Neil Wilcox

Owner & Founder Brown Law Group

Corporate Secretary, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel Intel Corporation

A.B. Cruz III

Robbie E.B. Narcisse

Michael Williams

Executive Vice President, Global General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer Gap Inc.

Janice P. Brown

Executive Vice President & General Counsel Emergent Biosolutions Inc.

Clarissa Cerda

Chief Legal Strategist LifeLock Inc.

Anthony K. Greene

Executive Vice President Jamison Insurance Group

Vice President of Global Ethics and Business Practices Pitney Bowes Inc. Corporate Legal Department

Samuel M. Reeves

Senior Vice President, General Counsel Walmart International Legal

Robin Sangston

Senior EVP & Chief Legal Officer CBS Corporation Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel First Data Corporation Executive Vice President & General Counsel Staples Inc.

Simone Wu

Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer

Joseph K. West

VP/Chief Compliance Officer Cox Communications Inc.

President & CEO Minority Corporate Counsel Association

Kenneth S. Siegel

Board Members Emeritus

President & CEO

Design/Art Direction

MCCA® Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Advertising

Jean Lee

Vice President & Assistant General Counsel JP Morgan Chase Legal Department

PUBLICATIONS STAFF Joseph K. West

Kimberly A. Howard, CAE

Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

BonoTom Studio Inc.

M.J. Mrvica Associates Inc.

Dominate the Center: The Key to Victory, Part 1 By Craig A. Thompson, Esq.

12 | GENERAL COUNSEL INSIGHT

Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer & Secretary VMware

Thomas L. Sager, Ballard Spahr LLP Hinton J. Lucas Catherine A. Lamboley Lloyd M. Johnson, Chief Legal Executive LLC

Stacy Banks Shikha Bhatnagar Mahzarine Chinoy David Chu Donna Crook Charles H. Hollins Jr. Behnaz Mistry Aracely Muñoz Petrich Andrea Pimm

GENERAL INFORMATION Advertising For advertising inquiries, contact M.J. Mrvica Associates Inc. at mjmrvica@mrvica.com. MCCA® Membership Please visit www.mcca.com/ membership for membership information. General Information and Address Changes Send your questions, complaints and compliments to MCCA®, Kim Howard, CAE, Editor in Chief, kimhoward@ mcca.com. Address changes should be sent to membership@mcca.com. Permissions and Reprints Reproduction of Diversity & the Bar in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. To obtain permission, visit www.mcca.com/dbmagazine and click on reprint request.

Copyright Copyright® 2015 by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, ­Diversity & the Bar is published six times a year and is distributed to supporters and subscribers, 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. The information contained in this publication has been provided to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA®) by a variety of independent sources. While MCCA makes every effort to present accurate and reliable information, MCCA does not endorse, approve or certify such information, nor does MCCA guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy or chronological sequence of any such information. Use of such information on the readers’ part is entirely voluntary, and reliance upon it should be undertaken only upon independent review and due diligence. References to any commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer or otherwise shall not constitute or imply endorsement, preference, recommendation or the favor of MCCA. MCCA (including its employees and agents) assumes no responsibility for consequence resulting from the use of the information herein, or in any respect for the content of such information, including (but not limited

to) errors or omissions; the accuracy or reasonableness of factual or other data, including statistical or scientific assumptions, studies or conclusions; the defamatory nature of statements; ownership of copyright or other intellectual property rights; and the violation of property, privacy or personal rights of others. MCCA is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims and denies liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to or reliance upon such information. No guarantees or warranties, including (but not limited to) any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose, are made by MCCA with respect to such information. Copyright in this publication, including all articles and editorial information contained herein, is exclusively owned by MCCA, and MCCA reserves all rights to such information. MCCA is a tax-exempt corporation organized in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its tax ID number is 13-3920905.

NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO | BY JOSEPH K. WEST

Change Comes Inevitably THE LEGAL PROFESSION is the least diverse of all white collar professions. MCCA’s core mission is to change that. Growing up in the deep South, I attended a segregated school system until junior high school. If you look at that in terms of years, it was not that long ago. Here are a few other things that have been the norm at some point or another during my lifetime: ■■Cigarette ads appeared routinely on television,

in print and in movie trailers. People thought nothing of smoking around babies and there were “smoking sections” in restaurants, theatres and incredibly enough, on airplanes; despite the fact that the second-hand smoke rarely knew that it was supposed to stay in those sections. ■■Seat belts were essentially an afterthought and most drivers considered it an insult to their driving skill if a passenger buckled up upon entering the vehicle. ■■People commonly tossed their trash onto highways without a second thought. ■■Foods contained saturated fats; soft drinks and chewing gum were pure sugar and kale was that throwaway greenery lining the outer edges of salad bars to keep the ice in place. ■■Home treadmills made for expensive coat racks. My how times have changed. As a society we are far more safety, health and environmentally aware. But there have been changes in other areas: ■■At one time, bullying in schools was considered a right of passage. ■■The use of epithets to describe blacks, gays, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans was not only common, but anyone who spoke up against

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the practice was generally viewed as a troublemaker. ■■In a majority of states, there were laws on the books prohibiting interracial marriage and the notion of same sex marriage was beyond the realm of possibility. ■■In high school, I played a football game against the Robert E. Lee High School Rebels whose helmets, towels and uniforms bore the Confederate battle flag. There is, I believe, a certain inevitability in the progress of society. The recent tragic terrorist murders of nine churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., in June reminds us that unfortunately change sometimes comes at a terrible cost. But in the midst of that tragedy, we move ever so slightly toward a society that values the principles of e ­pluribus unum, “Out of Many, One.” Even though the legal profession remains the least diverse of all white collar professions, I remain optimistic that even our profession will come to realize the value of inclusiveness. It is, I believe, inevitable. MCCA_law

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DIVERSE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | BY MATT NOLAN

Leveraging Diversity and Inclusion for Business Value ALBERT EINSTEIN FAMOUSLY SAID that doing the same thing and expecting the result to change was his definition of insanity. Dow Corning’s legal department recognizes that getting diversity and inclusion right is a 21st century business imperative, and for this reason, we are doing things a bit differently. Our general counsel, Cornell Boggs, wanted our initiative to include not just natural allies and supporters of traditional D&I initiatives but our entire global department. The initial D&I committee included paralegals, patent agents, legal assistants and attorneys, each starting with a different level of knowledge and buy-in. He also chose

In 2014, we linked our committee directly to other ongoing department projects to embed inclusive thinking in that work. a straight, white, millennial, Republican-voting, American male attorney (currently working from Shanghai) to chair the committee. For us, it was important to minimize the “us vs. them” dynamic that D&I initiatives often encounter and to include a broad cross-section of the department (supporters and skeptics) in the conversation. This has helped us reframe the value of diversity and inclusion for Dow Corning. Thinking of the business value of diversity was new to many of us (as it is to many in the corporate world who have experienced a generation of diversity initiatives defined by quota programs and affinity groups), and our committee had a lot of questions. By listening to each other and sharing our perspectives openly, however, we

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gradually built our collective buy-in and vision for our work. The committee has taken a strategic and targeted approach to embedding D&I into our department’s DNA, and is starting to see results. Kathleen Nalty Consulting helped us draft and implement an inclusiveness competency for our department. The competency (and enumerated, specific behaviors associated therewith) gives department members a clear guide as to how we are expected to do our work and can be used by managers in driving behaviors through performance reviews. Dow Corning is focused on customer-driven innovation and on leveraging operational effectiveness to enable growth; by aligning our D&I work with those priorities, we have been able to generate buy-in and “aha moments” for different people. In 2014, we linked our committee directly to other ongoing department projects (hiring, firm management, career development and others) to embed inclusive thinking in that work. We’ve established relationships with affinity groups at a local law school to help broaden our talent pipeline; we’ve updated our outside counsel guidelines with D&I concepts; we have two attorneys currently participating in the LCLD Fellowship Program. These moves will help us access the diverse perspectives we need to win in the 21st century marketplace.

Implementing practical tools to shift our defaults toward inclusion has also been a priority. We created, laminated and sent to each department member an “hours of availability” grid cross-referencing each of our geographies. The reference grid encourages colleagues to consider meeting times that are convenient for others and to take turns joining at inconvenient times when they are inevitably necessary. We’ve held forums regarding the impact of location bias, introvert/extrovert differences, generational gaps and the impact of gender in the workplace. Importantly, we have not instructed our department but have instead explored these issues together. By focusing the conversation on generating concrete solutions for alleviating the impact of unconscious bias, we’ve been able to create tip sheets for working through these challenges and minimizing their impact on our results. Tools like these can nudge us toward increased inclusion and remove uncertainty around what inclusion looks like. We believe this focused approach to D&I will better embed D&I into our culture and our company’s bottom line. That’s an initiative worth investing in. ■ MATT NOLAN (matthew. nolan@dowcorning.com) is on assignment as manager of governance & compliance, Greater China, and senior counsel for Dow Corning Corporation in its Shanghai office. He additionally serves as business counsel for one of the company’s global product lines and leads the legal department’s career development and D&I initiatives.

BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS | BY ALONZO L. LLORENS

The Impact of Lending Rules on Private Equity: Will the Trend Continue? REASONABLE PEOPLE CAN HAVE DIFFERING OPINIONS regarding the macroeconomic benefits of private equity transactions. However, what is undeniable is that private equity transactions generally yield attractive returns for investors and an attractive liquidity event for the sellers of these companies. As a general matter, private equity funds use both debt and equity to fund these transactions. The problem is that regulators have become concerned about the amount of debt that private equity funds use to consummate these transactions and its potential impact on our banks. To this end, in March 2013, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of

The Agencies expressed increasing concern about whether prudent underwriting practices among banks and other regulated financial institutions had eroded.... the Comptroller of the Currency issued the Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending, which many observers believe is the reason for a decrease in the dollar amount of private equity deals over the last two years. The agencies expressed increasing concern about whether prudent underwriting practices among banks and other regulated financial institutions had eroded since the end of the Great Recession. In an effort to rein in risky lending by such financial institutions, the guidance was issued, which

seeks to provide a framework that restricts bank loans with higher leverage levels and uncertain repayment prospects. Of particular significance, the guidance provides that an acceptable leverage level is 6x total debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) or less. Loans that exceed this threshold are considered “too risky” by the agencies, thereby subjecting the financial institutions making such loans to fines and other enforcement actions. Over the last two years, the average total leverage for large buyouts has been decreasing and the dollar volume of U.S. buyouts has been decreasing as well. For example, U.S. buyouts for 2015 (to date) are $17.14 billion compared to roughly $27 billion for the same period in 2014, according to The Wall Street Journal. Also, the average total leverage for large buyouts is 5.91x EBITDA in 2015, which is below the Guidance’s 6x E ­ BITDA requirement, compared to an average of 6.55x EBITDA in 2014, according to Reuters. It’s likely that these trends are primarily attributable to implementation of the guidance by banks and other regulated financial institutions. The banks and financial in-

stitutions are attempting to ensure that the debt used by private equity firms is no more than 6x EBITDA, which means there is less cash available to these firms to consummate their transactions. The implications of these trends can be far reaching. First, if financial institutions lend fewer dollars for these deals, then there may be a continued decrease in the number of deals and a decrease in the size of deals. Second, if the trends continue, private equity deals may be less profitable for the fund’s investors and for the individuals selling their companies. Finally, companies seeking to divest assets by selling them to private equity funds may have a harder time doing so. Irrespective of whether the guidance is having unintended consequences, it appears as though the agencies’ primary goal of reducing the amount of risk undertaken by our financial institutions is paramount. As such, it is likely that these trends will continue for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the private equity industry will overcome this most recent challenge. ■ ALONZO L. LLORENS (allorens@gordonrees. com) is a partner with Gordon & Rees LLP and a member of the Business Transactions Practice Group.

MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

& T H E B A R   9

CAREER EVOLUTION | BY DEANNA D. ALLEN

A Checklist of Soft Skills for Lawyers SOFT SKILLS CAN HELP CREATE A SENSE OF LIKENESS, comfort and trust with your colleagues. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, you can improve your soft skills. Based on my personal experiences and discussions with other senior-level attorneys, I compiled a list of soft skills that have proven valuable to professional growth and development. I share this list below. Bear in mind that some of these skills may work well for you, and others may not. Also bear in mind that if you are a diverse attorney, then you may have to be particularly persistent, flexible and deliberate about developing and honing these (and other) soft skills for effectiveness in the workplace.

The soft skills that will work best for you will depend on the personalities involved and a variety of other factors. So, some experimentation and a fair degree of dedication to the process may be necessary. ■■Show affirmative and consistent

interest in your matters, your company/firm and the industries that your practice touches. Figure out the level of engagement (or disengagement) that you need to have in order for your colleagues to develop a deep sense of comfort with you. In short, demonstrate engagement, but do so at appropriate levels and times. ■■Be as authentic, positive and productive as possible.

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■■Look for likeness in others, and

find ways to make it easy for them to identify likeness in you. ■■Be a forward thinker, and adopt a problem-solving mentality. In particular: —Embrace constructive criticism; —Take rejection in stride and certainly do not take it personally; —Dare to take measured risks; —Think rationally but creatively about solutions; apply this approach to legal issues, your broader workplace and the collection of personalities that comprise it; and —Dare to stand your ground, but don’t be bullheaded about it – i.e., have well-reasoned opinions and own them while allowing others around you to do the same. ■■Envision yourself having the next level of responsibility that you want, and act like someone that decision-makers are likely to want to put in that position. ■■Emanate professionalism and respect in all directions. If your superiors love you and your subordinates hate to see you coming, then a self assessment is in order. ■■Do not chase perfection at the expense of engagement. Doing good work is a must, but you can sidetrack your career if you spend all of your time fretting

over how to make high-quality work absolutely perfect. Consider the following: —Do you regularly find yourself buried in your office, focused on perfecting your work, and rarely connecting with your colleagues? —Do you find yourself reluctant to consult superiors or peers to vet issues and instead prefer to struggle through on your own to reach an answer? —Is all of your communication with colleagues by email? If you find yourself slipping into any of these modes, then it’s time to consider rebalancing. Again, the soft skills that will work best for you will depend on the personalities involved and a variety of other factors. Some experimentation and a fair degree of dedication to the process may be necessary. The critical point here is to understand the importance of soft-skill development in your professional development plan and to be deliberate about developing and tailoring these skills to your specific environment. ■ DEANNA D. ALLEN (dallen@cooley.com) is a partner at Cooley LLP and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation and Patent Counseling & Prosecution practice groups.

LITIGATION MATTERS | BY CRAIG A. THOMPSON, ESQ.

Dominate the Center: The Key To Victory, Part 1 I LIKE TO WATCH THE GAME OF CHESS being played. I am not a very good player, but truly appreciate the strategic thinking involved in the game. It appears that the stronger chess players embrace the “dominate the center” philosophy, which allows them to control the most active portions of the chessboard while also creating space to control the rest of the board. Although it takes great skill to see the entire board with those two goals in mind, the master is successful because s/he plans properly and focuses on the importance of the endgame. Trial preparation involves a similar style of thinking, and requires a focus on the endgame that can be developed through proper planning and control of activities. The “center” in trial can refer to one or more areas: ■■the central question in the case; ■■the motions practice that shapes what issues are in play before the trier of fact; ■■the jurisdiction in which the trial takes place; ■■the fact witnesses who tell the story, or ■■the expert witnesses who educate the trier of fact. Dominating the center in a trial means taking control of one or more aspects of the trial while creating space to frame other areas of the litigation. Three important strategies can be employed to make it happen.

Start with the end in mind Many students of politics would agree that the most efficient use of campaign time is spent planning for election day. If the team fails to have the right people and resources in the right places on election

day, the campaign will not be successful. Therefore, the successful campaign starts by framing its needs for election day, and working backwards to get the train where it needs to be on the track. The same philosophy holds true for the successful trial. It is critical that you close your case with the evidence and testimony that best tells your story. While that seems like an obvious fact, the challenge lies in working hard during the early planning stages to determine how the end “product” will look. This includes identifying the specific testimony required from various witnesses in order to make a certain point, developing a plan to admit the specific documents you plan to show the fact finder during closing, and more. The more narrowly tailored and better scripted the initial plan, the more focused you will be during the course of trial. Now many of us are familiar with the words of that world renowned philosopher—Mike Tyson—who famously stated that “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Truer words

“ The best way to predict the future is to create it.” —Abraham Lincoln

could not have been spoken, and that philosophy certainly holds true in the trial theatre where adverse rulings, forgetful witnesses, unexpected surprises and other realities of trial take place. The trial team planning process should always anticipate these possibilities, but that should never impact the thoroughness of the plan. Part 2 of this column will appear in the September/October issue. ■ CRAIG A. THOMPSON, ESQ. (cathompson@venable. com) is a partner with Venable LLP and an experienced trial lawyer with close to 20 years of experience representing clients in civil cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. He is a board member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC). Connect with him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/getcraig and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/ craigathompson.

MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

& T H E B A R   11

GENERAL COUNSEL INSIGHT | BY MIGUEL R. RIVERA SR.

Good Decision-Making: Turning Ambiguity Into Actionable Legal Advice LET’S FACE IT, practicing law is not like taking a law school final exam. Rarely do the legal issues, questions and facts come so neatly wrapped to allow the attorney to quickly and easily apply her legal skills and analytical ability to resolve the client’s issues. Business problems and corporate strategies can result in significant legal issues, complex regulatory compliance issues and the need for a combined business and legal eye to prevent legal problems down the road. The lawyer who can best tease out the facts and identify issues is the lawyer who gives the most value to the business client. Ask Specific Questions

Working with business clients to identify and address legal issues in proactive and practical ways means that the attorney must demonstrate a healthy sense of curiosity and patience. Sitting down with the client and asking detailed questions to understand the business issues and the client’s assumptions and desired outcomes are critical to helping the

Business moves at breakneck speed. Don’t assume that your client’s strategies, objectives and needs remained consistent since the last time you spoke. client meet his business objectives and avoid legal issues. Take your time. Be thorough. Ask questions that probe the client’s business objectives while simultaneously identifying potential legal issues that may lead to further questions and detailed conversation. Take copious notes to review and study later, and develop follow-up questions. At the beginning you should be in intake mode—asking questions, teasing out details, learning the client’s objectives and understanding the emotional needs behind the business strategies.

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Engage Your Colleagues

Many times the best way to serve the client, understand his issues, address his legal needs and be an effective advocate is to talk about the matter with your colleagues. The very act of discussing the matter out loud and explaining the facts and issues to your colleagues helps facilitate the analytical process, and it is an excellent tool for identifying legal issues. Many times in explaining and discussing the matter with a colleague you realize there are gaps in your understanding and follow-up questions that need to be asked. Getting a colleague to lend his objectivity and analytical abilities to the issues means bringing another mind to the problem.

Do Your Research

We pride ourselves in knowing and understanding the law, but there are times when the issues are complex or the area is unfamiliar and we need to do our research and ensure that the advice we give is accurate and timely. Researching frequently uncovers other questions and issues that require follow-up with the client and further legal analysis. Using outside counsel as a sounding board to check the conclusions and opinions formed by legal research can

be invaluable. Thirty minutes with a trusted outside counsel who knows the area to check your conclusions and verify the direction you are going is correct is worth the money spent in fees, builds your confidence and improves your advice.

Follow-Up and Confirm

Business moves at breakneck speed. Don’t assume that your client’s strategies, objectives and needs remained consistent since the last time you spoke. Follow up and verify that mandates haven’t changed and that strategies haven’t been redirected. The business must react to changes in circumstance and to respond to the actions of competitors, governments and financial constraints. Frequent “checking-in” with the client to level set your own understanding keeps your analysis and advice timely and will avoid frustration and wasted time. An attorney’s ability to understand her client’s needs, know the facts, understand the law and apply her analytical abilities to resolve issues and meet client objectives is the attorney’s stock and trade. Take time at the beginning to ask the questions, understand the client’s needs and objectives, engage colleagues and counsel and understand the law—following up with the client as you go. You will turn ambiguity into actionable legal advice. ■ MIGUEL R. RIVERA SR. (rmiguel60@aol.com) is a former general counsel and commissioner of labor.

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How Pro Bono Efforts Are Changing By Patrick Folliard

LIKE MOST OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION, Akerman LLP

has successfully strived to do some good in the world. But when the Miami-based firm decided to truly maximize its impact in the communities where it operates, it opted for something altogether different and possibly risky. Last year Akerman introduced its “Give Back” campaign, a collective effort by firm lawyers and staff to support common organizations that share the firm’s philanthropic focus on education and youth development—an untried initiative that has proved incredibly successful. Prior to Give Back, Akerman already had a pro bono component that focused largely on litigation, housing, criminal defense and immigration issues. It also had an active charitable component, explains Andrew Smulian, Akerman’s chairman and CEO. “We came up with philosophy of wanting to bridge gaps and artificial barriers so to give our lawyer time but also finding ways to involve non-lawyers. And [we wanted to] create a focus and have an impact on how we’re making our civic contributions, so putting that all together and partner with and focus on core mission: education and youth development. It’s a perfect coming together.” After a long planning period, Give Back was launched in May 2014 during National Foster Care Month, partnering with National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association to promote volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children in the foster care system.

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Over five days, Akerman lawyers and staff across the country pledged more than 14,000 volunteer hours and raised more than $100,000, with the pledged time and contributions having the potential to improve the lives of more than 200 foster children. “Identifying a need was easy,” explains Smulian. “Around the time we were putting together Give Back, the Miami Herald did a series about children suffering profound neglect and sometimes dying in foster care and the state’s failed efforts to protect them. Those articles crystallized our decision. For me, on an emotional level, it was a driver to push forward on that. We’re connected to a lot of different communities here, and we identified a definite need and opportunity to make an impact.” While Akerman has been extremely successful in merging the two functions of philanthropy and pro bono, it was not the firm’s intent to have the campaign modeled by competing firms. But, says Smulian, he “wouldn’t mind being a leader in this and getting other firms to come along. There’s room for everyone to swim in this pool. The need is that great.” Akerman employees were encouraged but not required to participate in Give Back. “The reaction throughout the firm has been incredibly positive,” he adds. “We’ve seen how working together unites the firm. People are inspired by how many lives are impacted and there’s a desire to keep the momentum going. We’ve partnered with CASA for a second year.”

Pro Bono Increases Morale and Adds Value—No Matter the Team Size

Experts agree that employee engagement and opportunities for teamwork increase workplace morale and add value for those institutions that get involved, says Eve Runyon, director of corporate pro bono at the Pro Bono Institute (PBI). “When a firm focuses on a single issue it’s called a signature project,” she continues. “This is when a firm or a corporate legal department pools resources to focus on an issue with a desire to impact community. They do this because they understand the importance and benefits of focusing efforts on and trying to be impactful in the community where they live and work. And the excitement and satisfaction this generates is tied to things like recruitment and retention and reputation.”

Tammy Taylor, director of PBI’s law firm pro bono project, adds, “Among firms and many legal departments, there is an increasing desire to engage legal staff in pro bono projects regardless of the size of the institution. There’s a big difference [between] what a large and small institution can do with regard to creating a structure to manage these services. If you’re a large institution you have more resources and can create dedicated staff to focus on a project that may not make sense to a smaller firm. But smaller firms are upping efforts to institute more professional practices surrounding pro bono services.”

Millennials Are Changing the Pro Bono Effort

There is a background for these trends, agree Runyon and Taylor. One factor is that many younger lawyers come with a strong interest in volunteerism in their personal and professional lives. They are more used to doing community service all throughout school. And many law schools have a pro bono requirement to graduate. Pro bono service is important to them.

Identifying a need was easy. Around the time we were putting together Give Back, the Miami Herald did a series about children suffering profound neglect and sometimes dying in foster care and the state’s failed efforts to protect them. Those articles crystallized our decision. For me, on an emotional level, it was a driver to push forward on that. —Andrew Smulian, chairman and CEO, Akerman Deborah Knupp, managing director at Akina Corporation, a Chicago-based national consulting firm that works primarily with attorneys, concurs. “The relationship that people have with pro bono is changing, and it’s due in large part to millennials. Meaning and purpose is expected by our next generation. Meaning and purpose matters for them. And while seeking meaning is not entirely new, the quest is now built on a larger stage.” MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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A longtime admirer of attorneys, Knupp has an “I heart lawyers” bumper sticker on the back of her ride. But her regard for the profession goes beyond facile slogans. In 2011, Knupp launched “Generation Generosity,” a campaign aimed at resetting the nation’s conversation about lawyers through encouraging acts of philanthropy and generosity. Via the campaign, she strives to empower attorneys to embrace the incredible impact of simple acts of generosity and set the stage for them to move forward with their own philanthropic initiatives. Case in point: her client Akerman’s Give Back initiative.

“In the future, the most successful firms will be those willing to consider that profitability is more than finance.” —DEBORAH KNUPP, managing director, Akina Corporation Knupp also encourages clients to adopt her “Triple Bottom Line” rule. “The true measure of profitability at your firm is the desire of clients to work with you,” says Knupp. “It’s where the most talented employees want to work and where the most inspired leaders want to serve a greater purpose in communities. “In the future, the most successful firms will be those willing to consider that profitability is more than finance,” she says.

Small in Law Firm Size, but Mighty in Pro Bono Efforts

When Eric Schoonveld opened Hall, Prangle and Schoonveld LLP, a small boutique firm in Chicago in 2003, he and fellow founding partners wanted to do things differently. “We were looking for something unlike what we’d seen at big firms. We wanted to create a culture that would encourage people to not only do great work but like each other, too. We’d always talked about building a better mouse trap, but all we really knew was make your clients happy and they’ll come back. Expand, and make more money. But it wasn’t enough.” So five years ago HPS got serious and consulted with Akina’s Knupp. She poised the firm to change and the firm did the rest. In 2014 HPS launched its “Paying It Forward” campaign. Through hard work and a

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yearning to make an impact, HPS raised $41,000 for clean drinking water in Africa by running 198 miles in Oregon’s Hood to Coast Relay. They also gathered 30+ HPS members together for a 6k walk/run for water and collected hundreds of pounds of food for the Chicago Food Depository. For the Oregon relay, Schoonveld accompanied Akerman’s six-person team as organizer and van driver. “Spending twenty-seven hours in a van with co-workers brings you closer together than two years in an office. It was a phenomenal experience. Also, the fundraising attached was incredible. I don’t like asking for money and was nervous, but it was shocking how many people reacted positively with big checks. Clients and opposing firms gave money happily. The relay created a new non-adversarial discussion.” The success of Paying It Forward has prompted HPS to expand its focus on health, wellness and teamwork through activities its people are passionate about. “Our hope,” says Schoonveld, “is to include as many people and events as possible and to utilize our network of colleagues and contacts to broaden our support and raise funds for worthy causes.” In that spirit, Jennifer Ries-Buntain, HPS’s managing partner and self-described non-runner, ran a 5K in Nashville in April. And Schoonveld is learning to swim so he can participate in a full Ironman in Wisconsin in September. “Me doing an Ironman has generated a lot of interest at the firm,” he says. “Sort of like watching a train wreck, I think. But the whole thing definitely creates a level of camaraderie that I’ve never seen before.” Ries-Buntain has been amazed at the success of Paying It Forward. “When we floated ideas to equity partners a couple years ago, they were very skeptical. Many of them have been to events now and they like them. It’s grown past our expectations in terms of acceptance and participation.” Also, she says, it has proved a wonderful new way to build relationships with philanthropic-minded clients who would rather run a marathon and go to a party afterward than attend the standard gala. And in terms of the firm, it gives us a new way to interact with our colleagues.” “It’s about legacy too,” says Schoonveld. “This caliber of service transforms how people look at lawyers and allows us to make a lasting impact beyond great work and cases alone.” ■ PATRICK FOLLIARD (pfoll1@aol.com) is a freelance writer based in Silver Spring, Md.

Diversifying Your Portfolio of Mentoring Relationships By Brita A. Horvath

THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT that mentoring relationships are assets that provide shortand long-term guidance and support. Like many other investments, the candid exchange of advice and insights between mentors and mentees increases in value over time. By design, all mentoring relationships are embedded with difference as it relates to tenure, pairing a more experienced mentor with a less experienced mentee. Often this distinction in tenure presents generational differences that the mentors and mentees accept from the outset, with both parties equally benefitting from exposure to different generational experiences and approaches. Mentors and mentees alike identify these generational differences as an enhancement to their mentoring relationship.

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DIVERSIFYING YOUR PORTFOLIO OF MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

Beyond tenure, however, there is a natural tendency for these relationships to stem from general likeness or affinity, though there are tremendous benefits from mentoring relationships that are not developed out of obvious commonalities. The interviews below provide examples of mentoring across difference and feature mentor-mentee pairings who participated in the Indiana State Bar Association’s Mentor Match program. Through a series of conversations, the participants share how they have successfully leveraged their differences and acquired greater access to a stream of candid and valuable insights and advice. After reviewing these accounts, it was evident that these mentor-mentee pairings considered their relationships an important factor in their personal and professional development and success. Senior Judge Kenneth H. Johnson served as the presiding judge of Marion Superior Court #2, Civil Division, for 30 years. He also served as master commissioner of the Superior Court’s Complex & Mass Tort Docket and co-authored the Mass Tort Docket Rules. According to Judge Johnson, during his many years on the bench, he was “fortunate to ‘employ’ more than 30 interns, young lawyers and law students.”

Lumi Nodit is a deputy attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of Indiana Attorney General. She is a graduate of Indiana University McKinney School of Law. She is also a graduate of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Leadership Development Academy.

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In addition to generational differences, what other differences were present in your mentoring relationship—e.g., race, gender, ethnicity, LGBT, disability, religion, socioeconomic, geography, type of practice, education? Senior Judge Kenneth H. Johnson (paired with Luminita Nodit): Our mentor-mentee relationship contained elements of nearly all of the above. I am male; she is female. She received her JD from what was then known as the I.U. School of Law-Indianapolis in May of 2010. I received my JD from the same law school in May of 1972. She earned a bachelor of laws degree from Alexandru Ioan Cuza Law School in Romania in 2000. She studied for her master’s of laws (business law) from West University of Timisoara, Romania, completing most of her course work before leaving Romania. She was a new lawyer, looking for employment in a public or private law firm. I, on the other hand, had been on the superior court bench for more than 35 years, so my knowledge of the inner workings of private law firms, when we began, was very meager. Lumi Nodit (paired with Judge Johnson): When I graduated from law school in 2010, I was somewhat reluctant to talk to male judges, especially trial court judges. My previous interactions with the judiciary were mostly with women appellate judges. Reflecting on the power paradigm—an experienced male judge and a job-seeking young woman lawyer with an accent—I was a bit intimidated before my first meeting with my mentor, the Hon. Kenneth Johnson. Preparing for our first meeting felt somewhat like preparing for a hearing, trying to anticipate the judge’s questions and hoping to deliver. Marion Circuit Court Magistrate Marcia J. Ferree (paired with Brandon M. Kimura): Geographic, cultural background and gender. Brandon was comparatively new to the Midwest and Indiana, while I have lived in Indiana my entire life. Brandon was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved to Indiana as an adult a few years ago. Our practice areas varied. Brandon was gaining tremendous appellate experience as an intern with the Indiana Court of

Appeals, and he was looking forward to obtaining an associate position at a civil law firm. My experience has mostly been at the trial level as a solo practitioner and now as judicial officer. Brandon Kimura (paired with Magistrate Ferree): Geographic and cultural background. I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. I was on the West Coast for my undergraduate degree and back in Honolulu for law school. As we began our mentoring relationship, I had been in Indiana for about one and a half years. Magistrate Ferree helped me adjust to the social and professional culture of the Midwest and Indianapolis. Our “practice” also varied because as a new graduate clerking for the Indiana Court of Appeals, I had a lot of ideas about different practice areas and working environments but little experience. Magistrate Ferree was helpful in explaining to me her personal experiences in a variety of areas.

What were your concerns (if any) about your ability to fulfill the mentoring expectations and execute your role effectively when you realized you would be mentoring or be mentored by this particular person? Samuel R. “Chic” Born (paired with Aimee M. Gong): Concerns included big firm “guidance” vs. small firm “on your own;” issue recognition; and mentoring across gender differences (e.g., if a situation arose in which a female attorney needed advice on professional dress, etc.). Aimee Gong (paired with Chic Born): I had been informed that Chic was (and still is) a well-known and much-respected at-

torney. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have anything to contribute to the mentoring relationship. Judge Johnson: I was greatly concerned how I could assist Lumi in the challenges of private practice, having been on the bench for so many years. I discovered that a “view from the bench” is neither a bad nor necessarily limiting approach. Matters concerning how to act in a courtroom, how to get matters into evidence, the benefits of civility to the court and opposing counsel were topics we were able to cover. My son is a deputy prosecutor who practiced in a mid-sized law firm; he proved to be a wonderful resource. I also counseled with a number of other private practitioners to gain a perspective I could share with Lumi.

In order to mentor/be mentored effectively across difference, what formal or informal preparations did you make, or what resources or other experiences did you consult or draw upon? Magistrate Ferree: I reviewed the Mentor Match materials provided by the ISBA, and I reviewed the Rules of Professional Conduct. Judge Johnson: Mentoring Lumi showed me once again how different our system of laws was from Romania’s and other systems around the world. The volume of materials provided us was a terrific aid to our accomplishing all that we did. We used many of the recommended online resources, which, in turn, led to the MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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discovery of other materials to which we referred. I thought it was important that Lumi quantify her growth and changes throughout our relationship, so I asked her to keep a journal of her journey throughout this process. She did so faithfully, emailing me copies after our meetings. I also thought it was important to see our mentees outside the mentor-mentee relationship. I would recommend taking them to dinner with their spouse or significant other along with your own. It provides a time of personal sharing where great discussions of family, backgrounds of growing up in a foreign country, aspirations and concerns are more easily brought to the fore. Lumi Nodit: Before my first interaction with Judge Johnson, I called some lawyer friends with litigation experience to inquire about him. I was overwhelmed with their positive responses. The materials provided by the ISBA truly kept us on track. As our mentorship relationship developed, I discovered how much I enjoyed our discussions and meetings. Our discussions spurred my interest in new areas of law. I wanted to learn more about Judge Johnson’s asbestos work, so I signed up for asbestos updates on JD Supra. I was truly delighted when Judge Johnson extended an invitation to bring our spouses to a dinner meeting. I learned so much about mentorship, life, legal careers and differences during our dinner conversation.

What was the most challenging aspect of mentoring/ being mentored across difference? How did you address it? Lumi Nodit: Before our mentorship started, I was concerned that Judge Johnson might not relate to my experience—trying to pursue a legal career in a foreign country in the tough legal market of 2010. But the most challenging aspect of being mentored by Judge Johnson was my unsound concern that he would lack the patience to get used to my accent. During our first meetings, I tried to speak louder and slower, and I tried to listen more. Judge Johnson: Probably the most challenging aspect with the language: Not that Lumi couldn’t speak the Queen’s English; she could. In just about any other profession, pronouncing words with a heavy accent would be characterized as cute or charismatic, but when speaking quirky legal terms before a legal tribunal, you have to be more spot-on to be sure you are understood. Lumi has also experienced some gender-related issues in legal situations that I think were exacerbated by her accent—by what others who had not heard her speak before characterized as a lack of knowledge. We addressed it head-on. Lumi has an inner drive that causes her to want to be the best person and lawyer she can be, so she worked very hard at everything we did. The challenge would have been so much harder had she not had such a positive “can do” attitude. We shared a “whatever it took” vision of immersing her into the American/Indiana legal system and community.

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Magistrate Ferree: I did not find it challenging. Our common interest in the profession of law—and how we could positively influence the profession, financially support ourselves and our families, serve others and live well-rounded, healthy lives—impacted the mentoring process far more than any of our innate differences. The impact that our differences had on the mentoring process was unremarkable. Brandon Kimura: I did not find it challenging. Our schedules were a little difficult to coordinate at times, but we worked it out and made the most of the time we had together.

Did you have any occasion to place yourself in your mentor/mentee’s shoes in order to understand a particular perspective? Magistrate Ferree: Yes, I placed myself in his shoes when thinking about how professional connections are often made over time and/or through mutually known third parties or family members. Many Indianapolis lawyers have deep roots in the area and in the legal profession. As someone fairly new to Indianapolis, Brandon had the challenge of making connections and building relationships that would serve him throughout his career. Brandon Kimura: I’m particularly conscientious, sometimes more than I should be. A side effect of this “condition,” though, is that I often place myself in others’ shoes in an attempt to understand their perspective. I find that doing so often helps me glean far more information from a meeting than simply what is said.

What are the most important attributes of your relationship today? Chic Born: Friendship and trust. Aimee Gong: Having an experienced attorney, mentor and friend from whom I can ask for advice and insight. I also enjoy continuing to get to know Chic as a person. Magistrate Ferree: Trust, mutual respect and comfortableness are important attributes of our relationship. Lumi Nodit: The ability to call or email Judge Johnson and ask him for his advice is a gift.

What have you learned about mentoring across difference? Judge Johnson: One of the most important things for me was keeping an open mind—remembering Lumi’s life experience. Seeing the world and the world of law through her eyes was very broadening for me. We spent a great deal of time talking about the whys, whats and hows: Why was this law enacted? How was this case decided? What purpose does this law have in how we enforce

it or how we help clients deal with it? And another important lesson learned: remembering that mentoring is a two-way street. Lumi Nodit: I learned that everyone brings their own cultural lens and experience into the relationship, which can challenge and trigger growth. I learned once again not to prejudge. All mentors and mentees enter into relationship across differences with information and misinformation, often based on individual fears, stereotypes and prejudice. I feared that experienced male judges would lack the patience to get acquainted with my accent. I was proven wrong. Chic Born: To be imaginative. To be more open. Aimee Gong: I have learned that while there are differences in practice backgrounds, age, etc., there is still common ground that can be discovered. Chic has been a great mentor, and I value his advice. Brandon Kimura: Mentoring relationships with people of different backgrounds and experiences are powerful and memorable and can be more eye opening than a mentoring relationship among those who are similar. Magistrate Ferree: We have more commonalities than differences.

S.R. “Chic” Born is a civil mediator with The Mediation Group LLC and formerly a longtime partner with Ice Miller LLP. He served as president of the Indianapolis and Indiana State bar associations, and was a member of the ABA House of Delegates for 10 years.

What benefits have you gained from this mentoring relationship? Aimee Gong: I have had the opportunity to learn about different aspects of the legal practice and met some very respectable lawyers and judges. Chic Born: Insights into thinking—viewpoint of a lawyer 40 years my junior. Optimism for Aimee and her career. Judge Johnson: It broadens your horizons to see the law from another person’s viewpoint, especially one so different from our own. After a short while into our relationship, I realized I needed to be better prepared to cover the materials on our agenda. We had occasions to discuss the challenge of managing one’s time, balancing the challenges of family, practice and personal growth. At the end of our time, Lumi gave me an hourglass that I treasure. It sits in a prominent place on my desk, reminding me to pay heed to my own advice. Lumi Nodit: Judge Johnson taught me to be self-confident, to do good work and to never lose my passion for the practice of law. His encouragements helped me along the way, and his praise boosted my confidence. Most of all, he taught me the importance of staying true to yourself and your uniqueness. I praise Judge Johnson for his caring commitment to inspire me to successfully navigate my uniqueness (my Romanian accent) in the courtroom.

Aimee M. Gong is an associate with Schultz & Pogue LLP and a graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law. She focuses her practice on medical malpractice defense. Gong is chair of the State Bar’s Animal Law Section and a graduate of the ISBA Leadership Development Academy. She is also active in the American Bar Association.

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If a colleague is contemplating a similar relationship and asks for your advice, what advice would you share? Brandon Kimura: Seek a mentoring relationship with someone who is as different from you as possible. Then be quick to listen and slow to speak. Aimee Gong: The colleague should be open-minded and humble. As a young lawyer, there is a lot to learn about the legal community, along with the requirements of the mentor program.

Magistrate Marcia J. Ferree serves in the Marion Circuit Court, Paternity Division. She previously had a private practice and worked as a public defender representing indigent parents in CHINS and termination of parental rights cases. Magistrate Ferree serves on the Civil Benchbook Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana and was chair of the ISBA Young Lawyers Section.

Brandon M. Kimura is the special assistant and counsel to Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald of the Hawaii Supreme Court. He was previously an appellate and trial attorney at Schultz & Pogue LLP and a judicial clerk to Judge Margret G. Robb of the Indiana Court of Appeals. Kimura is a graduate of the ISBA Leadership Development Academy.

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Lumi Nodit: Mentoring is the art of making the most of a given situation. Both mentor and mentee should keep an open mind and welcome the gifts and opportunities that mentoring across differences provide. Judge Johnson: Do it! Do it! Do it! Not only is mentoring a great honor, but it’s also a fantastic experience and a real contest as to whether you as mentor will learn as much or more than your mentee. It causes you to sharpen some of your own legal skills: how to interpret a statute or case holding; what are the measurable effects on our community of laws that impact our personal conduct; lawyers need to be leaders—what skills do I need to be a great one; what contributions can I make to my community (e.g., providing pro bono legal counsel or being involved in civic organizations); and what contributions can I make in furtherance of the rule of law and how others view lawyers, judges and others in the justice system? It doesn’t really require that much of a time commitment, and the benefits far outweigh the time and energy you invest. And that word “invest” is so appropriate in this situation because you will get more out of this experience the more you invest in the life of your mentee. One cautionary note: It is vitally important that you, as mentor, are prepared when you meet with your mentee. Those answers that come off the top of your head and descriptions of how you’ve always done it sell you and your mentee short. Plus, most of the judges and attorneys I know tend to be lifetime learners. You will be amazed at how much you learn engaging in this experience. The Army’s catch phrase, “Be all you can be,” should be your guide when you look to contribute to the experience and preparation of our young attorneys.

Would you do it again?

Unanimous response: “Yes, without hesitation.” ■ BRITA A. HORVATH (brita.horvath@faegrebd.com) manages all aspects of Faegre Baker Daniels’s diversity programs. In her role as manager of diversity & inclusion, she develops initiatives and strategies to further the firm’s ongoing commitment to diversity through its recruitment, retention, development and advancement efforts. Editor’s Note: This article was published in Res Gestae, Vol. 58, No. 8, April 2015, as part of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Diversity Committee’s efforts and in consultation with fellow committee members Prof. Carlton M. Waterhouse and Renee A. Skeete.

MCCA CLE EXPO October 5-6, 2015 Register & Sponsor

Book your hotel room today at:

Manchester Grand Hyatt • www.mcca.com/cleexpo For questions regarding sponsorship please contact: Shikha Bhatnagar, Director of Development Minority Corporate Counsel Association 202-739-5902 sbhatnagar@mcca.com

Head of the Class

How One General Counsel Became a Superintendent By Glenn Cook

M

AURICE “MO” GREEN can hold court on a variety of topics—the challenges of being a corporate lawyer, improving educational opportunities for minority children, building a loyal leadership team, or the joy (and occasional agony) associated with being a longtime Duke Blue Devils fan. Ask Green to talk about himself, however, and he’s hesitant. The superin-

tendent of Guilford County Schools, a successful corporate attorney who made a midcareer switch into public education more than a decade ago, says his story “is not that interesting.” “Mo doesn’t like to draw attention to himself,” says Nora Carr, who Green recruited to be his chief of staff when he moved to Guilford in 2008. “He really stays below the radar. He’d much rather talk about kids or programs that help kids than what he’s done.”

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Mo Green greets students. He implemented a “Mo Wants to Know” tour when he was first hired.

What Green has done over the past seven years is significant. Since taking over as the leader of North Carolina’s third largest school district, a majority-minority system with more than 70,000 students, he has led the district to the highest graduation rate in its history. Today, almost 90 percent of students graduate from the district’s high schools, and more than one-third of them have passed at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam or college course. Guilford was named one of three National Districts of Character in 2013 and is in position to be part of the national Say Yes to Education initiative, a program that guarantees all graduates will have access to college or post-secondary education. The district is working with a team of community leaders to raise $28 million in pledges from corporate donors and foundations. “I tend to be a dreamer in the sense that I don’t understand why every kid can’t graduate at the highest levels on the SAT or ACT or get a four on every Advanced Placement exam,” Green says. “Why can’t we do that? Why can’t we send every kid on a study abroad program? Why not set our bar at academic excellence and do everything we can to reach it?”

A Practical Mind With a Practical Approach

It’s a wet, drizzly Friday afternoon, and Green is drained from the week as he sits down to talk about his transition from attorney to educator. The night before, the district held its annual “State of Our Schools”

event before a capacity crowd at the Carolina Theater in Greensboro. There, Green talked candidly about the district’s successes (graduation rates, huge increases in volunteer hours and cash/in-kind donations), as well as its missteps, the largest of which involved the suspension of a federally funded technology venture due to concerns about hardware supplied by the vendor. The project, which was implemented and then pulled from 18 middle schools, was a stain on an otherwise outstanding year for the district. “We’re open,” he says. “You saw that last night. We’re candid and tell you, ‘Here’s the good. Here’s the bad.’ We have to be that way. Otherwise no one will trust us.” Trust and character are words Green uses often. He is also a planner and goal-oriented, traits that served him well at Smith Helms Mullins & Moore in Charlotte, where he became a partner within seven years after graduating from law school and completing two federal clerkships. Those same traits also have helped him to push the school system forward. “Because I’m a lawyer, one of the things that I do is ask a lot of questions. I’m always probing and probing. I know the team doesn’t like it sometimes, but it is a way of getting information that can help us get to better decisions,” he says. “I don’t want to implement anything until we ask all the questions we can ask. Even then, sometimes things don’t work out like you thought, but you never stop asking questions.” MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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Therence Pickett, vice president and general counsel for Volvo Group North America and Mack Trucks Inc., in Greensboro, says Green’s candor and integrity are his “greatest strengths.” “He has such a practical mind and takes such a practical approach that he doesn’t get distracted by the noise of whatever issue is going on,” says Pickett, a classmate of Green’s at Duke Law School and a friend for three decades. “He can focus on the specific needs and what needs to be done, then jump in head first and tackle those issues.”

Appeals. After completing his clerkships, he returned to Smith Helms, where he later was the first African-American partner. “I was one of the guys who wanted to do actual in-court work. Any time people wanted to get into serious litigation, I wanted to be part of it,” Green says. “I represented a lot of clients, from criminal defendants to corporate clients. But one of my first clients, as it turned out, was the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. And they were the client I loved the most.”

Litigator Turned General Counsel

In 2000, the district’s general counsel left, and Green decided to apply for the position. The variety of issues a lawyer deals with in a large urban district (“On any given day, who knows what’s coming?” he says) appealed to him, as did CMS’s mission. “Maybe it’s from my mother and her desire to be a teacher, but the mission spoke to me,” Green says. “I decided if I could use my legal skills to help this client do what it needs to do for the young people of our community, then that’s a dynamic thing to do.” Green spent five years as general counsel but found his interests broadening beyond the law. When Peter Gorman became superintendent in 2006, he asked Green to be the district’s chief operating officer. “I thought this guy was crazy, but maybe I was too because there I was considering it,” Green says. “I decided it was one of those things where the worst that could happen was we would both decide it was not a good decision and I could go back to being a general counsel. Why not do it? Why not try to work with people in a different way?” Within a year, Green was named deputy superintendent and expanded his responsibilities to include the supervision of academic services. When the Guilford position opened up in 2008, Gorman and others urged him to apply, even though he was a nontraditional candidate. “I wasn’t really trying to be a superintendent, and this was the only position I applied for, but I felt like if folks were encouraging me to do it that I should pursue it,” he says. “Every step of the way in the exploration, there were points at which I could have stopped the process or the board could have stopped the process. But it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Listening to Green speak, you would never know that he spent the first nine years of his life in Queens, N.Y. He moved with his family to tiny Lizella, Ga., when he was nine and has no traces of a “Yankee” accent. But he recalls family members in New York saying he would make a great lawyer “even before I knew what that meant.”

“Maybe it’s from my mother and her desire to be a teacher, but the mission spoke to me. I decided that if I could use my legal skills to help this client do what it needs to do for the young people of our community, then that’s a dynamic thing to do.” - Mo Green His father, a small business owner, died the year after the family moved to Georgia, leaving his mother, a nurse who was raised in the Virgin Islands, to raise two young sons. “My mom grew up exceedingly poor. Her house had a dirt floor,” he says. “When she went to New York, she was told nursing was what she needed to do, but she would always tell me she wanted to be an educator. After my dad died, she decided to go back to college to be a teacher. She would always say she wanted to run her own school, so I think maybe in some way I’m living out her dream now.” The law, however, was his first love. Encouraged by his family to pursue an Ivy League education, Green opted to stay closer to his family and go to Duke, where he and Pickett were two of the three African-American males in his law school class. While in law school, he clerked for two summers at Smith Helms Mullis & Moore. After graduating from Duke law school, he worked as a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Norwood Carlton Tilley Jr. in Greensboro and for Nathaniel Jones, a renowned civil rights leader who was a judge on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of

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Transitioning From General Counsel

Investing in Students Is Investing in the Future

Hired in September 2008, Green convinced Carr, who was an assistant superintendent for communications in CMS, to join him in Guilford. Loraine Felder, who has worked with Green since his law days, was hired as his executive assistant.

“Our students are the single best investment we can make in our community, and I also believe it’s the right thing to do.” - Mo Green

“These are people I trust, who know me better than I know myself on some days,” he says. “You need to have people you can count on from the start.” Green set out on a “Mo Wants to Know” tour, talking to parents, as well as community and business leaders, to learn more about their views of the school system. The tour led to the development of a strategic plan, but the crippling economic recession threatened the district’s initiatives. “In December, the bottom fell out, and we said we could not do this plan,” he says. “But why not? The bottom was not going to fall out forever. In the meantime, we decided to see if we could raise everyone’s expectations for the district and see if we could get the community to buy into it.” Guilford’s business community has long supported the district, Green says, but state funding has declined dramatically over the past seven years. Finding money for new initiatives, many of them revolving around technology infrastructure and growth in the early/middle college program, meant the district would have to seek more corporate and foundation funding. And that made Green, by default, the “chief fundraiser in charge,” as Carr describes him. “We’ve had a great team of business and community leaders who’ve worked with us on this. What we have done is take our plan, shared it with various people and told them this is what we’re planning to do,” Green says. “Our district can’t take money from existing schools and start a new school. We’ve looked at what everything would cost and ways we can fund it and then gone out and tried to raise the money.”

Despite the downturn, the district opened a middle college on the University of North Carolina at Greensboro campus in 2011 and a STEM Early College at North Carolina A&T University in 2012. Private funding was required for both efforts. Because students don’t pay for classes at any of the nine early/middle college schools in Guilford County, fundraising is continuing in earnest. Pickett, who is on the UNC Board of Governors, says this type of corporate support is critical for K–12 schools and the state’s higher education institutions. He believes Guilford’s administrators have “done a good job in reaching out to the business community in a way that has translated into additional resources that might not otherwise have been available. “I think Mo’s done a very effective job of seeing what the problems or shortcomings are, matching them with the needs of the students and working tirelessly to plug the gaps,” Pickett says. “That’s his approach to everything. He was the same way when he was in private practice, and he’s doing that today for the betterment of kids.” As the interview ends, Green points to a statement he made the previous evening about the Say Yes to Education opportunity. He says it sums up his philosophy as an educator, husband and parent. “Our students are the single best investment we can make in our community, and I also believe it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “The timing is right for this, and we need to come together and make it happen.” ■ GLENN COOK (glenncook117@gmail.com) is a freelance writer and photographer based in Lorton, Va.

MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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PERSEVERANCE IN PROFILE | BY TOM CALARCO

Stuart Pixley: Empowering Attorneys With Disabilities MICROSOFT ATTORNEY STUART PIXLEY has an exciting practice in intellectual property transactions. He also has cerebral palsy which, he will assure you, is not a bad thing. He uses an electric wheelchair for getting around and has hearing loss and secondary cataracts in one eye. But he drives to work like everyone else, and with most things, there are no insurmountable obstacles. Pixley says he was lucky to have a dad who was an engineer with his own business and a mom who was an artist, “the perfect blend of right and left brain parenting.” While physical therapy occupied a lot of his time as a grade schooler, “there was never an issue getting to school or functioning in class. My family had the same expectations of me as any kid, that if I worked hard and did well in school, I could be anything I wanted.” Pixley notes that it was fortunate his schooling was somewhat conventional. “In my era, many kids with CP still went to separate schools for students with disabilities,” he explains. “But I went to regular schools and took regular classes.” Ironically, there was a time when Pixley actually wanted to be in a special school. “Easter Seals HandiCamp was such a special experience growing up,” he says. “Being around kids just like me I got to feel completely normal for a few weeks each summer.” A lot of his friends at camp went to schools for the disabled, and he was transition-

28  D I V E R S I T Y & T H E B A R   JUL.AUG.2015  MCCA.COM

ing from junior to high school, so he decided he wanted to go to a special school, too. “I wanted to be with my friends and I wanted to experience year-round the acceptance I felt at camp.” Pixley’s parents indulged him in a visit to a school for the disabled in Denver. There, the principal set him straight, telling him that kids in his schools aspired to go to mainstream schools like the ones Pixley was already attending, and that those that didn’t had lower career aspirations. “So I stayed in the regular school system,” he says, “but I never let go of my connection with the disabled community.” While he was in college, Pixley started to focus on neuropsychology. “I thought I would be a scientist and even received a fellowship through the Department of Energy to work at the UCLA Department of Neuropathology during the summer after my junior year. Each week during the program, DOE fellows were treated to a presentation from UCLA faculty on careers in science. I remember there was this professor doing advanced work in molecular biology. It sounded so appealing: the complex puzzles the innovate studies—just the sort of career I wanted.” But then the professor described the long road to a Ph.D. and

the years of lab work as a post-doc. “I was overwhelmed at the thought of working that long on other people’s projects in a lab from a wheelchair—something I hadn’t yet figured out how to do well.” So he went in a different direction. After graduating from college with honors, Pixley worked at an independent living center as an advocate for people with disabilities, an experience that proved to be a gateway to his career as a lawyer. “From the get-go I provided counseling, negotiated vocational rehabilitation plans and handled appeals before administrative judges,” he says. “When I became a manager, I coordinated a team of advocates dealing with everything from FEMA housing to attendant care, to social security hearings. I learned what it felt like to be a lawyer, and that experience was a key factor in my decision to apply to law school.” It also brought him closer to the disability community. “I felt like the disability community not only applauded my achievements, it celebrated my identity as a person with a disability. I belonged to a larger family that welcomed me, that supported me and that valued everything that made me who I was. It was that experience that gave me a sense of self-worth and the confidence to go to law school and become a lawyer.” After graduating from law school, Pixley set out to prove himself by doing whatever was asked

The message that there is business value in diversity communities and that everyone benefits when our community is welcomed and empowered to bring their A-game to work is a sea change for people with disabilities. —STUART PIXLEY

whenever it was needed. “I could not work fast, but I could work hard. For many years, I probably pulled many all-nighters.” As he progressed in his legal career, he found that social skills were as important as talent or work ethic. “Surviving as a lawyer requires social skills, projecting gravitas and networking,” he says. “And longterm success requires grooming and mentorship—someone to take you under his or her wing and show you how it is done. I had my own champions, people who thought very highly of me and my work. But there was no one who could show me how it was done as an attorney with a disability.” Though Pixley found success during his years in private practice, some of the firms that employed

him did not. “I was struck twice by lightning,” he says.” Of the four large, established firms he worked for, two disbanded suddenly: Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in 2003 and Heller Ehrman in 2008. Then he found Microsoft in late 2008. “I really like what I’m doing here,” he says, “the challenging work, cool products and smart, friendly colleagues. I especially like how they treat their employees. Plus there’s a disability community here and a tradition of diversity in the company and the legal department. There’s a culture that is engaging, supportive and values differences.” Pixley works in the Intellectual Property Group and is involved with patent licensing. “My role is transactional,” he says, “doing deals and analyzing

developments in IP law and policy. Technology advances and convergence have brought about a rapid evolution in intellectual property law. It’s complex, and there are many players who make up the puzzle. It’s an exciting time to be in the field.” He has also been deeply involved in the legal department’s diversity programs. Not long after settling in at Microsoft, he started working on his own disability projects though the legal diversity outreach and pipeline committees. In 2012, the program’s executive sponsors asked Pixley to recruit and lead a stand-alone team focused on disability. The team grew to eight members and included Microsoft attorneys in Redmond, Wash.; Washington, DC; and Mumbai, India. In 2014, MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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PERSEVANCE IN PROFILE

with disabilities are included in inclusion. We want to be recognized as an integral part of the legal diversity community and to participate fully in the profession’s diversity efforts.” Equally important, he says, “is NAAD’s goal of empowering attorneys with disabilities to secure good jobs for them, to have real opportunities for advancement and to build long, vibrant, productive legal careers.” Pixley is also a commissioner on the ABA’s Commission on Disability Rights, where he focuses on promoting the commission’s Pledge for Change. “The Pledge is modeled closely on Rick Palmore’s Call to Action championed by the Association of Corporate Counsel,” he says. Pledge signatories not only reaffirm their commitment to legal diversity in general, they specifically affirm that disability is part of legal diversity. Signatories acknowledge the need for more opportunity in the legal profession and for the profession to better reflect those it serves and commit to encouraging others to make similar commitments, he says. Pixley is convinced that focusing on diversity and inclusion as a

vehicle for advancing people with disabilities in the legal profession has the potential to make a real difference. He notes that disability in the workplace too often is about work status or accommodation logistics. “Even disability awareness or sensitivity training frequently stops short at teaching what is politically correct. And without more,” he says, “the perception of disability as a problem, an embarrassment or a hassle won’t change.” According to Pixley, the diversity and inclusion movement is an entirely different lens for understanding disability “The message that there is business value in diversity communities and that everyone benefits when our community is welcomed and empowered to bring their A-game to work is a sea change for people with disabilities,” he says. “Seeing people with disabilities as part of the diversity fabric, with similar stories and challenges as other diverse communities, breaks down barriers by putting our differences and our history in perspective. And recognizing that attorneys with disabilities have a compelling A-game to bring is the most important message of all.” ■ TOM CALARCO (tomcalwriter@yahoo. com) is a freelance writer and author of seven books on the Underground Railroad. He is based in Loveland, Ohio.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Microsoft received the American Bar Association’s Champion’s Award for its efforts to support disability diversity and inclusion in the legal field. “We coordinated legal career panels for students with disabilities at law schools and universities,” he says. “And to raise internal awareness, we brought in a number of great speakers to speak at our Redmond campus, including Washington state Sen. Cyrus Habib, an attorney who has been fully blind since the age of eight. We also supported the nascent external community of attorneys with disabilities by speaking at and sponsoring the annual conference of the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities and the reception for attorneys with disabilities hosted by the ABA Commission on Disability Rights at the ABA Annual Meeting.” But he believes the team’s most important accomplishment “is raising the profile of disability in legal diversity, both in and outside of Microsoft.” Although Pixley stepped down as team leader to focus on external diversity activities, he says, “the team is stronger and more active than ever.” He is a founding member and recently installed president of the National Association of Attorneys with Disabilities. “NAAD’s first goal,” according to Pixley, “is to ensure that attorneys

30  D I V E R S I T Y & T H E B A R   JUL.AUG.2015  MCCA.COM

Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference

Thank You for Your Support Your participation in MCCA’s 2015 Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference made this event a success! The MCCA’s Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference is a full-day educational event promoting the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. For details about our events, visit www.mcca.com/events.

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*2015 Strategic Diversity Sponsor

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LAWYER’S LANTERN | BY LEKAN OGUNTOYINBO

Won Shin IN THE SUMMER OF 1986, Won Shin was an ambitious, athletic rising sophomore at Texas Christian University. Then one weekend, he dove into an ocean wave off the Jersey Shore and slammed headfirst into a sandbar. The accident paralyzed Won from the chest down. In the summer of 1987, he returned to TCU and then transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington in January 1989 to compete in a variety of college-level wheelchair sports. Won proceeded to law school at Southern Methodist University in 1991. After a series of positions in the public and private sectors, he joined EY in 2006 and is a senior tax manager in the Transactions Advisory Services practice. The 47-year-old husband and father of two also serves as vice chair for the Inglis Foundation, an organization that strives to allow people with severe physical disabilities to live their lives to the fullest. His message to young people with disabilities: “Education is the key to empowering yourself.” Tell us about your upbringing. What kinds of expectations did your parents place on you? What were your aspirations? My parents came to this country from Korea when I was roughly four years old. We settled outside the Philadelphia area. I grew up in a blue-collar family. My father worked for a subcontractor for the Ford Motor Company. My mother was a registered nurse. My parents sacrificed so that I could go to a good private school. My only aspirations at the age of 18 were to go to college, enjoy my experience and do well. There were no doctors or lawyers in my family at the time. I went to TCU because I had gone to the same school for 13

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years and TCU was a change of scenery and a new culture. It was exciting to meet people from all over the country and not just from the Northeast. It was a great experience to go to a college where football is big. I played on TCU’s club lacrosse team with students from across the country. Initially my major was pre-med, but that quickly changed. How did your accident change your lifestyle? How did it change you mentally? How did it shore up your determination to get on with your life and to become successful? After my freshman year, I took a summer job working heavy construction. The first weekend off, I went to the beach to a friend’s house. I dove into a wave, hit the sandbar and broke my neck. It was right off the Jersey coast. I was paralyzed from the chest down with partial paralysis in my arms and hands and no use of my legs. I don’t think anything or anyone can prepare you for such an accident. To see my mom’s face when she realized the severity of my injuries is something no 18 year old or parent should have to go through. The only thing I was trying to process was, “Am I going to live? “Am I going to survive?” The sup-

port system I had in my parents was very important. I spent six and half months in the hospital and got out of rehab in December 1986. There’s a huge risk that when people get out of rehab that they’re not going to do anything. They have too much time on their hands. My mom said ‘you’re going back to school.’ She enrolled me at Villanova in an accounting class. That was a major step in the right direction in letting me know I could get back with my life. It was critical in preparing me to go back to Texas, which was critical in preparing for my new life. I went back to TCU in August 1987 and leased an apartment and hired attendants. I got involved in everything, including my social life and my fraternity. After I became a resident of the State of Texas, I transferred to UTA to compete in wheelchair sports. I graduated with a degree in finance but wasn’t ready mentally to get into the workforce. My sister was in law school at the time, and she told me what I could expect and what was involved. I thought law school was a respectable place to hide out for three more years. I knew I would develop a lot. I knew I would learn new skills. It was all very valuable when I entered the workforce. I went to law school at Southern Methodist University. After law school, I moved back to Philadelphia and took a job with Mayor Ed Rendell and served as his liaison to constituents with disabilities. I represented the mayor at many events. Then I had the opportunity to work for a small law firm as a trial lawyer.

I knew that I could be a lawyer. There was nothing about being a lawyer that I couldn’t do.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF POSITIVEEXPOSURE

How did your disability influence your decision to become a lawyer? How did it shape your outlook as an attorney and later as an assistant deputy mayor for the city of Philadelphia? How has it shaped your work as a senior manager with EY? After my injury, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do physical work for a living. It made me think about what I could do professionally. Back in 1986–87, a lot of people with disabilities were going into the vocational world. But I didn’t want to do that. I wanted the same opportunities as everyone else. I knew that I could be a lawyer. There was nothing about being a lawyer that I couldn’t do. I had a friend in the hospital with me who wanted to be a doctor. He was denied entry into medical school because they said as someone with quadriplegia he couldn’t take blood

pressure. So he ended up getting a doctorate in psychology. The one thing I’ve learned is there’s really nothing I can’t handle that comes my way, whether personally or professionally. That gives me a certain level of confidence that employers see. When employers see that confidence they realize this person can sit in a boardroom and talk with CEOs and board members of companies. What are some things the legal profession has done well to make the profession more welcoming to people with disabilities? What are some changes you would like to see? I think the legal profession recognizes the importance of bringing on the best talent and including diversity on the team, which includes attorneys with disabilities. I think the profession could do

better in recruiting, retaining and advancing attorneys with disabilities. The linear progression of an associate to partner may not be the best way to advance a career. The traditional requirements of a partner may not be suitable. While the career track and requirements of an attorney with a disability should not have to be lessened, the goal should be to consider alternatives that meet the business needs of the employer/profession and the needs of the professional. Flexibility and innovation are keys to creating a profession and working world that allows people with various types of abilities to succeed. We’re in a much better place in 2015 than we were in 1995. But we can do better. What advice would you give to people with disabilities who are considering a career in law? MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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LAWYER’S LANTERN: WON SHIN

Law school is not easy. It is competitive and the workload is intense and intimidating. But when you finish, you’ll realize that during those years, you’ve learned what it takes to be a professional, you’ve gained a certain level of self-confidence that you did not have before and that these skills have hopefully prepared you for the profession. A career in law can mean many different things, so you have to

We all face challenges and obstacles, whether you have a disability or not. I don’t approach challenges in life differently because I use a wheelchair. I do, however, face different challenges and navigate them differently. —WON SHIN be open to learning and exploring what suits you best. Having a disability may influence the type of legal career you want, but it doesn’t have to. I’ve been using my legal education for 20 years in various capacities as a political appointment, trial attorney, consultant and board member. Employers in the legal profession are increasingly recognizing the value of diversity in their workforce. Be prepared to show them that you are academically qualified, articulate, professional in the way you look and conduct yourself, that your viewpoints are unique and distinguishable and that these items more accurately represent your abilities than any perception of your ability or lack ability because of a disability. You currently serve as vice chair of the Inglis Foundation. How did you come to be involved with this organization? Why is it so meaningful to you?

34  D I V E R S I T Y & T H E B A R   JUL.AUG.2015  MCCA.COM

The Inglis Foundation’s primary purpose is to allow people with severe disabilities to live the fullest lives possible. We offer programs during the day, provide accessible housing, operate a skilled nursing facility, among many other things. Ironically, when I was in high school, before my injury, I used to volunteer at three nursing facilities and would see very young people with severe disabilities and interact with them. Many of the residents were there because they had nowhere else to go. Fortunately, my parents had the resources. I feel a deep commitment to helping the organization to ensure that it is successful and sustainable going forward. Describe your other recreational and volunteer activities in the community. Right after I was injured I struggled with what I could do athletically. In rehab, I met a therapist involved in wheelchair sports. I did

a lot of track and field. It was an opportunity to compete in a safe environment. One of the reasons I transferred to UTA was because they had college-level sports for people with disabilities. I lettered in wheelchair track and field. I competed in wheelchair rugby, also known as quad rugby, and played wheelchair tennis. Now, I do a lot of skiing and hand cycling. Being physically active is extremely important. When I mentor people who are injured, I talk about the importance of being physically active. One day, I hope to do a hand cycling marathon and ski out west. What are some of the most important life lessons about confronting challenges and scaling obstacles you try to impart in others? The disability doesn’t make me better or worse than anybody else. However, having acquired a disability from an injury, I struggle every day with a deep sense of loss even after almost 28 years. Like any kind of loss, you learn to live with it and move on. You move on by focusing on the positive, surrounding yourself with people that support and love you, setting achievable goals that will guide you back to the life you had or to the life you want and finding meaningful work. We all face challenges and obstacles, whether you have a disability or not. I don’t approach challenges in life differently because I use a wheelchair. I do, however, face different challenges and navigate them differently. I may not get from point A to point B in the same way as everyone else; nevertheless, my goal is still to get there. ■ LEKAN OGUNTOYINBO (oguntoyinbo@ gmail.com) is a freelance journalist based in Columbia, Mo.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

MCCA Survey News You Can Use www.mcca.com/research

Partnership Progress Most Notable Among Minorities The overall number of minority attorneys has rebounded since the recession, growing from 13.44% at the end of 2009 to 14.56% by the end of 2013. This increase reflects growing numbers of minority lawyers within most of the levels tracked in the survey. The progress is most notable within the partnership ranks. Source: Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Survey and Database

Men, Women and Minorities Have Different Preferred Communication Methods Men, in comparison to women, chose telephone communications as needing more improvement than email communications. Women and minorities expressed a greater comfort level with email communications because they felt they would be evaluated more objectively. Source: Sustaining Pathways to Diversity: Workplace 2020: What Gen Y Attorneys Experience & Expect

More Women Seen in Top Legal Position

Overall, 20% of the responding legal departments reported that their top legal officer position was held by an individual who is a race/ethnic minority. Thirtysix percent of the respondents reported that their top legal officer was a woman, while only 9% reported that that the position was held by a race/ethnic minority woman. Source: Sustaining Pathways to Diversity: A Comprehensive Examination of Diversity Demographics, Initiatives and Policies in Corporate Legal Departments

MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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MOVERS & SHAKERS VISHAL GUPTA

Steptoe & Johnson LLP Steptoe & Johnson LLP has hired patent litigator Vishal Gupta as a partner. Gupta has litigated complex patent litigation cases from pre-suit investigations through multiple trials and appeals. He also has extensive experience in patent-related transactions and strategic counseling. His practice has embraced a wide range of technologies, including pharmaceutical compounds and formulations, manufacturing processes, medical devices and electromechanical apparatus. Gupta earned his law degree from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. Prior to practicing law, he formulated pharmaceuticals for Massachusetts General Hospital and conducted research in the field of cardiac transplantation at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s in chemical/biomedical engineering from Cooper Union, where he was an Enders Fellow. For the past two years, Gupta has been selected by New York Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Intellectual Property Litigation. He also has been recognized by the International Who’s Who of Life Science Lawyers.

36  D I V E R S I T Y & T H E B A R   JUL.AUG.2015  MCCA.COM

ANNE M. COGHLAN Arnstein & Lehr

Anne M. Coghlan joins the firm’s Chicago office as an associate in the litigation practice group. She concentrates her practice on creditors’ rights and complex litigation. Prior to joining, Coghlan worked as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Lynn M. Egan in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois. She also worked as a 711 Law Clerk for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in the Special Prosecutions ­Bureau-Gang Crimes Unit. Coghlan earned her JD, cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law and her BA from the University of Illinois.

RICHARD J. DEWITT III

Arnstein & Lehr Richard J. DeWitt III joins Arnstein & Lehr as an associate in the Municipal and Governmental Practice Group. DeWitt brings 10 years of legal experience representing private property owners and developers in land use and eminent domain matters, as well as local governments. Prior to joining the firm, he was assistant city attorney for the City of Hallandale Beach, Fla. DeWitt earned his JD, magna cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center and his BS from Florida State University.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

PATRICK J. JOHNSON

Arnstein & Lehr Patrick J. Johnson joins as an associate in the Construction Practice Group in Arnstein & Lehr. He concentrates his practice in construction litigation, providing a range of services for clients, including reviewing contracts for construction projects and negotiating agreements. Previously, Johnson served as an attorney for a large professional engineering services firm dealing with electric power and energy intensive companies and was an engineer for more than five years. He earned his JD from DePaul University Law School and his BS from the University of Illinois–Urbana/Champaign. Johnson also earned an MS in civil engineering from the University of Illinois–Urbana/Champaign and is registered in Illinois as a professional engineer.

FRANCIS E. “FRANK” RODRIGUEZ

Shutts & Bowen LLP Shutts & Bowen LLP has named Francis E. “Frank” Rodriguez partner in charge of the firm’s Miami office. Rodriguez works with domestic and international individuals and business entities on state and federal tax and transactional issues and also serves as chairman of the firm’s Latin America Practice Group. Born and raised in Miami, Rodriguez joined Shutts & Bowen in 2000. He graduated with honors from the University of Miami School of Law. He is a member of the President’s Council at Florida International University, where he received his undergraduate degrees with honors.

MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

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MCCA® LAW DEPARTMENT MEMBERS The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) acknowledges the support of the following law departments whose financial contributions have helped to advance the goal of furthering diversity in the legal profession. 3M Company

Dignity Health

Law School Admission Council

RBS Americas

AARP

Dow Corning Corporation

Leading Educators

Reckitt Benckiser Inc.

Abercrombie & Fitch

Duke Energy Corporation

Leidos [Formerly SAIC]

Reed Elsevier Inc.

AbstoneLalley Inc.

DuPont Company

Leo Burnett Company Inc.

Rockwell Collins

Accenture LLP

Eaton Corporation

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

Rolls Royce North America Inc.

AECOM

Eli Lilly & Company

Lifelock Inc.

Entergy Corporation

LifeVantage Corporation

Rosetta Stone Inc.

Allstate Insurance Company Altria Client Services

Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Liquidity Services Inc.

American Airlines

Exelon Business Services Company

Macy’s Inc.

American Express Company

Fannie Mae

MAHLE Industries Inc.

Anthem Inc. [Formerly WellPoint Inc.]

Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh

ManpowerGroup

AON Corporation

Marriott International Inc.

AT&T Corporation

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

Avis Budget Group

Flagstar Bank

McDonald’s Corporation

Bechtel Corporation

Flextronics

Medifast Inc.

Becton, Dickinson and Company

Freddie Mac

Merck & Co. Inc.

BNY Mellon

Fujitec America Inc.

MetLife Inc.

Booz Allen Hamilton

Gap Inc.

Microsoft Corporation

BP America Inc.

Genentech Inc

MillerCoors

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

General Electric Company

Synopsys Inc.

CALIBR, global leadership network

General Mills

Mondelez International [Formerly Kraft Foods Inc.]

Tanenbaum Harber of Florida LLC

Capital Legal Solutions LLC

GlaxoSmithKline

Morehouse College

Target Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation

Goldman Sachs & Co.

Morgan Stanley

Tessera North America Inc.

Cargill Inc.

Google Inc.

Nabholz Construction Services

The Brookings Institution

Carter’s Inc.

Graduate Management Admission Council

National Grid

The Clorox Company

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Navistar Inc.

The Conference Board Inc.

Halliburton Company Herbert L. Jamison & Co. LLC [Jamison Insurance Group]

Neighborhood Defender Service

Hewlett-Packard Company

Newegg Inc.

H.J. Russell & Company

NFM Inc.

Honda North America Inc.

NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company

Honeywell International

Northrop Grumman Corporation

HSBC Bank USA

Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited

Huntington Ingalls Industries

Office Depot Inc.

IBM Corporation

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Ingersoll-Rand PLC

Pepco Holdings Inc.

Intel Corporation

PepsiCo Inc.

International Paper Company

Pfizer Inc.

J.P. Morgan Chase Bank NA

Pitney Bowes Inc.

JC Penney Company Inc.

Porzio Life Sciences LLC

Waste Management

Dell Inc.

JetBlue Airways Corporation

PPG Industries Inc.

Wells Fargo & Company

Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation

JM Family Enterprises Inc.

PRAXAIR Inc.

Xcel Energy

Johnson & Johnson

Premier Media Inc.

Xerox Corporation

DHL America

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.

Prudential Financial

Xylem Inc. [Formerly ITT Corporation]

Diageo North America Inc.

KeyCorp

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Yazaki North America Inc.

Catalent Pharma Solutions CBS Corporation CH2M Hill Chevron Corporation Choice Hotels International Inc. CIGNA Corporation CITGO Petroleum Corporation Colgate-Palmolive Company Compass Group, The Americas ConAgra Foods Inc. ConocoPhillips Cox Communications Inc. Crawford & Company Darden Restaurants Inc. DC Water and Sewer Authority Deere & Company

MassMutual Financial Group

New York Life Insurance Company

S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. Sara Lee Corporation Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. Sears Holding Company Sempra Energy Shell Oil Company Sony Electronics Inc. Southeastern Freight Lines Inc. Southern California Edison Company Staples Inc. Starbucks Coffee Company

The Vanguard Group Inc. The Walt Disney Company The Williams Companies Inc. TIAA-CREF Towers Watson Tyson Foods Inc. UBS Financial Services United Parcel Service United Technologies Corporation U.S. Foodservice Inc. Verizon Communications VMware Inc. Walmart Stores Inc.

For membership information, contact David Chu, MCCA’s Vice President of Membership & Development, at 202-739-5906 or membership@mcca.com. 38  D I V E R S I T Y & T H E B A R   JUL.AUG.2015  MCCA.COM

MCCA® LAW FIRM AFFILIATES MCCA® acknowledges the following law firms who have joined MCCA to further advance diversity in the legal profession.

Alchemy-Partners PC

Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP

Peter Law Group

Alexander & Associates

Griffith Sadler & Sharp PA

Phelps Dunbar LLP

Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira LLP

Hamilton Miller & Birthisel LLP

Pinckney Harris & Weidinger LLC

Anderson Kill PC

Helms & Greene LLC

Polsinelli PC

Archer & Greiner PC

Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP

Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC

Arent Fox LLP

Hughes Roch LLP

Quarles & Brady LLP

Arnstein & Lehr LLP

Husch Blackwell LLP

Arrastia & Capote LLP

Ice Miller LLP

Quintairos Prieto Wood & Boyer

Axiom

Innis Law Group LLC

Baldassare & Mara LLC

Jeffrey Samel & Partners

Roig Tutan Rosenberg Martin & Stoller PA [Formerly Infante Zumpano]

Berger Singerman LLP

Jones Walker LLP

Rooney Rippie & Ratnaswamy LLP

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP

Sanchez & Amador LLP

Blank Rome LLP

Kenyon & Kenyon LLP

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

Sanchez-Medina Gonzalez Quesada Lage Crespo Gomez & Machado LLP

Bressler Amery & Ross PC

King Branson LLC

Saul Ewing LLP

Bricker & Eckler LLP

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Schiff Hardin LLP

Brown Law Group

Kramer & Amado PC

Seeley Savidge Ebert & Gourash Co. LPA

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Kumagai Law Group PC

Shella Harris & Aus PC

Butler Snow O’Mara Stevens & Cannada PLLC

Kumar Prabhu Patel & Banerjee

Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert LLC

Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP

Kutak Rock LLP

Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP

Cavitch Familo & Durkin Co. LPA

Lam Lyn & Philip PC

Snell & Wilmer LLP

Christian & Small LLP

Leader & Berkon LLP

Clifford Chance U.S. LLP

Lim Ruger & Kim LLP

Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Cohen & Gresser LLP

Littler Mendelson PC

Cooley LLP

Littleton Joyce Ughetta Park & Kelly LLP

Cottrell Solensky & Semple PA

Loeb & Loeb LLP

Courington Kiefer & Sommers LLC

Lowe & Associates LLC - Counsellors & Advisors

Cozen O’Connor

Marrero & Wydler

Crumbie Law Group LLC

Martin & Martin LLP

Davis & Gilbert LLP

Maynard Cooper & Gale PC

DeMahy Labrador Drake Victor & Cabeza (DLD Lawyers)

McGuireWoods LLP

Dickstein Shapiro LLP

Messner & Reeves LLC

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Miles & Stockbridge PC

Duane Morris LLP

Miller Law Group

Dunlap Codding

Montgomery Barnett Brown Read Hammond & Mintz LLP

Elliott Greenleaf

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

Epstein Becker & Green PC

Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP

Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP

Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP

Morris James LLP

Willenken Wilson Loh & Delgado LLP

Fish & Richardson PC

Nemeth Burwell PC

Winston & Strawn LLP

Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto

Nicolson Law Group LLC

Womble Carlyle

Florio Perrucci Steinhardt & Fader LLC

Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver

Wong Fleming PC

Gaffney Lewis & Edwards LLC

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC

Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP

GibbsWhitwell PLLC

Patton Boggs LLP

Zuber Lawler & Del Duca LLP

Goldberg Segalla LLP

Pepper Hamilton LLP

Zupkus & Angell PC

Rivero Mestre LLP

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC Stevens & Lee Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC Sughrue Mion PLLC Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm PA The Willis Law Group Troutman Sanders LLP Vinson & Elkins LLP Waas Campbell Rivera Johnson & Velasquez LLP Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP

Potential FANs should contact David Chu, MCCA’s Vice President of Membership & Development, at 202-739-5906 or membership@mcca.com. MCCA.COM  JUL.AUG.2015  D I V E R S I T Y

& T H E B A R   39

Gala

Special Thanks to Our 2015 Sponsors

This would not have been possible without your generous support.

A.B. Cruz Abercrombie & Fitch Aetna, Inc. Akerman LLP Allstate Alston & Bird LLP Andrews Kurth LLP Arent Fox LLP Arnold & Porter LLP Baker Botts LLP Baker & McKenzie LLP Ballard Spahr LLP Barnes & Thornburg LLP Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP Beveridge & Diamond P.C. Billy Martin Bristol-Myers Squibb Brown Law Group Bryan Cave LLP Cadwaladar, Wickersham & Taft LLP CBS Corporation Choice Hotels International, Inc.

Clark Hill PLC Comcast/NBCUniversal Covington & Burling LLP Crowell & Moring LLP Darden Restaurants, Inc. Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Dechert LLP DLA Piper LLP DuPont Edison International Entergy Corporation Exxon Mobil Corporation First Data Corporation Fish & Richardson Fox Rothchild LLP Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C. Gap Inc. General Dynamics Mission Systems Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP Greenberg Traurig Groom Law Group Haynes & Boone, LLP Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP

Hogan Lovells US LLP Hunton & Williams LLP Husch Blackwell LLP IBM Jackson Lewis PC Jenner & Block LLP JP Morgan Chase & Co. K&L Gates Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP King & Spalding LLP Latham & Watkins LLP Littler Mendelson PC McCarter & English LLP Miles & Stockbridge PC Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp National Retail Federation Navigant Consulting, Inc. Neil Wilcox Norton Rose Fulbright Parks Wood LLC Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Prudential Financial Retail Industry Leaders Association Rincon Law Group PC Robin Sangston Ropes & Gray LLP Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP Shutts & Bowen LLP Sidley Austin LLP Squire Patton Boggs Staples Inc. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Foundation Steptoe & Johnson LLP Sutherland Asbill & Brennen LLP Vault.com, Inc. Venable LLP Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP Winston Strawn LLP Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice Zuckerman Spaeder LLP