Issuu

July/August 2011

WOMEN grab the GAVEL BUT STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO

PLUS PL

BO EXCERPT: Courageous Counsel — BOOK Th The Story of Women General Counsel Inside the Howrey Implosion In Women of Color Share Their Views W oon Corporate Legal Departments

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan

D I V E R S I T Y

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K E Y

I N G R E D I E N T

At Perkins Coie, diversity is an essential ingredient that helps us create the best solutions for our clients. We value and encourage diverse viewpoints and draw upon them to resolve our clients’ business and legal challenges. Diversity adds perspective and creativity to what we do. It is a key ingredient to our success.

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July/August 2011

FEATURES

18 Women Grab the Gavel Over the past two years, President Barak Obama made history by appointing the third and fourth female justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the number of women appointments does not stop there. This article looks at the strides other women have made on the bench at all levels and jurisdictions. BY CHANA GARCIA 24 Inside the Howrey Implosion The implosion of the global firm Howrey LLP came as a jolt to many. This article aims to shed light on the historic dissolution of one of the world’s most recognizable legal names. BY JONATHAN GRONER

28 Women of Color Share Their Views on Corporate Legal Departments

p.18 Women make up just 22 percent of all federal judgeships.

COLUMNS

DEPARTMENTS

8 Notes from the Special Chair

44 Association Focus

10 Perseverance in Profile

BY KARA MAYER ROBINSON

Highlighting the contributions and talents of attorneys with disabilities.

46 Diversity News

Carrie Basas BY TOM CALARCO

14 Lawyer’s Lantern Offering illuminating professional guidance for your career.

Center for Legal Inclusiveness

Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics BY JOSHUA H . SHIELDS

48 Movers & Shakers

BY LORI L . GARRETT

50 The Scale

16 Spotlighting

MCCA Weighs the News BY JOSHUA H . SHIELDS

Ona Alston Dosunmu

Diversity & the Bar delves into a new report from Corporate Counsel Women of Color, an organization touting more than 2,500 in-house women whose bonds run much deeper than race/ethnic minority status. Learn how in-house women of color attorneys perceive their opportunities for advancement and job satisfaction. Among the key highlights: gender is perceived as more of a barrier to advancement than race/ethnicity. BY KARA ROBINSON

p.24

34 Book Excerpt: Courageous Counsel— The Story of Women General Counsel Be among the first to review an excerpt from Courageous Counsel, a soon-to-be-released book on the history of women general counsel and what it took for these pioneering women to ascend the ranks. Authors Michele Coleman Mayes, general counsel for Allstate Insurance, and Kara Baysinger, partner at SNR Denton, discuss what it takes to achieve the “super lawyer” status. BY MICHELE COLEMAN MAYES AND KARA SOPHIA BAYSINGER

BY PATRICK FOLLIARD

2011 STRATEGIC DIVERSITY SPONSORS

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MCCA® Law Department Members MCCA® acknowledges the financial support of its law department members. Their support has made this magazine and other MCCA research projects possible.

MCCA® Board Of Directors Richard S. Amador Partner, Sanchez & Amador, LLP

Robert E. Bostrum Executive Vice President and General Counsel Freddie Mac

Michelle Banks Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Gap, Inc.

Clarissa Cerda General Counsel & Secretary, LifeLock, Inc.

A. B. Cruz III Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc.

Anthony K. Greene Director, Jamison Insurance Group

Gary F. Kennedy Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, American Airlines, Inc.

Nancy Lee Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel Marriott International, Inc.

Don H. Liu Senior Vice President, General Counsel, & Secretary, Xerox Corporation

Hinton J. Lucas Vice President & Assistant General Counsel DuPont Company

Robbie E. B. Narcisse

Vice President-Global Ethics & Business Practices Pitney Bowes Inc.

Samuel M. Reeves Senior Vice President, General Counsel Walmart U.S. Legal

Thomas L. Sager Senior Vice President & General Counsel DuPont Company

Robin H. Sangston Vice President, Legal Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer, Cox Communications, Inc.

Kenneth S. Siegel

Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Corporation

Simone Wu Senior Vice President & General Counsel XO Holdings, Inc.

Advertising For advertising inquiries, contact Alexandra K. Kahl, ACC, at kahl@acc.com. MCCA® Membership Please visit our web site at www.mcca.com for membership and other information. General Information and Address Changes Send your questions, complaints, and compliments to MCCA®, Editor, Diversity & the Bar®, 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. Address changes should be sent to MCCA’s Director of Membership and Development at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004. Permissions and Reprints Reproduction of Diversity & the Bar in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Copyright Act of 1976 prohibits the reproduction by photocopy machine or any other means of any portion of this issue, except with the permission of MCCA. To obtain permission, contact: Joshua H. Shields, Editor-in-Chief, 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004.

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Pitney Bowes, Inc. PPG Industries, Inc. Porzio Pharmaceutical Services, LLC PRAXAIR, INC. Premier Media, Inc. Prudential Financial Quest Diagnostics Incorporated Qwest Communications Reckitt Benckiser, Inc. Reed Elsevier, Inc. Rockwell Collins Rolls Royce North America Sara Lee S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. Sears, Roebuck and Co. Sempra Energy Shell Oil Company SMG Consulting, Inc. Sodexo Sony Electronics, Inc. Southern California Edison Company Staples, Inc. Starbucks Coffee Company Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Synopsys, Inc. Target Corporation Tessera North America, Inc. The Church Pension Fund The Clorox Company The Coca-Cola Company The Dow Chemical Company The Juilliard School The Vanguard Group, Inc. The Walt Disney Company The Williams Companies, Inc. Toll Brothers, Inc. Tyson Foods Inc. UBS UnitedHealth Group United Parcel Service United Technologies Corporation U.S. Food Service, Inc. Verizon Walmart Stores, Inc. WellPoint, Inc. Waste Management Wells Fargo & Company Xerox Corporation XO Holdings, Inc. Zenith Insurance Company

MCCA® acknowledges the decision of the following law firms who have joined with MCCA to advance the goal of furthering diversity in the legal profession.

Mary E. Snapp

Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Dell, Inc.

Genentech, Inc. General Electric Company General Mills Inc. GlaxoSmithKline Graduate Management Admission Council Hewlett-Packard Company H.J. Russell & Company Halliburton Harley-Davidson Motor Company Honeywell IBM Intel Corporation International Paper Company ITT Corporation JC Penney Company, Inc. JetBlue Airways Corporation Johnson & Johnson JPMorgan Chase Bank NA JM Family Enterprises, Inc. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. KeyCorp Kraft Foods Kroll, Inc. Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Leo Burnett Company LexisNexis Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Lifelock, Inc. Liquidity Services, Inc. Macy’s, Inc. Marriott International, Inc. MassMutual Financial Group Mattel, Inc. McDonald’s Corporation Merck & Co., Inc. Microsoft Corporation MillerCoors Monsanto Company Morgan Stanley National Grid Navistar, Inc. Newegg Inc. New York Life Insurance Company Nike, Inc. Nsoro, LLC Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited Office Depot Pacific Gas and Electric Company Pepco Holdings, Inc. PepsiCo, Inc. Pfizer Inc.

MCCA® Law Firm Afﬁliates

Executive Vice President & General Counsel Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Lawrence P. Tu

3M Company AT&T Accenture LLP AdvoServ AECOM Allstate Insurance Altria Group, Inc. American Airlines, Inc. American Express Company American Lawyer Media Aon Corporation Aramark AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Bank of America Benistar Admin Services, Inc. Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation Booz Allen Hamilton BP America Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Capital One Caraustar Industries, Inc. Cargill Inc. Catalent Pharma Solutions Catholic Healthcare West Chevron Corporation CIGNA Corporation CITGO Corporation Colgate-Palmolive Company Compass Group, The Americas Computer Science Corporation ConAgra Foods, Inc. ConocoPhillips Consolidated Edison Co. of N.Y. Constellation Energy Cox Communications Credit Suisse First Boston LLC Deere & Company Del Monte Foods Corporation Dell Inc. DHL Express Diageo North America Duke Energy DuPont DynCorp International Eaton Corporation Eli Lilly and Company Entergy Corporation Exelon Business Services Company Fannie Mae Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco Freddie Mac Gap Inc.

Bressler, Amery & Ross PC Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada, PLLC Davis & Gilbert LLP DeMahy Labrador & Drake, PA Epstein, Becker & Green, PC Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Frost Brown Todd LLC Garrett & Dunner LLP Goldberg Segalla, LLP

Ice Miller LLP Igbanugo Partners International Law Firm Kenyon & Kenyon LLP King Branson LLC Lathrop & Gage LLP McGuireWoods LLP Montgomery, Barnett, Brown, Read, Hammond & Mintz LLP Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Pepper Hamilton, LLP

Copyright Copyright® 2011 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 herein 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 consequences resulting from the use of the information herein, or in any

Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, PC Rivero Mestre, LLP Rooney Rippie & Ratnaswamy, LLP Sanchez & Amador, LLP Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP Steptoe & Johnson LLP Sughrue Mion PLLC Thompson Hine LLP Waas Campbell Rivera Johnson & Velasquez LLP Zuber & Taillieu LLP

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.

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profile Jeffrey Siminoff – A Senior Leader Promoting Diversity and Inclusion Jeffrey Siminoff is Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Morgan Stanley. In this role, Jeff is at the forefront of the corporate and legal communities’ diversity efforts. Jeff has built strong working relationships across the business community as a means of fostering diversity in the profession, including one with Andrew (Drew) Schaffran. Drew is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice at Morgan Lewis and a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee. What follows is an excerpt from a discussion between the two on inclusion, diversity, mentoring, and career development: Drew: Jeff, you have a remarkably successful career. What has contributed to your success? Jeff: Let me tackle that question by talking about personal traits and organizational traits. First, I am fortunate to have had a strong family foundation. I had role models who taught me the importance of listening and building relationships. Second, I am lucky to work for an organization — Morgan Stanley — that is inclusive and recognizes that each individual can flourish and be a strong contributor in a team-based environment. Drew: What do you wish someone had shared with you before you entered an in-house law department and before you started your position as Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Morgan Stanley? Jeff: Transitions are important in careers, and I’ve tried to be mindful of the very different role that an attorney takes when moving in-house from a law firm. I would encourage folks who are thinking about moving in-house to understand that you are becoming an internal resource for the business, and you are shifting from having a multitude of clients to having a “one priority” client — the organization itself. You are going to be called on to provide rapid-fire responses to immediate issues. You have less time than you would in a law firm for memoranda and research. As for the transition to Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, I was able to build upon 10½ years of strong relationships within Morgan Stanley and this made for a much smoother transition. I focused on continuing to broaden my relationships in the organization, and to understand how they were now changing. I had a reservoir of goodwill and many people who were willing to help me. Drew: What do you look for in sponsor or mentor relationships? Jeff: Sponsors and mentors are important to a person’s career but are slightly different concepts. A sponsor is someone who is willing to put their reputation and credibility on the line for someone they believe in — they champion another’s growth, development, and advancement. A mentor

Jeffrey Siminoff

Andrew J. Schaffran

is more focused on giving advice, navigating an organization, and organizational dynamics. A mentor must be “bluntly honest.” A relationship can shift between mentor and sponsor during the course of your career. For example, my relationship with one of my biggest sponsors within Morgan Stanley has now shifted to a “reverse” mentoring relationship on certain issues (with me as the mentor). If you are flexible and focus on building relationships, you and others can benefit greatly in the workplace. The importance of these concepts is reflected in Morgan Stanley’s recent support for research on the sponsorship effect in the workplace, which was compiled by the Center for Work-Life Policy. (Note: for more background on sponsor/mentor relationships I also would recommend a book by one of my colleagues, Carla Harris – Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success from a Wall Street Vet [Hudson St. Press, 2009].) Drew: Why did you focus your career on employment law and now diversity and inclusion? Jeff: I focused on these areas because I am drawn to interpersonal dynamics and different aspects of human behavior — “people” issues. I started in the employment area at Morgan Stanley and then began getting involved in the Diversity Committee for the Legal and Compliance Division. Then, I served as the Chair of the Pride Employee Networking Group for our LGBT employees. These activities created a deeper sense of engagement between me and the organization. I think of it as “stickiness” — a way that enabled me to feel that I was making a difference. Drew: Tell me a little about the approach to diversity at Morgan Stanley. Jeff: We recognize that we create a richer mosaic if people bring their full selves to work every day — not bits and pieces of who they are, not checking things at the door because they think they need to do that. It is critical that diversity is not just some amorphous concept that people talk about. Here at Morgan Stanley, we are more effective as an organization because diversity — the richness of what makes us different — is woven into the culture of the firm.

www.morganlewis.com

Notes

From the Special Chair

PLANS FOR MCCA’S FUTURE

We are looking to the successful future for MCCA. It’s a great time for me to share with you some of the plans the MCCA Board of Directors is implementing to ensure that we have a strong and innovative organization that will continue to be a leader in the legal profession on diversity and inclusion. As you may know, Veta Richardson has taken the position as the new President and CEO of the Association of Corporate Counsel. We thank her for her leadership over the last decade and wish her the best in her new role. We look forward to continuing our vibrant relationship with ACC with Veta at the helm there. The MCCA Board formed a Search Committee and retained Korn/Ferry International, an executive recruitment firm, to support us in finding Veta’s successor. We are thrilled with the broad and diverse experience of the candidates who have applied for the position, and we are right on track with our timeline to name a President and CEO later this summer. Veta is providing guidance to ensure that the leadership transition will be as smooth as possible, and the MCCA staff has not missed a beat in its research, programming, scholarship work, and development efforts. To ensure consistent leadership until the new Executive Director is aboard, the Board will appoint an Interim President who is a current member of the Board. This person will work with three MCCA staff Vice Presidents to assist them in carrying MCCA initiatives. This work includes research on diversity best practices, surveys and analysis of how diverse attorneys are faring as general counsel of the Fortune 1000, selection of the next class of scholarship recipients, as well as the many services and events for members and supporters. We hope to see you at our events in New York in September. The first is a “signature” event—the 12th Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference on Monday, September 26. This annual conference will bring attendees an analysis of new issues in legal diversity and continue the discussions of many of the

challenges facing corporate legal departments and law firms. We have a strong line-up of panelists and speakers on topics that are top of mind for both “early in career” professionals and seasoned attorneys who lead diversity efforts in their firms, law departments, and academic and public sector organizations. The second major event will occur the next evening, on Tuesday, September 27. This will be MCCA’s first Diversity Honors Gala, a red carpet event that will be held at Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. This fresh, new event will begin with an Oscar®-like awards program that will combine honors with entertainment, followed by an elegant VIP dinner reception. In addition to the five corporate legal departments honored as Employers of Choice, MCCA will also present its first Lifetime Achievement Award to Vernon E. Jordan Jr. in recognition of his profound impact on the legal profession and his contributions to advance a society that appreciates, celebrates, and recognizes the value of diversity. We hope you will join us in New York City and hear more about MCCA’s exciting future endeavors.

MARY E. E SNAPP

Chair, MCCA Board of Directors Corporate VP & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft

Publications Staff Founder and Publisher Emeritus Lloyd M. Johnson Jr. Editor-in-Chief Joshua H. Shields

DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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Contributing Writers Tom Calarco Patrick Folliard Chana Garcia Lori L. Garrett Jonathan Groner Kara Mayer Robinson Joshua H. Shields

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Fitzpatrick is proud to announce its Women’s Initiative Program

We would like to thank the attendees of our ﬁrst Women In Leadership panel discussion & wine tasting

For further information on our programming, please contact Tara A. Byrne (Co-Chair) at FitzpatrickWIP@fchs.com

www.fitzpatrickcella.com

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8"4)*/(50/ 975 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20004-1405 202.530.1010

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Perseverance in Profile

CARRIE BASAS— DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATE BY TOM CALARCO

Carrie Basas will bowl you over with her enthusiasm. She has so much to say and so much she wants to do with her life, which is devoted to helping others who have been dealt a little “inconvenience” in their life, like herself, in the form of some physical, genetic, or health limitation. Carrie’s hurdle was Larsen’s Syndrome, a congenital condition that severely limits a person’s ability to walk. The author of numerous journal articles, book contributions, and two books dealing with disability rights, she has become an important scholar and activist in the disability rights movement.

“T

he only thing about my disability that is an inconvenience [to me] is how others treat me because of my disability and how society has been constructed to isolate and alienate people with disabilities,” she says.

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Basas had 38 surgeries before she was five, and was placed in a special education class with kids who had a variety of mental and physical limitations until third grade. “My parents didn’t give up,” she says, “and fought to get me mainstreamed and out of special ed.” Her years in high school were difficult because her condition brought attention upon her, but she distinguished herself as an outstanding student and was known as the “disabled smart chick.” Though she was beginning to become aware of disability issues in high school, she says she was brought up by her parents to be as normal as possible. “They didn’t want me to connect to disability,” she says. At Swarthmore College near Philadelphia, known for its Quaker origins rooted in egalitarianism and social justice, Basas took ownership of her disability. She was taking a class in community economic and political activism. Her professor was a lesbian who had been a labor organizer. Basas had been working on a national women’s health project for the class. “Why aren’t you working on disability rights?” her professor asked. Her professor’s query had more than simple pedagogic intent. The professor revealed her recently developed hearing loss and saw in Basas someone she could commiserate with. It led Basas to an epiphany. She realized that by ignoring her inclination for social justice, she was isolating herself from others who had atypical limitations to overcome. By uniting and forming networks, she realized, they could help each other in dealing with these limitations. During an internMCCA.COM

ship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, she organized a mentoring program for disabled women that she named Women Without Barriers. She found a wealth of disability rights resources there and first made contact with what she calls “the civil rights movement for people with disabilities.” When she returned to school, she organized a similar program for disabled high school students in Philadelphia, using money awarded to her through a Eugene Lang Community Scholarship. “It was great,” she says. “I got as much out of it as they did. I recruited mentors who had disabilities. We also did a lot of group mentoring. We met monthly, and had formal sessions with speakers. We helped them with dating and health issues; it made them realize they weren’t alone.” This was important to her because she had always dealt with disability alone, and it was her community activism teacher who helped her

understand the importance of having a disability rights community. “Disability is an essential part of my identity,” she says. “But it is a part that makes me very proud—not because I have ‘overcome’ my disability but because I recognize how adaptable, empathetic, and perceptive it makes me. My disability has been an incredible bridge to other people.” Her years at Swarthmore proved to be significant. She distinguished herself as a student by winning numerous academic awards and also as a leader by spearheading several human service projects. At Harvard Law School, however, she felt isolated again. In contrast to Swarthmore, a small college where nearly everyone has some idiosyncrasy, Harvard was much less diverse. During these years, she also had two hip replacement surgeries and began using a motorized scooter to get around campus. “I didn’t see others with disabilities; it was really awkward,” she says. In one of her classes, her profes-

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sor singled her out as an inspiration because of her disability. “It was not the right thing to do because it separated me from the others,” she says. “There’s a saying in the disability rights movement, ‘Nothing about us without us.’ There are a lot of things in which we’re not included. People without disabilities try to help and mean well but do not always do the right thing. We don’t want people’s charity. We don’t want to be treated differently.” Nevertheless, her years at Harvard were quite advantageous. She worked as an assistant for Professor Samuel Bagenstos and helped him prepare a case that was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. She also founded an online network of lawyers and law students with disabilities, and interned at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division in the Disability Rights Section. After law school, she worked at Spiegel and McDiarmid in Washington D.C., and received the

with disabilities sub-committee, and sits on the advisory boards of several disabilityrelated organizations, including the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities, and the Review of Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii. Her book Lawyers Lead On, published this year by the ABA Press, is based on 40 letters from lawyers with disabilities. It gives advice on disability and disclosure, and disability identity, and offers guidance on developing legal careers for the people with disabilities, as well as reflections on the disability rights movement. “I gathered a lot of data and found many lawyers were self-accommodating because they feared speaking out would jeopardize their work situation,” she says. “Most lawyers with disabilities get hired ‘in spite of’ their disabilities and are directed toward disability-related jobs. We need a place at the table in the larger minority efforts within the legal field and it has to come with the recognition that we have experienced discrimination, mistreatment and intentional exclusion from our profession, despite our excellent qualifications.” An important issue for disabled attorneys, she says, is how to use the Americans with Disabilities Act without stigmatizing the disabled. This has caused many in the profession to leave traditional legal work. “I struggled finding what I want to do with the law,” she says, “but I really like teaching and would like to find a permanent home in teaching.” Among the law schools where

The only thing about my disability that is an inconvenience is how society has been constructed to isolate people with disabilities.

Hearne Award as an emerging leader in the field of disability rights from the American Association for People with Disabilities for her work in forming a national network of emerging professionals with disabilities when she was a law student. This award prompted her to leave the firm and run her network as a non-profit. “I did all the programming, and it was exhausting,” she says. “But I also developed consulting work at other non-profits and began advocacy consulting. It was the kind of work I wanted to do, discrete projects that allow you to focus.” She ran the non-profit for 18 months, and then began the transition to full-time independent scholar, activist, and teacher. The move gave her great satisfaction because it enabled her to reach out to others in the disability rights movement. “I don’t feel I’m doing it alone. Disability is an issue you see everywhere. And it’s hard to be off the clock now. I’ve been fortunate to be energized by other young attorneys with disabilities.” Her published works deal not only with disability issues but also criminal justice, animal rights, and vegetarian issues. She also has served on the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, chairing its lawyers DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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she has taught are Penn State, the University of Tulsa, and the University of North Carolina. In the fall, she will be teaching disability rights at Case Western School of Law in Cleveland. She believes teaching, like her scholarship, enables her to have a more direct impact than in the judicial arena. “Many students in my disability rights classes that have disabilities hide them,” she says. “I can connect them with others who can help them.” She left a tenure-track position in Oklahoma because she wants to be located where there is a more active disability rights community. She wants to make an impact in her field. Among those places she mentioned where she believes she would have the best opportunity to do this are Chicago, New York, or Berkeley, Calif. Berkeley is considered the home of disability rights because the university’s groundbreaking activism in the movement goes back to the 1960s. Basas, whose second book Disability Rights Law is scheduled for publication next year by Carolina Academic Press, wants to make the world a better place by reaching out to people through her writing and her teaching. She acknowledges that it is not easy. “You need an amazing amount of charisma and a whole lot of luck to change things,” she says. But this young woman who walks with a cane seems prepared for the task. “We—disabled or nondisabled—all live with some form of vulnerability or health condition, and we will all age and decline,” she says. “Where we draw the lines as to what constitutes a disability is a pretty arbitrary process, but it comes with social fear about disability, bias, and discrimination. I think that’s why disability elicits such a strong response, often one of pity or disgust, because it reminds us that we all struggle and are weak.” D&B Tom Calarco is a freelance writer based in Altamonte Springs, Fla. MCCA.COM

The MCCA Diversity Honors Gala Alice Tully Hall | Lincoln Center New York | NY

Tuesday

September 27, 2011 Be there as MCCA honors the nation’s foremost corporate and industry leaders at one unforgettable, “Oscar®-like” awards presentation. Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree 9HUQRQ -RUGDQ 6HQLRU 0DQDJLQJ 'LUHFWRU /D]DUG )UHUHV &R

Employer of Choice Honorees Mid-Atlantic Region

Midwest Region

Northeast Region

Southwest Region

Western Region

To learn more visit www.mcca.com/gala or contact Jennifer Chen, Vice President-External Relations, (202) 739-5902 or www.mcca.com/gala 6SRQVRUV

Lawyer’s Lantern

A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO GEN X AND Y ABOUT GENERATIONAL EMPATHY BY LORI L. GARRETT

If you are a Gen Xer (born between 1965 and 1979) or Gen Yer (born after 1980), I am penning today’s column for you. It is probably safe to assume that you have not spent a whole lot of time thinking about how long you are going to practice law, when you might retire, whether you will have enough money saved when you are ready to leave the profession, how you will care for your health after you have stopped practicing, and what you will do with your time when you actually become a retiree.

here is likely, however, someone in the office down the hall from yours thinking about these very issues quite regularly. This person is probably a baby boomer (born between 1946 and 1964). The firsts of the beloved boomer generation began turning 65 this year. “So what?” you might be thinking. “I can’t relate,” you may say. “That’s none of my business” may be your reply. As an Xer myself, I can understand

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those reactions—it may not be intuitive to concern yourself with another colleague’s plans to bring closure to their career. However, I would beg to differ that your co-worker’s retirement does not impact all of us. Let me explain why. There are approximately 78 million baby boomers in the United States. The June 2000 issue of The American Lawyer reported that the number of lawyers in the United States over the age of 50 will nearly double to some 560,000 lawyers by 2020.1 According to Hildebrandt International, boomers constitute 70 percent of law firm partners (the study was not limited to U.S. law 200 firms). I was not able to find a report that counted the number of boomers working in corporate legal departments, but it is probably safe to assume that figure is substantial. Nevertheless, it is well documented that boomers make up the largest generation currently in the workforce, and their departure from the profession, or alternatively, their decision to work longer than any previous generation, will have real consequences for future generations.2 For example, retirement will offer some the opportunity to follow passions not previously realized because of the limitations on their time due to work. There are a number of pro bono opportunities that could use the tremendous talents of our profession’s boomer generation.3 Or, if in approximately 10 years all of the some 560,000 lawyers who are over the age of 50 retire—which is nearly half the number of lawyers in the profession4 —the most significant source of knowledge and experience in our profession will be walking out of the door. Of course, this does not take into consideration the number of lawyers entering the profession, which may not completely make up the difference, as law MCCA.COM

colleagues about their plans and how the profession and individual employers and employees can be more responsive to their needs, whether they decide to continue working or take a traditional retirement at 65. I hope that we can all gain generational empathy and learn to better identify with the experiences, feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of others outside of our generation. The truth is, Gen X and Y members, the golden rule is still a good rule. I think we all hope that the next generation will be empathetic to our circumstances when we are faced with similar decisions about our own retirement and that we will be treated well by those younger than us. I humbly suggest that we not wait until it’s our turn to inform ourselves about these issues and certainly not wait to contribute constructive solutions on how we all can see to the graceful transition of the boomer generation.7 D&B

can’t imagine keeping himself busy with the stereotypical early -morning golf game after having helped negotiate some of the company’s biggest deals over the last 30 years. He may just decide to stick around the office and continue being the primary contact to those business principals that you cannot seem to ever get to call you as the first line of defense. Now you may be asking what I want you to do about all of this. Well, I did not write this piece to diminish baby boomers, to minimize the very difficult decisions that many boomers are facing as they contemplate how they want to spend the next years of their career, to paint Gen X and Gen Y as insensitive, or to suggest that other generations should only be concerned about how these issues affect themselves. I propose quite the opposite, actually. I am writing this to start a dialogue about the retirement of the boomer generation. I hope to appeal to my Gen X peers and my Gen Y friends to appreciate, if only on some rudimentary level, how challenging these issues are, to learn more about these issues on their own, and to talk to their boomer

I hope that we can all gain generational empathy and learn to better identify with the experiences, feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of others outside our generation. school applications were down last year by 11 percent.5 Nevertheless, I guess you can imagine how this will affect your career. At a minimum, you might be a little busier than you already are today. It also seems that you will need to be prepared to take over all of that work. Have you learned all you need to know from the boomers in your office in order to do that? 6 On the other hand, if a 65-year-old female boomer retires today, she may live for approximately 19.6 more years, according to U.S. Census life expectancy average estimates. How much money will she need to maintain her lifestyle for approximately 20 years after she leaves the profession? She may feel inclined to return to work after having retired if she finds that her savings do not meet her needs. Or, maybe she will feel pressure to continue working for 10 more of those 20 years to maintain her earnings. If she continues being the relationship partner for that institutional client, it may leave you with little chance to get to take over the relationship anytime soon. By way of another example, how boring does life get when you do not have your 9-to-5 to occupy your mind? I don’t know. Maybe your favorite in-house boomer

The Law’s “Gray” Area, March 2001, available online at http://www.mayerbrown.com/publications/article. asp?id=1452&nid=6.

Elizabeth Goldberg, Law Firms Face Gray Area as Boomers Age, The American Lawyer, December 10, 2007, available online at http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/ PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=900005558998.

Susan S. Sperber, The Aging Of The Baby Boomers: What Does It Mean For The Legal Profession?, December 4, 2007, available online at http://www.rothgerber.com/ showarticle.aspx?Show=935.

Id. at Note 1.

According to the American Bar Association, there were

To continue this discussion and assist you and your organization with these issues, MCCA will be hosting a session on this topic entitled “The Transition of a Generation: How Your Organization Can Successfully Navigate the Exodus of Baby Boomers” at its Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference to be held in New York City on September 26, 2011. Visit mcca.com to learn more about the conference and register. Lori L. Garret is MCCA’s vice president and managing director for MCCA’s southeast region. She heads MCCA’s professional development services. 1,225, 452 lawyers in the United States as of December 31, 2010: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/ aba/administrative/market_research/2011_national_ lawyer_by_state.authcheckdam.pdf 6

Nathan Koppel, Law School Loses Its Allure as Jobs at Firms Are Scarce, The Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2011, available online at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001 424052748704396504576204692878631986.html

7 I would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to the following boomers who were willing to reflect on their careers and talk to me about their concerns regarding retirement: Leonard Hedgepeth, John Lynch, Wanda Lynch, and Ida Tate. I would also like to thank Kenneth Garrett for his contributions to this article.

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MOVING PAST BOUNDARIES Ona Alston Dosunmu BY PATRICK FOLLIARD

Not all think tanks are the same. Created expressly to generate ideas and promote policy, these increasingly busy bastions of thought come primarily in two varieties—strictly nonpartisan, researching policy issues without regard to political outcomes, and those whose main function is to provide intellectual support to politicians or political parties. The latter type varies according to ideology: For instance, the Heritage Foundation is famously conservative; the Cato Institute promotes Libertarian reforms; and the Center for American Progress is without a doubt liberal. DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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he Brookings Institution, a very influential, non-profit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., is often characterized by the press as left-leaning, but its general counsel Ona Alston Dosunmu says otherwise: “If you look at our roster of scholars you’ll learn that’s just not the case. Brookings doesn’t subscribe to only one ideology. In fact, we spend a tremendous amount of energy, focus, and resources trying to protect our independence.” As Brookings’ general counsel, Dosunmu’s job is not to make policy recommendations, but rather to facilitate those who do. On any given day, Dosunmu handles a wide array of matters including advising on human resources issues, purchasing and financing real estate, and advising high-level executives and trustees on conflict of interest and government ethics issues. “Fortunately, I’ve discovered that I love being a generalist,” she says. “At firms people tend to become narrow and deep in terms of expertise, but as Brookings’ GC, [and one-person legal team] not only do I regularly use what I learned as a transactional attorney in private practice, but I’ve become familiar with other practice areas too.” Dosunmu’s office is responsible for the institution’s immigration and global mobility work, and she supervises a non-lawyer professional, Elena Anderson-De-Lay, who does the day-to-day management in this area. Because Brookings employs 287 resident and nonresident scholars, many of whom come to the institution from all over the world via a professional exchange visitor program, the immigration piece of her office’s work is very important. Conversely, they also assist in staffing Brookings’ offices in Doha, Qatar, and Beijing, with Americans, third-party nationals, and locals. “While securing visas may sound like a drag, it’s actually one of the most exciting and rewarding things we do,” says Dosunmu. “Among Brookings’ major goals is to become a global institution. Our director [Strobe Talbott] has been very clear about that. My assisting in ensuring that fellows are able to come and go contributes to the strategic vision that our leadership team has laid out.” A $90 million international research organization established in 1916, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economMCCA.COM

ics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development. In addition to conducting high-quality, independent research, its mission is to “provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen American democracy; foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system.” Dosunmu left private practice to join Brookings in 2002 as associate director of budget and administration in the Foreign Policies Program. A longtime interest in the world beyond America’s borders (Dosunmu’s husband is from Nigeria), the opportunity to interface with other countries, and public policy issues attracted her to the job.

Initially my position was slated to be a part-time job, which, in retrospect, is hilarious given all the work to be done. And that’s how I officially became Brookings’ first GC in April 2006.” Prior to Brookings, Dosunmu practiced at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP, which she considers her professional “finishing school.” During her time at the firms, Dosunmu acquired more than substantive legal experience. She also gained valuable lessons in management style. “As an organization,” she says, “Latham & Watkins did extraordinarily well. For instance, their evaluation system was very clear and transparent—that’s not the case with all organizations. Also, there was a relentless commitment to ensure that clients and attorneys have the same experience throughout the

For women and people of color ‘asking’ is a particularly important skill. She also wanted to gain management experience. During her time as associate director, Dosunmu helped to double both the budget and size of the program to $14 million and 130 people, respectively. Despite her success with the program, she missed the law. “I thought I might be happy working exclusively in management, but I was wrong. So, I let Brookings know that I was looking around and asked if they could point me toward something. It just so happens at that same time the organization was experiencing a tremendous growth trajectory and management thought they could use some in-house legal assistance. MCCA.COM

firm whether they were in the New York, London, Brussels, or Beijing offices. That’s unusual for a firm. As Brookings grows, this is something I definitely reflect on for us.” Dosunmu attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism followed by a master’s in sociology. She began her postgraduate career working for small activist non-profits, but at a point she began to feel vulnerable. “I was doing some fundraising and general office work yet I felt that I had no real marketable skills, so I decided to go to law school.” She graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center.

A native Midwesterner, Dosunmu grew up in southwestern Michigan. She was just five when her father, a physician, died, leaving her mother, a teacher, to care for her and three younger siblings. Her parents’ strength and ability to transcend adversity have always served as an inspiration to her. For Dosunmu, the essence of her father is captured in two images that she describes as teaching moments. The first is a photograph showing Dosunmu as toddler sitting in her father’s lap as he reads the paper. She appears to be reading right along with him, but of course she is too young to read. The second is an indelible memory in which her father shaves while practicing simple Spanish phrases aloud. As he moves the razor across his lathered face, Dosunmu’s father asks young Ona to repeat what he says. “So much of my life has been defined by the absence of my father,” says Donsunmu, the mother of teenage twin girls. “But the memories I hold of him underline his unusual commitment to education despite having been born into urban poverty in Philadelphia. I feel that his passion for learning was passed on to me. I’m equally awed by my mother and her extended family—the children of impoverished sharecroppers in the South, who fanned out across the country and achieved success. From her, I learned a work ethic, and while admittedly mine pales in comparison to hers, it has served me well. “I’ve never been afraid to ask for things. Somewhere along the way I was told that it’s OK to ask. The worst thing that will happen is they’ll say no. I’ve known women and minorities who are afraid to ask for a raise or what they need or want. For women and people of color ‘asking’ is a particularly important skill.” D&B Patrick Folliard is a freelance writer based in Silver Spring, Md. JULY/AUGUST 2011

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WOMEN 19

BY CHANA GARCIA

he numbers don’t lie. They just don’t add up. For several years women have accounted for about half of all law school students, yet a snapshot of the federal judiciary reveals a troubling and widely known trend: Women are grossly underrepresented on the bench, making up just 22 percent of all federal judgeships.1 For years, professional organizations and advocacy groups have been discussing the barriers facing women attorneys. But recently, these groups have turned an eye toward the judiciary and, unsurprisingly, noted nearparallel findings about the obstacles facing female judges, most notably work-life balance, the demands of raising a family, and unfair perceptions of women in leadership roles. Perhaps most troubling is that gains have been slow and inconsistent at best. Since 2007, the number of women in the federal judiciary has remained at about 500.2 In eight states, women’s share of federal judgeships is at 10 percent or less, and, to date, no state has achieved equal representation of women judges. The title of a May report by the National Women’s Law Center, “Women in the Federal Judiciary: Still a Long Way to Go,” is a sobering reminder of the gender inequality still burdening the bench. President Barak Obama has made several key appointDIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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ments in an attempt to balance the scales. In addition to naming Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, he has selected women to fill 39 of 86 open district and circuit judge positions, more than double the number of women appointed by George W. Bush.3 While it certainly helps to have those in leadership positions advocate for diversity within the judiciary, three women jurists who share their paths to the bench offer insight into the challenges and opportunities facing their female peers. BEYOND THE METRICS

President Obama has been lauded for appointing women in appreciable numbers to the federal courts but women jurists, such as Martha Vázquez, chief judge of the U.S. District Court District of New Mexico, say increasing the number of women appointed to federal judgeships is a good first step, but it’s only just the beginning. “Diversity is critical—diversity in ethnicity, diversity in age, diversity in socioeconomic background,” Vázquez says. “For so many years, judges were so similar. They all came from a certain academic background; they all came from a certain socioeconomic background. Diversity among the bench is key for the same reasons we believe diversity on our juries is important. Our legal system should be representative.” Before she became a judge in 1993, Vázquez worked as a trial lawyer for 15 years, both for the state of New Mexico, where she served as assistant public defender, and in private practice. She was inspired to pursue a judicial post after her MCCA.COM

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President Obama has selected women to ﬁll 39 of 86 district and circuit judge positions

brother was sentenced under mandatory-minimum laws as part of a government drug sting. After attending the proceedings and witnessing the trial judge “behave badly,” Vázquez says she began to understand the dangers of hegemony in the courts and set out to restore a sense of fairness in her home state, which has large minority, particularly Native American, communities. “During one of my first jury trials, there was a black man who had been accused of robbing a bank,” she recalls. “He was coming in for his jury selection, and when he walked in with his lawyer, he saw that there was not one black person on the jury. He told his lawyer that he wanted to take a plea, and I was just devastated. It really bothered me that regardless of how the jury selection would have turned out, regardless of the case his lawyer would have conducted, he was convinced that he wouldn’t get a fair trial based on the appearance of the legal system. “That should be important to all of us, to all judges and all lawyers,” Vázquez says. “The perception alone condemns us. And in New Mexico, I have had Native American DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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victims come in and say, ‘You don’t care about Native American life.’ We have to be careful that our legal system is fundamentally fair and that it appears fair. The day people mock us, or mumble under their breaths, or question how we got our jobs, is when we should be concerned about how we’re perceived. We have to protect the integrity of the law and that’s why diversity is important. We all grow up differently with different burdens that make us sensitive to what other people go through.” In fact, professional organizations, such as the American Bar Association and the National Association of Women Judges, have long argued that female jurists help improve the quality of the bench because they bring a different understanding of how the legal system affects those in marginalized communities, particularly women, girls, and families of color. And while a study of more than 7,000 decisions shows that men and women do not judge differently, except in sex discrimination cases, finding female jurists who could provide diversity in thought was the motivating factor for the judge who recruited Teresa Guerra Snelson.4 MCCA.COM

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“We have to protect the the mother I wanted to be. But I want my daughter to understand Like Judge Vázquez, Teresa that she can do anything she why diversity is important. Guerra Snelson, a civil diswants if she educates herself trict associate judge in Dallas, and works hard. I also feel We all grow up differently with hadn’t considered becoming a strongly because I’m Hispanic judge—but for vastly different American. I feel like I can serve reasons. As a first-generation as a role model to so many—to different burdens that make us American of Mexican descent, Hispanics, to women strugSnelson says she wasn’t encourgling to raise a family, to people sensitive to what other aged to go to college but instead who come from lower financial was expected to become a wife means. I decided that those people go through.” and a mother. She pursued a things didn’t have to be barrilaw degree at the University ers, and when I assumed my — JUDGE MARTHA VÁZQUEZ of Houston over her parents’ judicial post, I knew I wouldn’t objections but says she was full be the mom baking cookies or a of self-doubt. member of the PTA, but I decided I would be the best mother “I think it’s cultural to some extent,” says Snelson, I could be and the best judge I could be.” who is one of 60 women of color serving as active federal ANTICIPATING THE NEXT GENERATION judges, which includes 33 African Americans, 21 Hispanic For Leslie Kobayashi, a U.S. magistrate judge from the Americans, and six Asian Americans.5 “I came from a very traditional family. I wasn’t raised by parents who thought District of Hawaii, balancing her professional and private about what I could achieve professionally. Their idea for my life wasn’t as difficult. She started a family late and had future was that I would get married and raise kids. already established her career as a judge when her children “I was discouraged from going to the university. My were young. In an odd twist, delaying parenthood worked parents thought I should go to community college, and out to her advantage, but she watched as many of her peers they wouldn’t allow me to leave home. And the question worked hard to strike a balance between their careers and was never when are you going to graduate but when are you motherhood, often sacrificing one for the other. going to procreate. My mother believes strongly that the “These women were talented. Many graduated at the top maternal role is the appropriate role.” of their class. But they’d start a family and it was often too As a young lawyer, Snelson tried a case in front of a much to modify their home situation, so they’d work part female judge whom she impressed. Afterward, the two ran time. And when a judicial position would open up, they’d into each other on several occasions and volunteered for the feel like they didn’t have the experience necessary to be a same charity. When the judge told her about an opening on candidate. So already you have a judicial applicant pool that the bench, Snelson says she was taken aback. is being self-regulated.” “I was wowed,” Snelson says. “I didn’t think I was smart The saving grace for potential women jurists, Kobayashi enough or capable enough to be a judge. It wouldn’t have says, will undoubtedly be the profession-wide call for diversity, crossed my mind. Judges were people I put on a pedestal. I as well as the growing number of women graduating from law never equated myself to them. It was hard for me to believe school. They will be the ones dictating how the legal field will that I could be their equal, but when this woman thought change over the next few years, she says, primarily because I could be a good judge, it planted the seed. She was Asian women are often the top students in their class. American, and she was on the lookout for what she per“Corporate businesses and law firms that want to keep ceived as qualified minority talent who were women.” the best and the brightest are going to have to adjust,” says Despite her success, Snelson says her family still doesn’t Kobayashi, who recently took part in a panel discussion wholeheartedly approve of her choice to have a career. At about the intergenerational workplace. “It will be a cultural times, she says, the pressure from her parents has been overrevolution of sorts, because so many younger women are whelming, particularly when she continued to work when deciding that they want their cake and eat it, too.” D&B her two children, now 9 and 12, were toddlers. http://www.albany.edu/womeningov/judgeships_report_final_web.pdf “What I’m achieving professionally—I’m not being a good http://www.uscourts.gov/News/TheThirdBranch/10-10-01/Federal_Bench_Gender_ Hispanic, because I work outside the home,” she says. “When Snapshot.aspx http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/palins-e-mails-capones-safe-obamasI took the bench, my daughter was only 2, and I had immense judges/2011/06/14/AGhhlAVH_story.html?hpid=z10 personal guilt. With my boy, I worked part time, but when I http://www.the-exponent.com/2010/06/30/women-judges-womens-presencegot this post, there wasn’t going to be any part-time work. I how-the-inclusion-of-women-changes-things/ http://www.nwlc.org/resource/women-federal-judiciary-still-long-way-go-1 had guilt that I wasn’t going to be the judge I wanted to be or EXPANDING THE NETWORKS

integrity of the law and that’s

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INSIDE THE HOWERY IMPLOSION THE HISTORIC DISSOLUTION OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RECOGNIZABLE LEGAL NAMES PROVIDES A LESSON IN CAREER RELOCATION. BY JONATHAN GRONER

ON DECEMBER 15, 2010, BARBARA WERTHER, THEN A PARTNER AT THE D.C. LAW FIRM HOWREY LLP, M MODERATED A BREAKFAST PANEL DISCUSSION AT THE WILLARD H HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON GT D.C., ON THE T E VERY TIME TIMELY TOPIC OF WOMEN WHO BREAK AK PROFESSIONAL AK PR STEREOTYPES. STTE S

t the event, sponsored by D.C. publisher Bisnow on Business, Werther was introduced as a highly accomplished partner in construction litigation, a legal specialty dominated by men. Several associates from Howrey, a firm known to be a diversity standard bearer, were in the packed crowd of 350 to listen to Werther and to follow the lively discussion that she sparked with the other panelists: D.C.’s first woman police chief, Cathy Lanier, and local sports anchor Lindsay Czarniak. At that time, Howrey, once a thriving firm with 17 offices and more than 700 attorneys, had just suffered a bad year. Much of its European practice had left the firm, several offices had closed, and more than 60 partners worldwide had shown their dissatisfaction by taking their practices elsewhere. Still, on that date the 55-year-old firm retained tremendous strengths in its three core areas—litigation, intellectual property, and antitrust. People in the audience that day had no idea that precisely three months later Howrey would no longer be functioning as a law firm; that hundreds more attorneys, including Werther, would leave the firm for various destinations in early 2011; and that those lawyers and staff members who remained in its downtown D.C. offices in mid-2011 would simply be in charge of winding up its affairs, collecting bills, and paying creditors. Werther was one of many successful women who had built their careers at the firm, which had won more than its share of awards and accolades for diversity, including the hiring and advancement of female, minority, and lesbian and gay attorneys. One prominent example: In 2003, MCCA awarded the D.C. offices of Howrey the Thomas L.

Sager Award for the Mid-Atlantic region in recognition of its commitment to promoting diversity in the workplace. Howrey’s demise had an immediate impact on dozens of women and minority partners, who, like most Howrey lawyers, realized that as the firm entered a death spiral in early 2011 they had to find new places to practice law. And it had an impact on the national legal community as a whole, which lost a firm that had been a trailblazer in the diversity area. “This was an area where Howrey was a leader, and it is too bad that it dissolved,” says a woman who formerly served in a leadership position at the firm and declines to be identified by name for this article. “The transparency issues and financial issues that led to the downward spiral had nothing to do with diversity, of course, and in fact, if anything, Howrey’s record on diversity made it stronger in the face of other issues.”

THE EXODUS The problems at Howrey had started more than a year before, when CEO Robert Ruyak told partners that the firm would fall far short of its financial goals. Partners began to complain about the lack of communication with top management, declining productivity, insufficient superDIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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vision of client billing arrangements, and other problems. As the calendar turned from 2010 to 2011, the exodus of attorneys, which had begun in the firm’s European and other smaller offices, began to involve Howrey’s core practice areas, its largest offices, and its major rainmakers. As The Washington Post reported on Feb. 7, 2011, “The steady drip of attorneys leaving the law firm Howrey over the past year was at first characterized as a strategic restructuring, part of a larger effort to reset operations after a difficult financial year. But in recent weeks, that trickle has swelled into a wave of departures. Howrey’s vice chairman and managing partner of its San Francisco office, the managing partner of its Chicago office, the co-chairman of its white-collar group, the leader of its class-action litigation practice and more than a dozen others have left for competitors, leaving some industry watchers to wonder if the venerable Washington firm can stem the tide.” For a few weeks, the Chicago firm of Winston & Strawn engaged in furious merger talks with Howrey, but those stalled over client conflict issues, and Winston & Strawn ended up making job offers to a small percentage of Howrey lawyers. But even as firm leaders attempted to make a deal for a big chunk of the partners to stay together as a group as part MCCA.COM

of a merger with Winston & Strawn, more and more key Howrey partners continued to defect, including intellectual property rainmaker and vice chairman Henry Bunsow, who went to Dewey & LeBoeuf. In early March, the firm decided that it could not survive. On March 9, 2011, Howrey’s executive committee announced that, after a vote of the remaining partners, it would dissolve the firm effective March 15 and commence an orderly wind down of its affairs.

HOWREY’S DEMISE HAD AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON DOZENS OF WOMEN AND MINORITY PARTNERS WHO REALIZED AS THE FIRM ENTERED A DEATH SPIRAL IN EARLY 2011 THAT THEY HAD TO FIND NEW PLACES TO PRACTICE LAW. Many law firm observers have noted that once a critical mass of partners has left even the largest of firms, the death spiral can commence with lawyers continuing to defect in small groups, making their own arrangements, and taking their practices to different firms. If partners believe that their present law firm is not viable, they can create a self-fulfilling prophecy by leaving, thus endangering the firm’s future. As business restructuring and reorganization specialist Jonathan Landers told the Post, “Nobody wants to be the last person left to turn out the lights.”

SHOCKWAVES Howrey’s rapid downfall sent shockwaves through the D.C. legal community, where the firm was long regarded as a mainstay and, not coincidentally, as an innovator in areas such as marketing and diversity. Many observers say, and The American Lawyer magazine has reported, that the untimely death of Venezuelan-born Cecilia Gonzalez, the co-chair of the firm’s intellectual property practice, marked a severe blow to the firm. Gonzalez died of breast cancer in 2009 at age 53. Her passing and that of vice chairman Mark Wegener in 2008 at age 59 were both said to have contributed to internal communication problems at the firm, The American Lawyer reported in 2010. Gonzalez was considered a major rainmaker at Howrey and a firm leader. MCCA.COM

Gonzalez was not the only woman to hold a position of power at Howrey. In recent years, women headed the offices in Paris, Southern California, and Palo Alto, and women either chaired or co-chaired the firm’s hiring, associate evaluation, pro bono, and attorney development committees and its insurance recovery, environmental, and mass torts practices. The 2003 MCCA award was not the only honor that Howrey earned for its diversity efforts. In 2007, the firm was selected by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC as one of the “Best Law Firms for Women” in the United States because of its record of retaining and promoting women and the firm’s assurance of balance between work and life. The firm also had a strong commitment to diversity in the broadest possible definition. Laura Shores, who was the firm’s hiring partner for four years in the 2000s, says that Howrey made a “tremendous effort to hire diverse candidates for its summer program. “That was very important to us,” Shores says, “and it was not simply formulaic. At every meeting, I would hear people incorporate diversity of all sorts into the decisionmaking. And of the summer associates whom we selected, at least 95 percent went on to become regular firm associates.” Shores is now a partner at Pepper & Hamilton LLP. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Howrey ranked first among D.C. firms on the Minority Law Journal’s Diversity Scorecard, an annual survey that ranks the diversity efforts of the leading 240 law firms in the country. Of those 240 firms, Howrey ranked 11th nationwide for diversity in 2006. Minority lawyers made up 19.5 percent of its legal force. In 2005 and 2007, Howrey sponsored diversity summits featuring leading attorneys in the in-house corporate counsel world as well as law partners to address diversity issues such as “What are the barriers to diversity?” and “How do we overcome those barriers?” “Howrey made considerable efforts in the diversity area,” says Edward Han, who was a Howrey attorney for almost 20 years and is now a partner at Arnold & Porter. “Overall, the atmosphere was conducive to having people from very diverse backgrounds. There was chemistry that made it very easy for people of different backgrounds to mix easily.” One lesson from the Howrey experience is to be aware that law firms are sometimes little more than aggregations of individual and small group practices. It doesn’t take a lot to start the spiral that can lead to a firm’s demise and to its attorneys scattering to dozens of firms. Younger attorneys, therefore, would do well to select a well-connected mentor, and stay plugged into internal networks to avoid being left standing alone. D&B JULY/AUGUST 2011

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Wome of Col IN CORPORATE LEGAL DEPARTMENTS A new report offers key insights into the experiences of women of color in the legal industry. BY KARA MAYER ROBINSON

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WIDELY KNOWN THAT IN LAW FIRMS, WOMEN OF COLOR ATTORNEYS HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH RATE OF ATTRITION. BUT UNTIL NOW, THE REASONS WEREN’T ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. A recent report from the Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC) sheds light on the experiences of women of color employed in corporate legal departments and offers key insights into what corporations, law firms, and even law schools can do to boost their success and lower the rate of attrition. “There’s so much research about women of color in law firms,” explains Laurie Robinson, founder and CEO of CCWC. “We saw that people wanted to know about both the law firm and the corporate experience and how women of color rank them.” So the organization set out to determine not only why women of color often leave law firms, but also how they rate their jobs in corporate legal departments. The results indicate that women of color attorneys are generally satisfied in the corporate environment and that the most important factor is not work/life flexibility or even compensation, but rather a sense of being valued.

Research Details

The research report, titled “The Perspectives of Women of Color Attorneys in Corporate Legal Departments,” was published in June and is the culmination of two years of DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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research conducted by the CCWC. The study had three components: a web-based survey completed by 857 women of color attorneys from across the nation, a live audience response survey held during CCWC’s annual conference of 500 participants, and three focus groups totalling 45 participants. Three-quarters of respondents had law firm experience, 78 percent of which left a law firm within seven years. This is in line with existing statistics that indicate a high attrition rate for women of color at law firms. Some questions were quantitative; others were qualitative. They touched on the transition from the law firm setting to the corporate setting, drew comparisons between the two environments, and addressed issues related to the work environment, perceived barriers, advancement opportunities, and career aspirations. The research report is currently being distributed to law firms, corporations, and law schools. It outlines key findings and offers specific recommendations for these three constituencies. “We discovered the reasons women left law firms and what they were looking for,” Robinson says, noting that the findings translate easily into steps organizations can take to MCCA.COM

“The assumption was that the most important components of job satisfaction were money and ﬂex time. But being valued was picked over compensation.” — LAURIE ROBINSON

retain women of color attorneys, develop their talents and skills, and foster success.

Several Surprises

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When Robinson first embarked on the research, she anticipated different results. “I thought women of color were going to spend a lot of time talking about their race and gender and that those two things would be focused upon as barriers,” she says. “But they [were treated like] a footnote. The women spent more time focusing on overcoming the barriers than the barriers themselves.” Also surprising were factors of job satisfaction. “The assumption was that the most important components of

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job satisfaction were money and flex time. But being valued was picked over compensation,” Robinson says. “Having a seat at the table was more important to many of them. I was shocked that work-life balance didn’t come out on top. It shows that these people want to work hard. They left because they wanted to be valued. They didn’t want to be second-guessed.”

Several key findings of the research include:

• A majority left the law firm setting because of perceived barriers, including not feeling valued, not feeling supported, a lack of mentorship, dissatisfaction with the quality of work assignments, a lack of promotional opportunities, a lack of training and development opportunities, and difficulty meeting billable hours. • The experience of working in a corporate legal department was rated better than working at a law firm, based on interfacing with senior management, working with clients, quality of work assignments, an atmosphere of inclusion, upward mobility, and training and development opportunities. • “Being valued” was the number one element in job satisfaction. • Respondents reported feeling supported by their supervisors.

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Employers & Lawyers, Working Together

• Gender was perceived as more of a barrier to advancement than race/ethnicity. • The majority of respondents have not been identified for succession planning. But high-talent in-house women of color want to be included in succession planning and groomed for leadership positions. • Legal departments were viewed as flat with little room for growth. Advancement opportunities are perceived to be outside the law department in a business unit within their current company. • The majority plan to stay with their current employer.

Practical Recommendations

Barbara Johnson, partner at Paul Hastings, believes the report will have a significant impact on the legal industry. “Unlike so many other surveys done by other organizations on issues related to diversity, this report goes further with specific recommendations that law firms, corporations, and law schools can implement. This is definitely helpful. If you understand better what motivates people, you can do a better job of retaining them,” she says. Specific recommendations are outlined for each constituency. Corporations are urged to take constructive steps, such as: providing in-house women of color with highlevel assignments, partnering with law firms to provide secondary opportunities to women of color at law firms, and identifying, grooming, and including high-talent women of color attorneys in succession planning. Law firms are advised to create individualized development plans for associates, to provide opportunities for contact with managing partners and executive teams, and to recruit senior-level executives from corporations to build a pipeline and presence at the partner and counsel levels. Law schools are urged to teach law students about the law firm business model, give seminars to women of color on proactive strategies to overcome barriers, and encourage them to participate in externships and pro bono assignments. The assumption is that if law firms, corporations, and law schools implement the recommendations, they will be better able to retain valuable women of color attorneys. Johnson is optimistic. “They’re [recommendations] practical in terms of their application,” she says. “And law firms are always looking for specific best practices that can be used.”

Partnerships and Pilot Programs A critical factor in furthering the report’s impact on the legal profession is the formation of partnerships between CCWC and corporations, law firms, and other legal organizations. One such partnership is with the Association of DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP), an organization of more than 100 individual diversity officers at about 85 law firms. The two organizations have created dual working groups to address and implement individual recommendations. “Our goal is to get different voices at the table to weigh in on what works and what can be implemented easily,” explains Maja Hazell, president of ALFDP. “The first recommendation we chose to focus on is creating individual professional development plans,” Hazell

“Our goal is to get different voices at the table to weigh in on what works and what can be implemented easily.” — MAJA HAZELL

continues. “We’re working together to synchronize the information into a template that law firms can use for their attorneys of color. Next we will work on the recommendation to foster greater client contact.” Another goal is to partner with law firms and encourage them to go to CCWC to find women to hire as partners. “They can instantly have an expert with experience under their belt and the ability to be a role model to new associates at law firms,” Robinson explains. “Why wait for a ten-year associate to rise in the ranks? Bring someone in who’s already established.”

Potential for Change

The information revealed in the report has the potential to improve the landscape of the legal profession. Key factors have been identified, recommendations have been laid out, and partnerships have been formed. It’s this combination that is essential to ensuring that women of color are not being marginalized or underutilized. “If we work together,” says Robinson, “it will happen.” D&B Kara Mayer Robinson is a freelance writer based near New York City. For more information, or to order a copy of the report, visit ccwomenofcolor.org. MCCA.COM

Firm

Affiliate Network

Raise the value of diversity Join the MCCA Law Firm Affiliate Network

In order to assist and acknowledge law firms that are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) created the Firm Affiliate Network (FAN). As an affiliate, you will be better prepared to meet the expectations of top clients demanding diversity. FAN benefits include access to MCCA’s database of the best practices online as well as the firm’s diverse attorneys listed in the FAN directory, which is regularly circulated to MCCA member companies. Join FAN today and let your diversity efforts open doors for your firm.

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Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in the FORTUNE 500 In 1979, Mary Ann Hynes became the first-ever female general counsel of a Fortune 500 corporation. By 2010, per MCCA, the number of women chief legal officers in America’s top public companies reached an all-time high of 94. How were women able to rise and then flourish in a role that has evolved from corporate gatekeeper to corporate leader, with a critical voice in the executive suite and boardroom? It’s a question that Michele Coleman Mayes, general counsel of Allstate Insurance Company, and Kara Sophia Baysinger, a business and insurance partner at international law firm SNR Denton—two women lawyers and friends passionate about inspiring career women everywhere ht to to reach their fullest potential—sought answer in writing this book. Mayes and Baysinger went right to the source: they interviewed more than 40 past, present, and future Fortune 500 women general counsel, who did not ed, merely chronicle their careers, but shared, nd in unexpected depth, the dreams and ey aspirations, successes, and setbacks they experienced as they rose to the top. he Coming of age as legal leaders at the same time that women were emergingg p in American life, this special group of women marked a critical juncture in the quest for change and equality advanced by generations of pioneering sisters in law before them. They may have followed trails already blazed— but each woman became a leader in her own courageous way. Set in the context of women’s historic rise in thee U.S. ht on what determines success legal system and featuring expert insight for women in law today, this is their book—the stories of courageous counsel. The following is an excerpt from Mayes’ and Baysinger’s book, which will be published in September. For information about the book or to order copies, write courageous.counsel@snrdenton.com.

by SNR Denton LLP

— LORI GARRETT

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Kara Baysinger, Teri Plummer McClure, Louise Parent, Michele Coleman Mayes (clockwise from upper left corner)

BOOK E XCE RP T

Risk-Taking: Plot Lines “Real courage” is a key success denominator, one shared by so many women because they have been willing to go outside their comfort zones, to be risk takers. By Michele Coleman Mayes and Kara Sophia Baysinger For today’s general counsel, there are few dividing lines between success and failure more acute than risk. At any given moment, risk can literally make or break a career. On the way up, young lawyers who play it safe can stall or fall short of the mark. As we’ve learned from the women of this book, the greatest risk to advancement can be in not taking risks at all. There was a time when being general counsel was relatively uncomplicated. Before Sarbanes-Oxley, risk for a general counsel perhaps amounted to retaining the wrong law firm. That’s an oversimplification, of course, but if the risks of yesteryear can be likened to shallow waters, then risk in the post-SOX era is oceanic, capable of sinking the corporate ship. Not only does today’s general counsel have a strong hand in steering that ship, but the role includes establishing and maintaining trust with shareholders, investors, regulators, and the marketplace, setting and personiMCCA.COM

fying the corporation’s moral compass, and performing triage—all activities invested with degrees of risk. When discussing the risks confronted by women on the road to general counsel, the women interviewed for this book said their journeys had forced them to confront three primary types of risk: reputational and professional risks, most often associated with job choices; relationship risks, in terms of how they manage and navigate the ladder when spouses, children, and family are involved. And there were more inward-facing risks, in terms of self-identity—as a lawyer—as career goals and visions were realized. For some women, the path involved detours from the law itself, causing them to question, at least for a while, their sense of who they are and what they do. Dealing with any one of these risks is challenging enough, but for many of our interviewees, as for many women entering the legal profession today, it was a matter of taking on all three. No matter the risk, this conclusion emerged: If you want to be a leader in the corporate legal environment, you can’t be risk-averse. Or, more emphatically stated, it takes real courage for women to become top corporate counsel. In this chapter’s collection of stories, a key lesson lies in considering what might have come of these women’s careers had they not taken risks. While each story differs, there is something uniform in how each used risk-taking to unlock doors or resolve pivotal career “inflection points.”

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On three separate occasions, Louise Parent confronted career junctures where she had to choose between relative safety and risk. By choosing the riskier route each time, she earned her way to the general counsel role at American Express, which she has held since 1993. Parent’s first move came in 1977, when she left a law firm associate job to join the general counsel’s office of American Express. She quickly began capitalizing on the moment. “The company focused on providing its employees with opportunities for growth, learning, development, and coaching,” she recalls. “I knew that if I positioned myself to do the job to the best of my abilities, opportunities would naturally come.” Having assumed a central role in an acquisition spree, Parent gained the attention of the company’s executive team, while cultivating a strong sense of self as a highly sophisticated M&A and corporate finance lawyer. Then came an inflection point that at first looked like a bump on an otherwise smooth road. “[Top executive] Lou Gerstner and then-general counsel Gary Beller pulled me aside and asked me what I wanted to do with my life,” she says. “I told them I wanted to continue doing sophisticated work and wanted more responsibility. JULY/AUGUST 2011

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They said I needed to change jobs.” They offered her the general counsel role at First Data, the company’s information services subsidiary in Denver and Omaha, Nebraska. Parent hesitated, thinking this looked like a risky lateral move to a non-core business. But Gerstner countered: “Now you’re an expert. You need to broaden your horizons.” Parent believes that had she not taken the First Data job, she would not be general counsel of American Express today. Those three years at First Data would also give Parent more confidence to take on tough, risky assignments and provided her with another risk inflection point. While she could have stayed at First Data after it went public in 1992, she instead accepted American Express’s offer to move back to headquarters as deputy general counsel—just as the company was dealing with a soured Shearson investment in the bankrupt insurer First Capital. “It was a hot-potato project

that nobody wanted to touch,” she recounts. “It was one of those deals that could have dragged down my personal fortunes with it—but it had to be done, and so I took it on.” Parent’s already shining image went brilliant. Praising her “pluck” for stepping up and managing such a tough assignment, CEO Harvey Golub asked her to be general counsel.

Early-Mover Advantages

Christine Edwards used risk as an advancement strategy— not only to resolve career inflection points, but also to create career inflection points. Edwards gave her career early traction with some calculated—but still risky—opening gambits. While pursuing an English degree at the University of Maryland, she worked part time at Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Washington, D.C. After she graduated in 1974, she joined the company’s credit

GC Succession at Pitney Bowes: Postmaster Generals 36

PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY, FORTUNE 500 WOMEN GCS INFREQUENTLY CROSS CORPORATE PATHS. In two exceptional cases, though, a trio of women served as successive general counsel—at Gap Inc. (see page 38), and at global mailstream technology company Pitney Bowes. Invited by a recruiter, Sara Moss visited Pitney Bowes in 1996 thinking it would be good business development for her law firm. Instead, she became general counsel, successfully defending two multimillion dollar cases right out of the gate. It was a “fabulous” experience—until 9/11. As she remembers it, “I was in Connecticut; the awful separation from my kids that day crystallized my need to be back in New York.” Moss knew exactly who would replace her—Michele Coleman Mayes. “I first met Sara when, as a law firm partner, she pitched business to us at ColgatePalmolive,” recalls Mayes. “Several years passed before we saw each other again, mainly at networking events, and while we never worked together, we had real chemistry. It was a bond based on similar values and life experiences.” Moss was so sure, in fact, that she told then Pitney Bowes CEO Mike Critelli not to put the GC position out for search. “I put Michele’s name on top of that list,” says Moss. Then chasing the general counsel spot at ColgatePalmolive, Mayes realized that the odds of the job opening up were pretty slim—so she interviewed with Pitney Bowes, won the job, and left, with Moss providing transitional support.

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“Sara left a great legacy, but I wanted to create my own path,” says Mayes, who did that over the next four years, establishing above all else strong working trust and relationships with her team. Then came the executive recruiter call beckoning her to Allstate Insurance, where she now holds the GC post. Replacing her was former Army Captain Vicki O’Meara, a public service-driven legal leader whose early career experiences included working on the Superfund legislation while in the Pentagon and involvement with the Iran-Contra hearings while in the White House Counsel’s Office. Following subsequent postings as deputy GC for the EPA and assistant AG for the DoJ, O’Meara led the global environmental practice group at Jones Day before first becoming GC, and then president of U.S. supply chain solutions for Ryder Systems Inc. Recruited by Pitney Bowes for her business and regulatory acumen, O’Meara took over as general counsel in 2008, and has since been promoted to executive vice president and president of the company’s management services and government and postal affairs. “I did not follow a linear course towards becoming general counsel,” says O’Meara, reflecting on her global regulatory work and other successes at Pitney Bowes, “but I consider it among the best jobs going. You have the opportunity to practice at the highest level, there’s the excitement of building and changing things, and you are afforded a significant role in the company’s strategy and success.”

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card division. Driving from Washington to Baltimore four nights a week, she attended the evening division of the University of Maryland School of Law. If that were not tasking enough, she had to do this under Sears’ radar, since the company generally frowned on people improving their careers outside of prescribed channels. Only her immediate boss knew—and helped; since Edwards also had to work one night a week, he arranged for her to work on Fridays, her one night off from law school. She threw her chips on the table in 1981 when an opening was created in the Sears Washington, D.C., office of governmental affairs. The new vice president had just been promoted to head the office and needed someone to replace himself. “It was totally off my career path and in violation

of all the hierarchical standards at the company,” she says, “but I told him I wanted the position he had just vacated. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Her investment in risk would pay off. Two years later she was promoted to director of government affairs for Sears’ subsidiary Dean Witter Financial Services Group Inc., and gained tremendous visibility within the senior ranks of the company and among politicians and agency heads. In the process, she says, “I found that I could be calm and measured in a crisis, with a capacity for synthesizing ideas.” In 1988, she was invited to become general counsel of the business unit of Discover Card. “Taking the job was risky because it meant moving to Chicago, where I knew nobody—and we had two infants,”

The Necessary Steps: Bridging the Gap

CURRENTLY IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS THE INFLUENTIAL WIFE OF NEW CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN, Anne Gust, now Anne Gust Brown, was an executive at global retailer Gap Inc. from 1991 to 2005, including four years as general counsel. As recounted by Lauri Shanahan, who succeeded Gust as GC in 1998 and then later as chief administrative officer, Gust made a persuasive first impression. “A friend had told me of a potential opportunity at Gap,” relates Shanahan. “Anne was the first person I talked to there, and I was immediately struck by her business savvy, openness, and sense of humor. She did not seem lawyerly at all.” In a subsequent interview with Gap founder, the late Don Fisher, Shanahan told him she much preferred the business side and that her interest in being a lawyer was waning. “I told Anne that I really thought I had blown it with Don,” says Shanahan, “but she just laughed, and I accepted the job offer that followed.” That was in 1992, and in what would evolve into a very close friendship, Gust guided Shanahan into the job. “The culture at Gap was uniquely stable and refreshing, with a strong focus on taking risks and relying on your gut,” says Shanahan. “Anne developed people in the moment and believed in letting people shine. She didn’t hesitate to push you out of your comfort zone.” Gust saw Shanahan’s managerial potential even when Shanahan herself did not, and helped drive her toward success. “There were no hidden agendas with Anne,” continues Shanahan. “Anne was all about authenticity and integrity and open debate on how to

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solve problems and keep the business aligned and moving forward. She taught me how to handle the tough issues and conversations, and ultimately, to believe in myself as a leader.” Invested with the spirit of Gust’s leadership, Shanahan would in turn help develop her successor, Michelle Banks, in a near replay of her own story with Anne. “At first, Michelle saw herself as an individual contributor and not the team leader,” says Shanahan. “Seeing her great integrity and terrific legal mind, I knew she could be more—my challenge was to set her up to want that bigger role.” To help Banks realize this vision on her own, Shanahan pushed Banks into unfamiliar work and responsibilities. “It was a journey we took together, and as she expanded her perspective, as I had with Anne, she began having fun and seeing new possibilities,” says Shanahan, who left Gap in 2008 to serve on corporate boards and establish her own investment consultancy. “When I first joined Gap in 1999, becoming general counsel never crossed my mind, in part because I had figured that Lauri would be there for the long term,” recounts Banks, who took over the general counsel role from Shanahan in 2006. “Lauri was in my court all the way, though. Once she had decided that she wanted me to be her successor, she took all the necessary steps to ensure that I got the exposure, the credibility, the credit, and all the things I needed to be a viable candidate. Even after I got the job, she took the time to guide the transition of responsibilities to me. She was my first female mentor, and the quintessential guide.”

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recounts Edwards. “But it was such a great opportunity that I was not going to pass it up.” Her instincts proved correct. Not only did the appointment ultimately lead to the position that made Edwards the first woman general counsel on Wall Street, but it also led to successive general counsel roles, assuring her status in the pantheon of financial chief legal officers.

Front-line Decisions

Teri Plummer McClure spent eight years after law school in three different law firms, becoming a skilled labor and employment practitioner along the way. Back from maternity leave, Plummer McClure found herself at an impasse. “I realized that billing hours for the rest of my life was not what I wanted to do,” she says. “Then a partner from one of my prior firms called to let me know that UPS was hiring in-house, and off I went.” While the risk may have appeared minimal from the outside, little could have prepared her for what she found when she arrived at UPS. “There was one employment attorney and me,” says Plummer McClure, “for a company with 280,000 employees, at a time when legislative and legal forces were lighting up the employment litigation docket.” Springing into action, Plummer McClure presented a proposal for forming a labor and employment group, along with several structural and organizational changes for the law department. While taking this initiative would earn her leadership of the group, gaining acceptance within the company’s homegrown culture was a different matter. Realizing she was being seen and treated as an outsider, Plummer McClure relied on a mentor-navigator to help her learn the distinct language and political and cultural nuances of the company, which helped her rise in the law department. Then, she confronted a risk-inflection moment that changed everything. “My boss told me I needed hands-on experience if I wanted to grow within the company,” she relates, “and asked if I was willing to shift to the operations side as a district manager.” Unlike many UPS employees, Plummer McClure had not started out loading packages on a truck, but here was a chance to at least partially close the cultural gap by assuming responsibility for some 4,000 employees involved in pickup and delivery operations. “It was a huge risk,” she says. “I would be losing my position; there was no guarantee of promotion; and I had to move my family to central Florida. It took a lot of gut-wrenching discussions with my family before we made our decision.” When the soul-searching was over, the family headed off to Florida. “Let’s see,” muses Plummer McClure. “I was a company outsider, a lawyer, a black woman, and I had no operations experience. Walking into that warehouse the first day with all the truck drivers and tractor trailers— that was interesting, to say the least.” MCCA.COM

“Let’s see, I was a company outsider, a lawyer, a black woman, and I had no operations experience...” —Terri Plummer McClure

In a word, her experience as district manager was “phenomenal.” “Had I not taken on that role, I would not even have been considered for general counsel,” she says. “The skills I learned in central Florida, in terms of learning the business from the ground up and understanding how decisions are made on the front lines, are absolutely invaluable to me now.”

True Aims

Just what is the “right” kind of risk? “Battlefield conditions” aptly describes the risks that Anastasia Kelly took in successive moves to troubled companies, starting with Sears, Roebuck and Co., then struggling in the wake of a bankruptcy scandal, its law department decimated. Here once more is the story of a woman encountering risk on three fronts: professional, personal, and in accommodating her relationship with her family. “The job meant we had to move to Chicago, and the kids did not want to go,” explains Kelly. “My husband, Tom told them to support what he called ‘Mom’s Excellent Adventure.’” Kelly’s tenure as general counsel at Sears had a less-than-excellent ending: despite helping to turn the company around, she was eventually replaced by a new executive team—before she assumed an even riskier post as general counsel of bankrupted, scandalized MCI WorldCom. Knowing little about the telecom industry, Kelly saw opportunity, not risk. “You can always learn what you need to know about an industry at the upper level,” she says, “and I’ve never turned something down just because it might not work out.” As it turned out, things worked out just fine. “The company came out of bankruptcy, and more than 60,000 people kept their jobs,” says Kelly. Risk taking is not for everyone, Kelly says. “You have to have the adventurous, change-oriented personality for it. “Risk is uncomfortable for people who prefer predictability.” Fair enough, but generally speaking, it’s those courageous trips into the unknown that produce great career results. When you take risks, you create, enhance, and optimize your options. D&B JULY/AUGUST 2011

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12 Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference Marriott Marquis Hotel | New York, NY

Monday, September 26, 2011 REGISTER ONLINE www.mcca.com

Sponsors as of 6/24/2011

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The Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s annual Creating Pathways to Diversity® conference is back for its 12th year! It has long been THE seminal diversity conference in the nation for the legal profession, and this year is no different. The 2011 conference will bring you analyses of new issues in the legal diversity space and will deliver a fresh discussion on some of the old challenges facing corporate legal departments and law firms. For example, this year the conference will help you and your organization get prepared for the coming generational changes to the workforce over the next 10 years, while

12th

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simultaneously revisiting and updating the ongoing conversation about the business case for diversity in the legal profession. In addition to learning how to help your legal department or firm advance diversity, the Creating Pathways to Diversity conference will continue to provide in-house and law firm lawyers with real and practical strategies for advancing their individual careers. Did we also mention that the Creating Pathways to Diversity conference provides invaluable networking opportunities with the country’s most prolific and diverse attorneys? Clearly, this is THE conference you won’t want to miss!

Advisory Board

Conference Agenda

Michael P. Allen Senior Attorney, Legal & Corporate Aﬀairs Microsoft Corporation

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 7:30 - 9:00 AM 9:00 AM -10:30 AM 10:30 - 11:00 AM

BREAKFAST & REGISTRATION OPENING PLENARY SESSION: Revisiting the Business Case for Diversity BREAK LAW FIRM

101.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

The Interplay between the Corporate Legal Spend, Diversity & Client Satisfaction

LAW DEPARTMENT

201.

Inspiring the Very Youngest: Corporate Legal Departments & Pre-collegiate Pipeline Initiatives

MARKETING DIVERSITY

301.

Affinity Groups: A Study of Model Programs at Law Firms & Legal Departments

12:30 - 2:30 PM

LUNCH PROGRAM: Her Stories: The Evolving Role of Women in Business & Law

2:30 - 4:00 PM

Beyond Race, Gender & Ethnicity: The Advancement of Latinas in Large Law Firms

102.

4:00 - 4:30 PM

202.

302.

Special Considerations: The In-House Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Lawyer Experience

Driving Change: Inspiring Titleless Leaders in Your Organization

203.

303.

CAREER STRATEGIES

401.

Who’s the Boss?

402.

Lawyer Executives: A Behind the Scenes Look at JDs in the C-Suite

WORK PLACE 2020

501.

Attitudes & Opinions: Generation Y Speaks about their Workplace in 10 Years

502.

Leveraging a New Generation of Cultural Competency

Transparency & Advancement of Diverse Law Firm Attorneys

Chief Legal Diversity Officers & Minority Counsel Liaisons: Growing Trend or Idealist Hope?

Maja D. Hazell Director of Diversity and Inclusion Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Paul Hirose Of Counsel Perkins Coie LLP Rob Jones Corporate Attorney American Airlines, Inc. Haris Khan Associate DLA Piper LLP Jessie Kornburg Executive Director Ms. JD Lisa A. Linsky Partner McDermott Will & Emery LLP

BREAK

103.

4:30 - 6:00 PM

Sanjay N. Beri Member Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

The Inclusion Initiative: Corporate Collaboration & the Use of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms

403.

When It Stops Raining: A Study of Outsourcing & the Pulse of Legal Business

503.

The Transition of a Generation: How Your Organization Can Successfully Navigate the Exodus of Baby Boomers

Paula Lucas Executive Director Just the Beginning Foundation Peggy Nagae Founder & Principal peggynagae consulting Barry Parsons Associate General Counsel Freddie Mac

6:00 - 8:00 PM

CLOSING REMARKS & RECOGNITION OF INNOVATORS NETWORKING RECEPTION

Registration REGISTRATION CONFIRMATION

Registration is NOT confirmed until payment has been received by MCCA. Electronic confirmation of your registration will be sent within ten business days of receipt of payment or upon completion of payment process if registering online. Full registration includes access to conference sessions, electronic course materials, and scheduled meals. Program sessions are subject to limited attendance due to facility capacity constraints, so please pre-register for your desired courses. MCCA is not responsible for any expenses associated with travel, lodging, or other costs incurred by the registrant, including in the event that MCCA must cancel the conference for any reason. Audio or video recording or transcription of any portion of the seminar is prohibited unless express consent is granted by MCCA.

HOUSING

MCCA is holding a block of rooms at the Marriott Marquis Hotel at the rate of $329/ night (single/double). For reservations, call 800-843-4898 and indicate you are attending MCCA’s 2011 Creating Pathways to Diversity® conference to receive the group rate. You can also reserve a room online by visiting www.mcca.com and clicking on the Creating Pathways to Diversity® conference link.

SUBSTITUTIONS AND CANCELLATIONS

All cancellations must be received in writing; telephone cancellations will not be accepted. Cancellations received in writing by September 1, 2011 will be fully refunded minus a $50.00 administrative fee. Individuals canceling in writing after September 1 but prior to September 19 will receive a full credit towards attendance at MCCA’s 13th Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity conference (only monies paid for the 12th Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity conference will be credited; after applying credit, any balance due is the responsibility of the registrant). If written confirmation of cancellation is not received by September 19, no refunds or credits will be issued of any kind. Credits will be processed after the meeting. Substitutions are always welcome; please submit a written request along with a completed registration form for the new individual in order to transfer the registration. Cancellations and requests for substitutions should be submitted to education@mcca.com.

DISCOUNTED AIRFARE

Travel discounts are valid September 24-29, 2011 to New York, NY (EWR, HPN, JFK, LGA).To make a discount reservation, please call American Airlines Meeting Services Desk at 800-433-1790 or go to www.AA.com and use promotion code 2791AN.

Marla S. Persky Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp. Mayda Prego Senior Counsel Chevron Africa & Latin America Exploration & Production Company Marci Rubin Executive Director California Minority Counsel Program Walter L. Sutton Associate General Counsel Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Join us for MCCA’s Diversity Honors Gala!

September 27, 2011 Contact Jennifer Chen at 202-739-5902 or www.mcca.com/gala

Session Descriptions OPENING PLENARY SESSION: Revisiting the Business Case for Diversity What has changed in your organization over the last 3-5 years? Probably a lot! Here is your opportunity to revisit the business case for diversity within your organization to account for new gains and losses. What role is diversity playing now? What are your organization’s new needs in making it more diverse? Is diversity a moving target? How have changes in the demographics in your organization affected the case for diversity? This discussion will be a fresh look at the business case for diversity. Learn what has changed, and what hasn’t, as you continue your advocacy work.

LUNCHEON PROGRAM: Her Stories: The Evolving Role of Women in Business & Law Serving as general counsel of a major corporation is perhaps the apex of achievement for any lawyer in America. Although the U.S. has thousands of qualified lawyers, only a select 500 can hold this position for the largest public companies in the country–the Fortune 500. The impressive narrative of the journey of women ascending to these positions in waves over the last 30 years has been recorded in a new book about women general counsel. Our panel will feature a review of this new work, as well as a chance for you to hear directly from some of the dynamic women who have personally travelled this road. This is a rare insider presentation not to be missed!

LAW FIRM TRACK 101. The Interplay between the Corporate Legal Spend, Diversity &

a career in law and in corporate legal departments. This inspiring session will cover a variety of programming across the country designed especially for the pre-collegiate pipeline of diverse talent. Learn how you can get involved and what your legal department can do to impact this very important issue.

202. Special Considerations: The In-House Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Lawyer Experience This session is designed to help you learn whether there are issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender attorneys in corporate legal departments that are unique. The panel will cover the perceptions and experiences of LGBT attorneys in corporate legal departments; the impact of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression on the professional development, opportunities, and career progression of LGBT attorneys in corporate legal departments; and how corporate legal departments can create and maintain inclusive environments that ensure equal opportunities for the success of LGBT attorneys. You will walk away knowing how your corporate legal department can create a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender friendly workplace today.

203. Chief Legal Diversity Officers & Minority Counsel Liaisons: Growing Trend or Idealist Hope? The July/August issue of the ACC Docket recommends that general counsel elevate the importance of diverse attorneys representing the company by establishing an internal position of chief legal diversity officer or minority counsel liaison. Learn which companies in the profession have already done this. What can your company learn about creating such a role? This discussion will focus on the pros and cons, best practices, and strategic plans for creating such an innovative position.

MARKETING DIVERSITY TRACK 301. Affinity Groups: A Study of Model Programs at Law Firms

Client Satisfaction

& Legal Departments

Every law firm lawyer wants a satisfied client; especially a client satisfied with the firm’s services, diversity and its fees. This session is about keeping the business on all fronts. You will learn about the corporate budget, how legal spending as corporate overhead is managed aggressively, how billing by diverse attorneys factors into this review, and how expenses are scrutinized by internal stakeholders. This discussion will also cover how you can test your client’s satisfaction with your services and fees. Come hear directly from in-house counsel about how you can really retain their business.

A large percent of Fortune 500 companies have “affinity groups” which are typically formed voluntarily by employees to address issues of common interest relating to a particular characteristic commonly associated with diversity, such as race or gender. They are often created to boost employee morale, increase productivity, attract and retain diverse talent and may be used as a marketing tool for business development. Many legal departments have adopted such groups for their lawyers and affinity groups are increasingly being introduced at law firms as well. Has your organization considered creating affinity groups? What are the risks and rewards? How do you sell the idea internally? Are they effective and how do you go about getting your lawyers involved? This informative discussion will help you answer your most pressing questions about whether this program is a good fit for your legal department or law firm.

102. Beyond Race, Gender & Ethnicity: The Advancement of Latinas in Large Law Firms Hispanic women make up approximately 7 percent of the U.S. population but only 1.3 percent of the nation’s lawyers. According to the report “Few and Far Between: The Reality of Latinas in the Legal Profession,” the culmination of a year-long study conducted by the HNBA’s Commission On the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession, there are documented obstacles facing Latina lawyers in the profession. The intersection of gender, ethnicity, and race is a significant challenge for Latinas, many having encountered a multi-layered glass ceiling that acts as a three-way threat to their careers. This discussion will focus on these challenges and what law firms can do to specifically support the needs of this population of lawyers.

LAW DEPARTMENT TRACK 201. Inspiring the Very Youngest: Corporate Legal Departments & Pre-collegiate Pipeline Initiatives The path from elementary, middle and high school to corporate legal departments seems like a long road. But, many legal departments are doing their part to encourage the very youngest in our diverse society to consider

CAREER STRATEGIES TRACK 401. Who’s the Boss? What kind of boss are you? Lawyers do not always get formal training on or feedback about their performance managing people, projects, turn over, motivating staff, leveraging diversity and differences among staff members, or their hiring and firing decisions. However, lawyers must possess these critical human resource skills to lead productive teams and deliver legal services to in-house and outside clients. This interactive session will test your skills for managing problems as a boss. Will you pass the test for determining who’s really the boss?

402. Lawyer Executives: A Behind the Scenes Look at JDs in the C-Suite Do you love the business being transacted behind the law you are practicing? Have you ever wondered what it might be like to be a lawyer in the top executive seat at a Fortune 500 company? This interesting discussion will give you a glimpse of what it is like to lead a large corporation while being a lawyer. Learn how to better serve your business and legal clients, and if you are really interested, what it will take for you to get to the C-suite!

403. When It Stops Raining: A Study of Outsourcing and the Pulse of Legal Business What happens when your in-house legal department downsizes or outsources some or all of your work? What happens when you as a rainmaker hit a drought? After so many years practicing, you may find that you need to fend for yourself more than ever before. This session will inform you on how to handle these types of changes in your career or organization. You will learn strategies on how to keep ahead of the pulse of your industry or business. This session will cover where the hot new business is coming from and help you learn how to figure out where your client’s business needs may be going? Join this discussion to learn best practices for managing your long-term career trajectory.

WORK PLACE 2020 TRACK 501. Attitudes & Opinions: Generation Y Speaks about their Workplace in 10 Years MCCA is engaged in an effort to assist the legal profession revamp its approach to human resources to meet the challenges of the career advancement of Generation X and Y. MCCA is conducting a study of the views of Generation Y attorneys about what they hate and like about today’s legal workplace, and what the workplace would look like if they could be in charge. This panel will present the results of this study and discuss how organizations can best prepare for these coming changes. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay ahead of the curve in preparing your organization for the workplace in 2020!

302. Driving Change: Inspiring Titleless Leaders in Your Organization How do you motivate your staff to drive change on diversity when they are not decision makers? Is there such a thing as leadership without a title? This discussion is designed to help you inspire your team to be leaders, even when they do not have a leadership role. From the administrative professionals in your organization, to the most senior lawyers in the group, each of us can play a part in advancing diversity. This session will give you key strategies to take home and share with those you manage to keep them motivated.

103. Transparency & Advancement of Diverse Law Firm Attorneys How transparent is your law firm about partnership and management? Do the women, racial/ethnic minority, and LGBT lawyers in the firm really know how to become partners, the process for successful ascension within the partner ranks, how to go from income to equity partnership, and how to get into firm management? Come discover the risks and rewards for making this information available. Learn best practices for helping your diverse lawyers stay informed about how to advance in your law firm.

it takes to participate. Hear the success stories and best practices of member companies in developing key relationships with MWBE law firms and in their use of these firms for a wide array of complex legal matters.

303. The Inclusion Initiative: Corporate Collaboration & the Use of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms In 2010, 11 major corporations, along with the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), created the Inclusion Initiative. The Initiative is an organized effort to maximize the relationships between corporate legal departments and minority and women owned law firms (MWBE) throughout the U.S. and was created to have a demonstrable impact on diversity in the legal profession. Through this initiative, these pioneering companies committed to collectively spend $30 million with MWBE law firms in the first year and challenged other companies to follow their lead. The goal was surpassed, with member companies having spent $42.6 million with MWBE last year. This year, the Initiative has grown to 17 companies with a $70 million goal. Join this session to learn more about the Inclusion Initiative from leaders of the member law departments and what

502. Leveraging a New Generation of Cultural Competency As a whole, Generation Y attorneys may have been more exposed to various cultures than any previous generation and may be the most savvy generation using social media. Organizations are doing business all over the world, and being in tune with cultural differences is an imperative to be competitive. Responding to globalization of the workplace, employees worldwide are developing a new suite of cross-cultural, language and technology skills that will equip them to prosper in a more multinational environment. This session will discuss how generational diversity issues intersect with globalization; how knowledge about global issues can serve lawyers in the profession; and how your organization can leverage these changes to grow business, make the workplace more desirable to attract the best talent and succeed.

503. The Transition of a Generation: How Your Organization Can Successfully Navigate the Exodus of Baby Boomers Within almost every organization, increasing numbers of senior attorneys will be retiring in the next several years. Organizations are responding to this demographic transition in various ways with a goal of assisting and supporting succession/transition planning over time. What are take home strategies for your organization for dealing with these changes? Come learn how your organization can be uniquely prepared to handle this transition, whether you are at a law firm or in a legal department.

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Monday, September 26, 2011

12th

Annual

CONTACT INFORMATION

2011

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ASSOCIATION FOCUS

BY KARA MAYER ROBINSON

CENTER FOR LEGAL INCLUSIVENESS (CLI) “WHEN YOU GET A GOOD IDEA, YOU PUT IT INTO ACTION,” says Kathleen Nalty, executive director

of the Center for Legal Inclusiveness (CLI), a Denver-based organization that educates, recruits, and supports privateand public-sector legal organizations in their own missions to create cultures of inclusion. “You don’t sit around and talk about things endlessly,” Nalty continues. “You don’t wait until every person is on board or every single concern is addressed. You implement it.” This action-oriented approach is at the heart of CLI, an organization that was founded in 2007 with the purpose of carrying out the vision of a different Colorado-based diversity organization, the Deans’ Diversity Council (DDC). The DDC was comprised of a group of law school deans and top leaders from every sector of the legal community and had formulated a vision to address the lack of diversity in the legal profession. CLI, initially called Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence, was founded with the specific purpose of taking this vision and finding real solutions. Nalty, who played a pivotal role in the formation of CLI and has served as executive director of CLI since its inception, is an attorney with extensive experience and expertise in diversity issues. She worked for the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where she specialized in assisting employers and students with diversity programs and initiatives, served as co-chair of the Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations, and has received numerous awards for her diversity work. BEYOND DIVERSITY

During the formation of CLI, Nalty knew that the best way to create results was to take direct and immediate action, so she and her colleagues took a “campaign” approach that emphasized action over discussion. The first step was to address the fact that although diversity efforts were being implemented within the legal profession and efforts to recruit diverse attorneys were evident, retention was an issue. “The open door had turned into a revolving door, with diverse attorneys leaving at higher rates than nondiverse attorneys,” Nalty explains. DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

JULY/AUGUST 2011

CLI identified a source of this problem as the failure of law firms to recognize the difference between diversity and inclusiveness. “Many people use the terms interchangeably, but they have very different meanings,” Nalty says. Whereas diversity describes the extent to which an organization’s employees have diverse backgrounds, inclusiveness is describes a culture that values difference, removes hidden barriers, and creates a work environment that helps diverse employees succeed. It moves beyond numbers (compositional diversity) and embeds philosophies and practices that encourage diversity throughout the organization. An inclusive organization recognizes and values the backgrounds and perspectives of every person within the organization and strives to incorporate each individual’s needs and viewpoints into its practices. “The legal profession has been good when it comes to recruiting, but less focused on the retention of diverse attorneys,” Nalty continues. “We need to keep recruiting, but fundamental changes have to be made in the organization—structurally, culturally, and behaviorally—to retain diverse attorneys. That’s inclusiveness and inclusiveness is what’s going to make the difference.” CLEAR DIRECTION

In order to become a catalyst for change, CLI developed several resources to guide public and private legal organizations to build cultures of inclusion within the workplace. First is a comprehensive toolkit for fostering inclusiveness. Beyond Diversity: Inclusiveness in the Legal Profession, now in its fourth edition, is a step-by-step manual that charts a specific protocol for achieving a culture of inclusion. It offers specific instruction on laying an internal foundation, creating an external support system, integrating inclusiveness within an organization and into external relationships, implementation of initiatives, and joining with other organizations to share insights on successes and challenges throughout the process. For example, the manual describes how to restructure an existing diversity committee—including changing leadership, removing some committee members, and bringing new people onto MCCA.COM

the committee—in a way that embeds inclusiveness. The manual is continuously revised based on the experiences of organizations that have put these practices into place. CLI’s Inclusiveness Network, a group of seven law firms, two corporate law departments, and two government law offices in Denver, was developed with the purpose of being a real-world laboratory for testing the manual’s procedures. The group was formed in 2008 and its members have made fundamental structural and cultural changes in their organizations and embedded specific diversity and inclusiveness practices and principles into their cultures. For example, members make structural changes, like tying compensation to efforts to make the organization more diverse; cultural changes, such as actively engaging white men in diversity and inclusiveness efforts by including them on inclusiveness committees, and behavioral changes, such as teaching managing partners to confront peers about conduct that is exclusionary. The group continues to meet on a quarterly basis. Leaders from each member organization discuss their firsthand experiences implementing the manual’s protocol and offer one another constructive feedback. “The group experience is a key to its success,” Nalty notes. “Clients and law firms are required to report on their progress at each of their quarterly meetings. They can’t quietly put [the inclusiveness protocol] on the back burner. Accountability is built into the process.” CLI takes this feedback and implements it into future editions of the manual in the form of case studies. Such real-world examples help non-member legal organizations that purchase the manual to implement inclusiveness initiatives into their own organizations.

“THE OPEN DOOR HAD TURNED INTO A REVOLVING DOOR, WITH DIVERSE ATTORNEYS LEAVING AT HIGHER RATES THAN NONDIVERSE ATTORNEYS.” —KATHLEEN NALTY MCCA.COM

SPREADING THE WORD

The work of CLI, while still relatively new, is quickly growing beyond its Colorado roots. A second Inclusiveness Network formed earlier this year, bringing the number of legal organizations using CLI’s step-by-step protocol to 29, including the corporate law departments of Walmart, DaVita, Xcel, and Qwest (CenturyLink). “The growth has been meteoric, primarily because we focused on inclusiveness,” Nalty explains. When good ideas yield positive results, word spreads quickly. This is how Walmart Stores Inc., which is not based in Colorado but in Arkansas, entered the mix. “[Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary] Jeff Gearhart heard about what we were doing and was excited about the toolkit. He flew into Denver with seven attorneys for an initial meeting and he decided to implement it,” Nalty says. Indeed, Gearhart is optimistic. “We believe that CLI’s inclusiveness program will help us take our diversity efforts to the next level by ensuring that we are doing our best to develop and retain our talented attorneys and professional staff. A more inclusive environment leads to better collaboration and engagement, which will make our department more effective,” he says. “When Walmart got on board, we realized this toolkit is useful anywhere, not just here in Denver,” Nalty adds. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done here. We didn’t turn our backs on diversity. We’re really excited about the power and potential for this tool to really transform our entire industry.” D&B Kara Mayer Robinson is a freelance writer based near New York City. For more information, visit centerforlegalinclusiveness.org. For information about inclusiveness, the manual, and resources on diversity and inclusiveness, go to legalinclusiveness.org. JULY/AUGUST 2011

DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

DIVERSITY NEWS

BY JOSHUA H. SHIELDS

OBAMA TAPS HISPANICS FOR EDUCATION SUPPORT U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, THE COURT’S FIRST HISPANIC JUSTICE, SWORE IN MORE THAN A DOZEN NEWLY APPOINTED MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANICS

PHOTO BY: Leslie Williams

at an official ceremony held at the Smithsonian Institution Castle. The Commissioners are tasked with advising President Barak Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to help improve academic excellence and opportunities for Hispanic students across the country. The commissioners will work closely with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics to meet President Obama’s goals for the nation to have the

best-educated workforce in the world by 2020, and to once again lead the world in the number of college graduates. In announcing the appointments, President Obama said, “The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.” Juan Sepúlveda, the Executive Director of the White House Initiative, led the first meeting of the commissioners at the White House. Sepúlveda noted that Hispanics accounted for more than half of the nation’s total population growth in the last decade and will drive the growth of the workforce over the next several decades.

White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics director Juan Sepúlveda, right, discusses the challenge at the ﬁrst meeting of the President’s Advisory Commission held Thursday at the White House. Left to right at table: Lisette Nieves, Darline P. Robles, Ricardo Romo, Alicia Abella, Juan Sepúlveda. DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

JULY/AUGUST 2011

MCCA.COM

“HISPANICS ARE THE LARGEST MINORITY GROUP IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BUT HAVE THE LOWEST EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT LEVEL OVERALL.” —JUAN SEPÚLVEDA “Hispanics are the largest minority group in our public schools, but have the lowest educational attainment level overall,” said Sepúlveda. “We have a shared responsibility to deliver a world-class education to all our children. This can’t be done by parents and students alone. We must all come together—governors and school boards, principals and teachers, businesses and non-profits—to make sure we succeed as a nation.” More than 1 in 5 students in the country’s public elementary, middle and high schools is Hispanic. Less than half of all Hispanic students are enrolled in any early learning program. Only about half earn their high school diploma on time and only 4 percent have completed graduate or professional degree programs. President’s Advisory Commission chair and Miami Dade College president Eduardo J. Padrón helped Justice Sotomayor swear in his colleagues. Padrón said Hispanic success in education and the job market is important to America’s economy. “Hispanic students have graduated at lower rates than the rest of the population for years, making America’s progress impossible if they continue to lag behind,” said Padrón. “We must all work together to meet this challenge to make America competitive in the global contest for jobs and industries.” D&B MCCA.COM

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics announced the following new members of the President’s Advisory Commission Alicia Abella, Florham Park, NJ, innovative services research director at AT&T Labs Research Sylvia Acevedo, Austin, TX, president and CEO of CommuniCard, LLC Alfredo J. Artiles, Tempe, AZ, professor at Arizona State University Daniel J. Cardinali, Washington, D.C., president of Communities in Schools Francisco G. Cigarroa, Laredo, TX, chancellor of The University of Texas System Cesar Conde, Miami, FL, president of Univision Networks at Univision Communications, Inc. Luis Ricardo Fraga, Seattle, WA, associate vice provost at University of Washington in Seattle

JoAnn Gama, McAllen, TX, chief of schools for IDEA Public Schools Patricia Gándara, Los Angeles, CA, professor at University of California, Los Angeles Maria Neira Latham, New York, NY, vice president of New York State United Teachers Lisette Nieves, New York, NY, social entrepreneur-inresidence at Blue Ridge Foundation Darline P. Robles, Los Angeles, CA, professor at University of Southern California Ricardo Romo, San Antonio, TX, president of The University of Texas at San Antonio Manny Sanchez, Chicago, IL, managing partner at Sanchez Daniels & Hoffman LLP Marta Tienda, Princeton, NJ, professor at Princeton University

JULY/AUGUST 2011

DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

MOVERS & SHAKERS

ALAN K. TSE

JAMES NGUYEN

Executive vice president and general counsel Churchill Downs Incorporated

Partner Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Alan K. Tse has joined Churchill Downs Incorporated as executive vice president and general counsel. Tse oversees all legal, corporate governance and compliance matters for the racing, gaming and entertainment company. Prior to joining Churchill Downs, Tse was the vice president and general counsel for cell phone manufacturer LG Electronics Mobilecomm. Tse, who was also a member of LG’s executive management committee, directed the company’s intellectual property strategy, and negotiated and managed all major sales and commercial contracts. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and earned his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Intellectual property attorney James Nguyen has joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP as a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Nguyen handles transactions and litigation dealing with IP, new media, entertainment, advertising, technology, and privacy matters. Prior to joining Davis Wright Tremaine, Nguyen was with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP in Beverly Hills. Nguyen earned his J.D. from the University of Southern California and his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, is a board member of the California Minority Counsel Program, was also the 2010 chair of the State Bar of California’s IP Law Section, and has been recognized as one of the Best LGBT Lawyers under 40 by the National LGBT Bar Association.

COMPILED BY JOSHUA H. SHIELDS

ROLAND SANCHEZMEDINA JR.

ADELAIDA FERCHMIN

General Counsel and Board Member South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

President Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association, New Orleans, LA Chapter

Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr. has been named general counsel and appointed to the board of directors of the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is a founding partner of Sanchez-Medina, Gonzalez, Quesada, Lage, Crespo, Gomez & Machado LLP and is based in its Coral Gables office. His practice focuses on corporate and securities law, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring/restructuring, board governance, and domestic and international commercial transactions. He earned his bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of Miami, his Master’s of Laws from New York University, his J.D. with honors from Boston College Law School. He is the former president of the Cuban American Bar Association.

Adelaida Ferchmin has been elected president of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) New Orleans Chapter. Ferchmin joined the organization in 2006 and has been an active member since 2008. WISTA is an international organization for women in management positions involved in the maritime transportation business and related trades. Ferchmin is an attorney at Chaffe McCall where her practice is defense based and consists of Longshore and Harbor Worker’s Compensation Act cases including defending employers and vessel owners in collision cases, charter party disputes, and cargo dispute cases. She received her B.A. from Tufts University in 2000 and earned a J.D. from Tulane Law School in 2005.

Please send your submissions to our Movers & Shakers feature to joshshields@mcca.com Please include a high-resolution photo (300 dpi or greater), along with an electronic version of the applicable announcement. DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

JULY/AUGUST 2011

MCCA.COM

UNITED BY 81,),(' %< DIVERSITY ',9(56,7< Introducing the MCCA Law Firm Afﬁliate Network — valuable new support for your diversity efforts. The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) has created the Law Firm Affiliate Network (FAN) to assist and acknowledge law firms that are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. As a law firm affiliate, you will be better prepared to meet the expectations of top clients and diversity leaders like American Airlines. FAN benefits include access to MCCA’s online database of best practices, inclusion of the firm’s diverse attorneys in the FAN directory circulated to MCCA member companies, and much more. It’s just another way we’re raising the value of diversity. To start enjoying all the benefits of FAN, complete the online application at www.mcca.com. For more information, you can also contact David Chu, Director of Membership & Development, at 202-739-5906 or davidchu@mcca.com.

Members of the law department at American Airlines, an MCCA Employer of Choice

+60

he Scale MCCA WEIGHS IN ON THE NEWS

New Technology Allows the Blind to Apply to Law School The Law School Admission Council has agreed to make its entire Web site accessible to blind users without them having to rely on assistance from someone over a phone. Under the present system, blind applicants must call customer support service during working hours to complete the online application forms. Following the settlement, new technology will allow blind users to independently complete applications whenever they want. The agreement states that the new technology will be ready for the next cycle of law school admissions—by early September of this year. +1

College Teams Undermine Gender Equality Many college teams have resorted to subterfuge to make it appear they are offering spots to women athletes. Title IX, the 1972 law passed at the height of the women’s rights movement, bans sex discrimination in any federally financed education program. At Cornell, men who practice with the women’s fencing team count as female athletes under a loophole in Title IX. Duke and Texas A&M are two elite women’s basketball teams that allow them to report male practice players as female participants. Female runners at South Florida are counted up to three times—as members of the cross-country, indoor, and outdoor track teams. -2

Is Anti-White Bias a Problem? A new study says whites think discrimination against them is a bigger problem than anti-black bias. Whites often feel excluded by multicultural diversity initiatives, says Victoria Plaut, a social and cultural psychologist and assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Suggesting a shift in perceptions of discrimination, recent Supreme Court decisions—in cases that have pitted white and minority interests against each other—have focused more on disadvantage to whites and less on disadvantages to racial minorities, she writes. For example, in the 2009 Ricci v. DeStefano case, the court essentially regarded preventing disadvantages to white firefighters as more important than addressing barriers to promotion for racial minorities. -3

THIS ISSUE’S READING: -2

DIVERSITY & THE BAR®

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Dean of Indiana School of Law– Indy Responds to Anonymous Racial Animus An anonymous person sent a schoolwide email to voice his discomfort about three banners that prominently feature African-American law students. Dean Gary Roberts responded, “Perhaps this anonymous student will feel more welcome if he focuses instead on the hallway outside my office where portraits of the last 13 deans of this law school hang—12 white men and 1 white woman. In fact, I find this whole discussion ironic in that I am usually taken to task on this subject purportedly because the makeup of the faculty and student body, as well as the artwork on our walls, is not diverse enough and that the law school is therefore unwelcoming to various types of minority students. Apparently anyone can feel unwelcome if they choose to focus only on the things they find unwelcoming, which is sad given that it is the firm commitment of this law school to be inclusive.” +2

Help MCCA weigh the news! Send diversity related news articles to joshshields@mcca.com.

LAST ISSUE: 62 MCCA.COM

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When it comes to diversity, we preach what we practice. As the nation’s largest employment and labor law firm, our commitment to diversity isn’t just internal. Littler Mendelson works with clients to implement diversity programs, to provide diversity training, and to give them the tools they need to take full advantage of diversity’s benefits. It helps that we can point to ourselves as a particularly good example. Over half our associates are women, nearly a quarter are attorneys of color, and we’ve gone further than most companies to create and codify a culture of inclusion. So when we preach diversity to our clients, they know it comes from long and serious practice.

littler.com Littler Mendelson, P.C.

Employment & Labor Law Solutions Worldwide™

The letter of the law comes in all shapes and sizes. Winner of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers 2011

Winner of Best Employers for New Canadians 2011

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