Dear Firm Clients:
I wrote to you in January about the firm’s diversity efforts and, in particular, our firmwide partner meeting, which was dedicated to the topic of diversity. We know that this issue is critical not only to our clients, but also to the entire legal profession. Morgan Lewis is committed—through our actions and by working with our clients and others in the profession—to continuing to drive this initiative.
We have listened to our clients and, based on that feedback, I am pleased to report some exciting developments across the firm that build on our hard work at the partner meeting.
First, we appointed Will Delany as the firm’s Diversity Partner. Many of you may know Will. He is a partner in our Labor & Employment Practice. Clients described Will to Chambers USA as “tremendously proactive at working to improve employee relations.” This same skill will serve him well as he works with me and our Diversity Committee to coordinate and supervise the execution of the firm’s diversity initiatives. In this role, Will, along with our office managing partners and practice group leaders, will develop specific initiatives and an overall diversity strategy.
He will also lead an effort to engage many of you so that collectively we can work toward not only expanding the pool of diverse candidates entering the profession, but also thinking creatively about ways by which we can retain that same pool of talent. In addition, Will will continue to meet regularly with lawyers and staff throughout the firm to generate ideas and to keep everyone informed of our activities and goals.
Second, the firm held a successful Attorneys of Color (AOC) conference on April 4 and 5. This was our second AOC conference, and the program, titled “Taking Diversity to the Next Level,” focused on examining our areas of progress and setting goals for further enhancing the firm’s diversity efforts. Bringing together close to 140 attorneys of color and firm leadership from across our offices, the meeting provided an excellent opportunity to network and to have an open exchange of ideas on topics such as retention, mentoring, communication, and pathways to success.
During the meeting we also heard from our clients. Dr. Arin Reeves, President of The Athens Group, facilitated a discussion among John Chou, Sr. VP, General Counsel, and Secretary, AmerisourceBergen Corporation; Doug Gaston, Sr. VP, General Counsel, Comcast Cable; Michael Kuritzkes, Sr. VP, General Counsel, Sunoco, Inc.; and William Von Hoene, Executive VP, General Counsel, Exelon Corporation. The clients each elaborated on the business case for diversity and discussed their company’s approach to diversity. Veta Richardson, Executive Director of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, also attended the conference and was an active participant. Client participation at this conference was invaluable and just one small example of how we can learn from one another if we just make the effort.
We have accomplished a great deal so far in 2008, and our goal is to continue this level of energy and success going forward. We look forward to working with you on this important initiative in our profession.
Sincerely,
Francis M. Milone
Chair