October 2007
Move over Hollywood celebrities − the lawyers were in town! This year CMCP held its "Stars of Diversity" conference at the Los Angeles Marriott. The fun Hollywood-theme played out with a "red carpet" reception, several in-house counsel signing autographs on their "head-shots," and sparkling martini glasses for the signature drink of the evening: Cosmopolitans. Overall, the conference was a great success! Many outside counsel made meaningful connections with in-house counsel, which may lead to new business relationships, if they haven't already! In case you missed it, here are the highlights from this year's conference.
LET'S WORK TOGETHER: NETWORKING
WITH MINORITY & MAJORITY FIRMS
For the first time ever, CMCP hosted an event for majority- and minority-owned firms to network and discuss how they can work together with in-house counsel. Arjun Agarwal, a construction law attorney at Farella Braun & Martell LLP in San Francisco thought the mixer provided a fantastic forum to network with attorneys from smaller minority-owned law firms. Agarwal stated, "I was able to meet dynamic attorneys from a vast array of practice areas and from locations throughout the country. The event was an invaluable opportunity for large and small firms to build a relationship and develop a synergy for client referrals." Others enjoyed this networking opportunity as a warm-up for the marathon day of networking that followed.
CORPORATE CONNECTIONS: "SPEED DATING"
WITH IN-HOUSE & OUTSIDE COUNSEL
If you have ever speed dated, then you have a sense of how Corporate Connections works. Prior to the conference, firms and in-house counsel are "matched" for back-to-back 20 minute interviews. This year’s program was bigger and better than ever with more opportunities for matched introductions. Diana Liberto, Associate General Counsel, Class Actions, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. said, "I was excited to be a part of CMCP this year and to get the opportunity to meet with firms as part of Corporate Connections. This was a wonderful chance to meet minority-owned firms and build new relationships.
LET'S DO LUNCH
Los Angeles Mayor was Keynote Luncheon Speaker
and Focused on Education
 The 41st mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, spoke as this year’s luncheon key note speaker. Mayor Villaraigosa, known for his exceptional skill at building broad bi-partisan coalitions, is a leading progressive voice in the country. His luncheon speech focused squarely on education, one of his main mayoral platforms, an enormous issue in Los Angeles, and, in fact, throughout California.
Read more >>
Mayor Villaraigosa congratulated CMCP and everyone attending the conference for their commitment to diversity. This luncheon celebrates "the good-guys," Mayor Villaraigosa commented. He then challenged us all, as a community of minority lawyers who have "made it," to reach out to elementary school children and make educating them a priority through mentorship and scholarships. "Many students graduating from high school today are illiterate," Mayor Villaraigosa said. For these children, college is not possible, and law school is not even a glimmer of a dream. By committing to education, we can ensure that future generations of people of color can attend college and law school and succeed in the profession, as we have.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO....
The luncheon also honored the winners of several awards. Congratulations go to:
Intel Corporation
John Essex & Guy Rounsaville
In-House Counsel Diversity Award
Martin & Martin, LLP
Minority Owned Law Firm Client Services Award
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award
Past CMCP Award Winners>>
CATCH A STAR: FIND, RETAIN, AND PROMOTE TOP TALENT
Mark Zemelman, Vice President & Assistant General Counsel at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. moderated this lively discussion filled with audience participation. The panel included George Cheeks, Executive Vice-President, Business Affairs Co-General Counsel, MTV Networks and General Counsel, Music Group & Entertainment Group; Duncan W. Crabtree-Ireland, General Counsel of Screen Actors Guild; Alexander Lee, Partner and Vice Chairman, Paul, Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP in Los Angeles; and Tina Paikeday Shah, President of Talent Advisory Board.
The panel discussed committing to diversity either by hiring diverse people to sit in top positions, or by having people in top positions (who may or may not be diverse) properly plan for and seriously commit to improving diversity.
Read more about how to find, retain & promote talent>>
As Duncan Crabtree-Ireland stated, "Don't just create an 'island of diversity' where only one pocket of the employees in one division are diverse. Diversity should be broad throughout the company or firm." The panel also discussed supporting attorneys by advocating on their behalf as well as mentoring them, and the panel encouraged employers to support their attorneys in becoming leaders in groups, not just members.
Top 10 Tips for Outside and Inside Counsel for Finding, Retaining, and Promoting Diverse Legal Talent
-
Commit to diversity at the top.
-
Create a culture that values diverse perspectives.
-
Gather together diverse attorneys to support each other.
-
Support and encourage participation in organizations that are valued by diverse attorneys.
-
Invest in leadership development opportunities for diverse attorneys.
-
Be a great place to work.
-
Find mentors who create protégés.
-
Identify what inspires diverse attorneys to join the profession.
-
Focus relentlessly on retention.
-
Have a genuine, not token, commitment to diversity.
STAR QUALITY: CLIENT SERVICE TIPS
The second plenary session discussed Client Service and Management. Maki Daijogo, Shareholder, Miller Law Group, PC moderated this discussion. The panel included
Jill Dessalines, Assistant General Counsel for McKesson Corporation; Therese M. Leone, University Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel for The Regents of the University of California; and Denise Rios Rodriguez, a partner of Foley Lardner and a member of its Health Care Industry Team.
The vibrant attorneys who comprised this panel spoke openly and honestly about how outside counsel can provide quality service to in-house counsel.
Read more client service tips >>
The panel emphasized that outside counsel should think of the relationship as a long term investment. In summarizing the panel, Maki Daijogo, the moderator, thought, "Jill Dessalines crystallized much of the of discussion with her closing words - 'You make me look good, I'll make you look good. You make me look bad, you're fired!' I learned something new from each one of the panelists, and I'm sure our members did, too."
Top 10 Tips for Outside and In-House Counsel
-
Become an expert-sell your skills.
-
Do great work.
-
Build your power base.
-
Build a relationship before expecting business.
-
Take questions about diversity seriously.
-
Give credit where credit is due.
-
Know the ground rules.
-
Manage the relationship between business clients & outside counsel.
-
Minimize surprises and know how to handle them.
-
Make me look good!
Thank you to CMCP's event organizers, hosts, and donors, whose talent, time, and money contributed to this event. We all appreciate your efforts and look forward to next year's conference! Click here to view photos from this year's conference.
CMCP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SEARCH
|
We are sad to report that after 6 great years as Executive Director of CMCP, Tania Shah has moved on to take another endeavor. CMCP is in the process of finding an Executive Director and we need your help to spread the news to qualified candidates. Resumes are due by October 19, 2007.
Tania we wish you luck!
2006
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. - John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
Silicon Counsel - Minority Owned Law Firm Client Services Award
Foley & Lardner LLP - The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award
2005
Sun Microsystems, Inc. - John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt - Minority Owned Law Firm Client Services Award
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP - The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award
2004
Loyola Law School - Lexis-Nexis Law School Award
Oakland City Attorney’s Office - John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
Willenken Wilson Loh & Lieb LLP - Minority Owned Law Firm Client Services Award
Alschuler, Grossman, Stein & Kahan LLP - The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award
2003
UCLA School of Law - Lexis-Nexis Law School Award
Hilton Hotels Corporation - John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
Sanchez & Amador LLP - Minority Owned Law Firm Client Services Award
Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy LLP - The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award
2002
Bay Area Minority Summer Clerkship Program - Lexis-Nexis Law School Award
The Walt Disney Company-
John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
Bingham McCutchen LLP -
The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award
2001
Clorox Company - John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
2000
Sun Microsystems, Inc. - John Essex & Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award
1999
Times Mirror Company -
Guy Rounsaville, Jr. Corporate Award
1998
Southern California Edison -
Corporate Diversity Award
1997
Hughes Electronics -
Corporate Diversity Award
1996
Bank of America -
Corporate Diversity Award
1995
AT&T -
Corporate Diversity Award
1994
Chevron -
Corporate Diversity Award
1993
Wells Fargo Bank -
Corporate Diversity Award
top of page
California Lawyer Magazine is currently seeking nominations for the 12th annual CLAY (California Lawyer Attorney of the Year) Awards. The deadline for nominations is Monday, 12/3/07.
For nomination criteria and information, click here.
|
IN-HOUSE SPOTLIGHT:
DAVID OTSUKA
WELLS FARGO & CO. |
David Otsuka - Managing Counsel in the Employment Section of Wells Fargo & Co.’s Law Department
Last book: The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power by Daniel Yergin
Last movie: Superbad
Funniest quote: "I’m not very intellectual; I force myself to read outside of work. I’d just rather watch a rerun of Seinfeld." (N.B. The book David is reading, The Prize, is an 800-page epic history of the global oil industry from the 1850's through 1990.)
David began practicing law as an associate at Littler Mendelson. After his first year out of Boalt Hall, David took a nine-month leave of absence – the first of the kind for associates at the firm – to travel and pursue other interests. David returned to practice at Littler, and then moved to Allen Matkins before going in‑house with Wells Fargo Bank.
This May, after six years as Senior Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank, David Otsuka was promoted to Managing Counsel. As second in command in the employment law department at Wells Fargo, David manages a team of lawyers at the venerated financial institution that employs 158,000 people. David says the most challenging and rewarding part of his job is working on an incredibly diverse array of projects and finding practical legal solutions that fit the Company’s business needs.
Read more about David Otsuka>>
Attorneys who work with David comment on his "quiet, unassuming style" and note that even in light of his impressive recent promotion, David did not advertise this achievement. And yet, despite his subdued manner, David is a self-described football fanatic. In fact, David admits that during football season, "35% of my brain is consumed by the Pittsburgh Steelers." So fitting is this seeming contradiction that attorneys who have worked with him joke that David is a "steel trap in sheep’s clothing."
Born in Mountain View, California, David Otsuka is the youngest of three remarkably successful children: David's brother, Michael Otsuka, is a graduate of Yale and Oxford Universities, and is a philosophy professor at the University of London; David's sister, Julie Otsuka, is the acclaimed author of "When the Emperor was Divine," a novel about Japanese-American internment, an experience that the Otsuka family knows well (David's mother, uncle and maternal grandparents were among the 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II).
While David grew up in Palos Verdes, California, he returned to the Bay Area to attend college at U.C. Berkeley. There he majored in Rhetoric and Political Science, and was introduced to his favorite poet Wallace Stevens, who, coincidentally, was an in-house attorney for a large American company, Hartford Insurance. Perhaps owing to his training in rhetoric, which David describes as "looking at language in a more technical way," one of David's pet peeves is receiving "sloppy written product" from outside counsel.
David is known as someone who "goes out of his way to help people." It, therefore, comes as no surprise that David is passionate about increasing diversity in the practice of law and is an active member of the California Minority Counsel Program's Steering Committee. While Wells Fargo was one of five companies to band together to found CMCP in 1989, David has actively propelled Wells Fargo’s participation with CMCP since he joined the company in 2001. So, the next time you see David, be sure to introduce yourself!
MINORITY-OWNED CLIENT SERVICES AWARD SPOTLIGHT - MARTIN & MARTIN LLP |
"You can’t outwork us," Areva Martin says of her 2007 CMCP Client Service Award-winning firm Martin & Martin. And Areva Martin's clients will tell you hers is not an idle boast.
Martin & Martin, which counts fourteen attorneys among its ranks, is a multi-practice firm with specialty areas including commercial litigation, labor and employment, and education and disability. The firm’s major corporate clients include AT&T, FedEx/Kinko’s, General Motors, Northrup Grumman and El Pollo Loco, and its relationship with CMCP began over ten years ago. Martin & Martin was nominated for the Client Service award by two long-standing clients: AT&T and Faithful Central Bible Church. The firm’s nomination by two such disparate clients underscores that Martin & Martin works hard on all fronts – for pro bono as well as traditional clients.
This year, Martin & Martin attorneys collaborated with West Los Angeles School of Law students to conduct free legal clinics at Faithful Central. In the past, Areva Martin has spoken at women’s conferences at the church, and assisted in developing educational seminars. Faithful Central’s nomination letter praised Martin & Martin’s "commitment to the best in client and community service."
Read more about Martin & Martin>>
That commitment to service, including the firm’s ability to respond quickly to clients' concerns, helped to cement Martin & Martin’s relationship with AT&T. According to Areva Martin, the Martin & Martin/AT&T partnership spans many years and several changes in both the telecommunications company’s structure and its personnel. Martin & Martin successfully navigated those changes by building strong relationships within AT&T and by working carefully to ensure continuity in times of transition. The continuing relationship between the two organizations is a testament to both AT&T’s commitment to working with minority-owned firms and to Martin & Martin’s adaptability.
Martin & Martin’s ability to embody the best of both small and large firms lies in the quality of its attorneys, whose expertise is on par with attorneys in any large firm. Even with prestigious credentials, however, small and minority-owned firms sometimes struggle gaining access to major corporate clients. Areva Martin credits CMCP with doing an outstanding job of bringing in-house decision-makers and attorneys to the table, and helping smaller firms gain access to clients they otherwise might not have been able to reach. For Martin & Martin, community outreach work has been a successful strategy for business development, but CMCP continues to play a key role in the firm's success.
Martin & Martin is a woman- and African-American-owned firm. Areva Martin makes clear that clients hiring Martin & Martin receive the same level of expertise they would receive from a big firm, but with a higher level of service and attention. She should know – she began her own career at O’Melveny & Myers. Ultimately, she decided that the big firm lifestyle did not fit her vision for the life she wanted, so she departed to begin her own firm. "I’m that partner you’d be dealing with at O’Melveny," says Martin, who has not looked back since. "I have no doubt [if I had stayed], I would be a significant, influential player at a big firm."
Now, instead, she just outworks them.
OCTOBER
Northern California Vietnamese American Bar Association - Annual Scholarship Dinner -
(San Jose) - 10/12, 6pm
Minority Corporate Counsel Association &
San Diego County Bar Association
Dialogue on Diversity: A Unique CLE Program & Networking Event (San Diego) - 10/16, 5-7:30pm
American Bar Association - Civil Rights Developments: The Impact of Changing Demographics in the Workplace (Teleconference) - 10/17/07
Japanese American Bar Association
Asian Pacific American Legal Center 24th Anniversary Dinner (L.A.) -
10/18, 6-9:30pm
La Raza Lawyers of Santa Clara County
10th Annual Scholarship Dinner (San Jose, CA) - 10/19, 5:30pm
American Bar Association -
Women Rainmakers Mid-Career Workshop (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico) - 10/20-10/22
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles - How to Work a Room (Los Angeles) - 10/22/07, 6-8pm
Alameda County Bar Assn Women Lawyers of Alameda County Annual Judges Dinner (Oakland) - 10/24, 6-9pm
Mexican American Bar Association
Judges and Elected Officials Awards Dinner (L.A.) - 10/25, 5:30-8:50pm
National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys - 2007 Conference: Reaching New Heights (Orange Cty) - 10/26-10/27
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund
33rd Annual Los Angeles Dinner (L.A) - 10/30
NOVEMBER
National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms - 27th Annual Meeting (New York) - 11/6-11/7
Minority Corporate Counsel Association
Northeast Region Anniversary Dinner (New York) - 11/7, 5:30pm
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles - Public Speaking for Attorneys (L.A.) - 11/8, 1-4:45pm
Minority Corporate Counsel Association
8th Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity Conference (New York) - 11/8-11/9 -
Contact: Peter Chin
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association - 19th Annual NAPABA Convention (Las Vegas) - 11/15-11/18
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles - The Rainmaker Workshop (series of 6 lunchtime sessions) (L.A.) - 11/16, 12-1:30pm (1st session)
Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles - Annual Thanksgiving Eve Cocktail Sip (L.A.) - 11/21, 6pm–1am
DECEMBER
Mexican American Bar Association
Christmas Party (L.A.) - 12/7
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles - The Rainmaker Workshop (series of 6 lunchtime sessions) (L.A.) - 12/14, 12-1:30 pm (2nd session)
[Remaining Rainmaker Workshop dates are:
January 18, February 15, March 14, and April 18 12-1:30pm, all in L.A.]
top of page |
