2011
diversity report
The publication highlighting
diversity initiatives at
K&L Gates
LLP.
Table of Contents
Diverse Legal Teams, Better Client Solutions..................................................... 5
Recruitment........................................................................................... 7
Annual Diversity Fellowship Attracts University of Washington Student............... 8
Sixth Annual Introduction to the Texas Legal Market....................................... 9
Highlights from Around the Firm.............................................................. 10
Retention............................................................................................. 13
Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity ..................................................... 14
California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP)............................................ 15
Highlights from Around the Firm.............................................................. 16
Outreach............................................................................................. 19
Robert Treat Academy Essay Contest........................................................ 20
Be a 6th-Grade Mentor Program............................................................. 21
Highlights from Around the Firm.............................................................. 22
Sponsorships...................................................................................... 23
Speaking Engagements and Events.......................................................... 24
Sponsorships...................................................................................... 26
James M. Nabrit Lecture Series............................................................... 27
Diverse Legal Teams, Better Client Solutions
At K&L Gates, we’re committed to
The firm seeks to achieve this diversity through three
key tenets: recruitment, retention, and outreach. In
this report, we recount our recent diversity efforts in
these three areas around the firm.
promoting and supporting diversity—
both internally and in the profession
at large. Diversity is a priority for our
In the area of our recruiting efforts, we take a closer
look at the successes of our diversity fellowship
programs and Introduction to the Texas Legal
Market event.
firm, and for many of the firm’s clients.
In order for K&L Gates to effectively
serve our clients, we have to be in
In retention, we focus on the Leadership Council on
Legal Diversity and its new fellowship program, in
which one of our lawyers is currently participating.
The program seeks to build skills and make
connections for the next generation of leaders at
the firm.
synch with our clients’ goals. When a
diverse legal team works on a matter,
the variety of backgrounds and views
creates the best advice and the best
solutions for our clients.
On the outreach front, we explore several efforts
around the firm where our lawyers are working
in elementary and middle schools to help at-risk
youth succeed and see a future that involves
higher education.
We also note the many ways our offices are
involved in local and national diversity-related
organizations, from sponsoring the James M. Nabrit
lecture series at Howard University Law School
to hosting various receptions honoring diversity
initiatives throughout the year.
All of these efforts reflect our commitment to fostering
a culture of diversity that enriches the experience of
our lawyers, reflects the communities in which we
live and work, and better serves our clients.
Paul Sweeney Jr.
Diversity Committee Chair
-5-
Recruitment
A strong recruiting platform is essential
to developing and sustaining diversity
at K&L Gates. As a firm, we take an
aggressive approach to the recruitment
of diverse lawyers. The firm regularly
participates in a variety of programs
and partnerships to attract top legal
talent from wide-ranging backgrounds.
Annual Diversity Fellowship Attracts
University of Washington Student
Each year, the firm’s Seattle office offers
Sargent believes that K&L Gates is an attractive
environment for diverse lawyers because the
firm makes diversity a priority – not through
obligation, but through appreciation and belief
that diversity adds value to the legal system.
During her first summer, she learned about the
firm’s diverse associate mentoring program,
another indication, she says, that the firm wants
diverse lawyers to succeed.
a National 1L Diversity Fellowship to
a first-year law student. The recipient
is awarded a paid summer associate
position in the Seattle office as well
as an academic scholarship for the
following year.
The summer program also allowed Sargent to
become involved in various projects in several
practices, including a project where she had the
opportunity to present to a local client. “I had
no expectation of client contact during my first
summer here,” she says, “and I was thrilled to
have the chance.”
In 2010, the firm awarded the 1L Diversity
Fellowship to Tia Sargent, a student at the
University of Washington Law School. Sargent
was initially attracted to K&L Gates because of the
firm’s practice depth and accomplishments in and
commitment to diversity and pro bono. “K&L Gates
is a place where you can have a meaningful lifelong career,” she says.
Sargent will start her second summer with K&L
Gates in June 2011.
During her first summer at the firm, Sargent was
impressed with the resources the firm put into each
summer associate and the personal attention she
received, particularly with the mentor program. She
left to return to her 2L year with great advice from
her mentor and a sense of camaraderie with the
others in her summer associate class, with whom
she still keeps in touch regularly.
-8-
Sixth Annual Introduction to the
Texas Legal Market
In 2010, the Austin and Dallas offices
The 2010 speakers included Texas Supreme
Court Justice Eva Guzman and the Honorable
Lora Livingston of the 261st District Court, both
participating in Austin. In Dallas, Kimberly Simpson
Earle, chief executive officer at Mothers Against
Drunk Driving; Jill Louis, managing director,
commercial transactions at FedEx Office; and
Craig Watkins, Dallas County district attorney,
were the guest speakers. Following the seminar,
K&L Gates lawyers joined the law students for
on-site receptions, giving the students a chance to
make valuable business contacts and ask questions
in an informal setting. The Austin and Dallas offices
will be hosting this event again in 2011.
hosted the Sixth Annual Introduction to
the Texas Legal Market, an informative
program designed to provide minority
students in Texas law schools with an
up-close look at the various career
opportunities available across the state.
For the first time, the event was held
simultaneously in both the Austin and
Dallas offices, connecting the students
and speakers via video conference.
-9-
Highlights Around the Firm
Charlotte
London
Each year, the Charlotte office partners with
the Mecklenburg Bar Association to sponsor
the Charlotte Legal Diversity Clerkship, a highly
competitive summer program for first-year law
students. This year’s K&L Gates clerk is a 1L
from Emory Law School who will spend the first
six weeks of the 12-week program working in
the K&L Gates Charlotte office, and will spend
the second six weeks working in the Charlotte
law department of Bank of America. In addition
to the law firm and corporate law department
experiences, program sponsors, such as K&L
Gates, host opportunities for the clerks to connect
with public officials and professionals in the arts
community and explore other aspects of Charlotte.
The London office and associate Rajeev Joshi
were featured in the U.K. Stonewall Graduate
Recruitment Guide, “Starting Out.” The guide
includes tips on getting legal jobs, insider
information, and the top 100 employers for gays
and lesbians. K&L Gates has long been a member
of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions program, a
forum for organizations committed to an improved
work environment for LGBT employees.
Dallas
The Dallas office has a long history of
participating in diversity-focused job fairs and
recruiting at law schools with large minority
populations. In 2010, the office participated
in the Sunbelt Minority Job Fair and the DuPont
Minority Job Fair and interviewed a diverse group
of students on campuses and in firm offices.
Los Angeles
In April, the Los Angeles office invited students
from area law schools including UCLA, USC,
Pepperdine, and Loyola to meet with women
lawyers to learn about their personal experiences
in the legal profession.
Research Triangle Park
Partner Michael Gordon is a member of the
North Carolina Bar Association Minorities in the
Profession (MIP) Committee, which sponsors the
MIP 1L Summer Associate Program. The program
provides corporate legal departments and major
law firms in North Carolina with an inside track
on recruiting some of the state’s brightest and most
talented law students of color.
-10-
Seattle
Washington, D.C.
The Seattle office is traditionally heavily involved
with the Northwest Minority Job Fair, and this year
hosted the job fair. The fair has been a successful
event for K&L Gates, with law student Raina
Wagner joining the firm as a summer associate
in 2011. Seattle associate Marie Quasius, who
joined the firm in January 2010, was also hired
through the Northwest Minority Job Fair in 2007.
The Washington, D.C. office participated in the
Georgetown Diversity Recruiting Information Fair
in 2010, with partner Ndenisarya Bregasi and
associate Elise Sweeney Anthony representing
the firm at the event. Bregasi is also active in the
Washington, D.C. office hiring committee.
The Seattle office also hosts and participates in
several other diversity-related recruiting programs
throughout the year. In addition to the National 1L
Diversity Fellowship, the office hosts a 1L Diversity
Fellowship Reception, with attendance including
legal employers and representatives of Seattlearea minority bar organizations.
DuPont Minority Job Fairs
DuPont Legal organized its first Minority Job
Fair in 1994 to assist the company’s primary
law firms with their minority recruitment efforts.
Over the past 17 years, the successful multi-city
event brings in more than 500 resumes from
minority students around the United States who
interview with DuPont’s primary law firms. K&L
Gates participates in DuPont Minority Job Fairs in
several locations throughout the year, including
Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Pittsburgh; Los
Angeles; and New York.
-11-
Retention
After recruiting exceptional diverse legal
talent, the firm focuses on retaining
and developing it further. We ensure
diversity is a consideration in firm
leadership, management practices,
human resources, financial decisions,
and communications. Mentoring
programs, affinity groups, and
professional development opportunities
also enhance retention efforts.
Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity
The firm is a member of the Leadership
Counsel on Legal Diversity (LCLD).
LCLD was founded in 2009 to
advance diversity in the legal
profession. The organization includes
corporate chief legal officers and law
firm managing partners dedicated to a
diverse profession.
The LCLD recently selected New York associate
Harvey Newkirk to participate in its 2011-2012
Fellows Program. The program is designed
to connect lawyers from LCLD member law
firms with an experience that will influence the
fellow’s career for years to come. The focus of
the program is on exposing fellows to leaders
in the legal field while advancing relationship
building skills. Newkirk is active in the New
York office, mentoring minority and women
lawyers, serving on the associate liaison and
pro bono committees, devoting a significant
amount of time to pro bono work and charitable
organizations, and leading the way to register the
office with the city of New York’s Neighborhood
Entrepreneurship Law Program.
-14-
California Minority Counsel Program
San Francisco lawyers Claudia Quiroz
and Roseanna Castillo are involved
with the California Minority Counsel
Program (CMCP), an organization that
develops professional opportunities
for attorneys of color and provides
business, legal, and lay communities
Quiroz and Castillo attended the CMCP 2010
Diversity Conference in late 2010, making
professional connections with other members of
CMCP and attending various presentations on
topics from the value of work-life balance to a
firm’s bottom line to the judicial perspective on
diversifying the judiciary. The final session of the
conference focused on how general counsel in
certain companies view diversity as a factor in
hiring outside counsel.
access to their talent.
-15-
Highlights Around the Firm
Firmwide
Chicago
K&L Gates scored 100 percent on the Human
Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.
The index provides an in-depth analysis of
large U.S. employers and their policies and
practices regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) employees.
Associate Viren Soni is a member of the
Chicago Indian-American Bar Association and
participates on the organization’s professional
development committee.
Boston
Boston associate Amy Ling serves on the board
of directors of the Asian American Lawyers
Association of Massachusetts, an affiliate of
the National Asian Pacific American Bar
Association (NAPABA).
Charlotte
Our Charlotte office is participating in Apex,
a pilot program designed by the Mentoring
Taskforce of the advisory group to the CharlotteMecklenburg Managing Partners and General
Counsel Diversity Initiative, to which K&L Gates
is a signatory. The Apex program is a formal
mentoring curriculum designed to advance and
connect associates in the third through fifth years
of practice with tenured in-house lawyers of
Charlotte’s corporate legal departments. This
year’s corporate partners include five corporate
legal departments. The Apex program works to
provide opportunities that help minority associates
gain exposure to, access to, and experience
with corporate clients and to have meaningful
interactions that help to develop leadership,
professional identity, and relationships that lead to
business development and retention.
Dallas
The office hosts several “Celebrate Diversity
Days” throughout the year, including a
celebration of African American History Month,
Juneteenth, Cinco de Mayo, and Mexican
Independence Day.
London
The London office, beginning in 2011 in its One
New Change office space, will host a monthly
meeting of the Interlaw Diversity Forum. The
Interlaw Diversity Forum is an inter-organizational
forum for LGBT networks in law firms and other
businesses in the legal sector. Associate Rajeev
Joshi, who is active in the organization, will be
attending the organization’s Winter Carnival event.
The London office also belongs to the recently
formed Gay Employment Lawyers Network,
an organization that acts as both a networking
tool for lawyers and a way for potential clients
to access informal advice on gay and lesbian
discrimination issues in the United Kingdom.
-16-
Miami
• Associate Karen Finesilver serves as the
technology chair of the Asian Pacific
American Bar Association of South Florida.
Lawyers in the Miami office are active in various
local diversity-related organizations.
• Partner April Boyer sits on the board of
directors of the Women’s Fund of MiamiDade County. She serves as a member
of the National Association of Women
Lawyers, as well as the organization’s
2010 chair of the Miami Night of Giving
Event and a member of the 20102011 Mid-Year Planning Committee.
• Partner Karen Salas-Morales is heavily
involved with the Hispanic National Bar
Association (HNBA), where she is the
regional deputy president for Florida, a
member of the Latinas in the Profession
Commission, the University of Miami
ambassador, and was selected as one
of 50 Latina lawyers in the United States
to participate in the HNBA/Association
of Corporate Counsel Legal Executive
Leadership Pilot Program. Salas-Morales
is also the director of the Inter-American
Chapter of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber
of Commerce as well as a member of
the Cuban American Bar Association.
• Associate Christopher Tillson is the
chair of the Miami Chapter Steering
Committee of the Bolivian-American
Chamber of Commerce.
Seattle
• Partner Bill Simonitsch is the Southeast
regional governor of the National Asian
Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA),
co-chair of the organization’s Bankruptcy
and Creditors’/Debtors’ Rights Committee,
and is also the past president and cofounder of the Asian Pacific American
Bar Association of South Florida.
Partner James Andrus recently finished his term
as president of the King County Bar Association,
where he was the organization’s first African
American president.
Associate Sam Castic recently started his term
as president of the QLaw Foundation, the
GLBT Bar Association of Washington. The
foundation exists to bridge the divide between
the GLBT community and legal professionals.
• Associate Stephanie Moot is presidentelect of the Asian Pacific American
Bar Association of South Florida.
-17-
Outreach
K&L Gates’ commitment to diversity
extends well beyond the walls of our
offices. As a complement to recruitment
and retention, the firm is committed
to promoting diversity to various
external audiences through outreach
efforts. Firmwide, there is enthusiastic
support for our pipeline initiatives that
encourage diverse middle and high
school students to consider higher
education and perhaps law school.
Robert Treat Academy Essay Contest
The Newark office annually sponsors
the Robert Treat Academy essay
contest. Located in Newark’s North
Ward, the Robert Treat Academy
Charter School serves 450 students in
kindergarten through eighth grade.
The school offers an opportunity to learn and
grow in a safe and stimulating environment in
which core subjects are bonded to the values
of self worth and respect for each other, the
community, and the state and country.
The essay contest gives eighth-grade students
the opportunity to write 300-plus word essays
on one of four topics involving the importance
of citizenship, democracy, freedom, and civics.
The essays are evaluated by a panel of judges
from K&L Gates and the school, and the top three
essayists are awarded high school scholarships of
between $500 and $2,500.
-20-
Be a 6th-Grade Mentor Program
Pittsburgh lawyers Nick Ranjan,
Angelica Shepard, Amanda Lusk,
Karen Lee, Magua Benson, and
Daniel Miller participate in the Be
a 6th-Grade Mentor program. The
program matches mentors with local
sixth-graders, exposing the students
to people and careers beyond their
everyday experiences so that the
students are open to a broader range
of opportunities for their own futures.
The program, which involves an hour of mentoring
each week, focuses on sixth-graders as they are
at a crossroads – they’re not young children,
but they’re not teenagers. A strong mentoring
relationship helps these sixth-graders stay focused
in school, stay out of trouble, and start making
plans for their future.
In March, the Pittsburgh office was selected
as one of 11 organizations to receive the
inaugural Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award
for its participation in the program. The award
recognizes the commitment of the volunteers
and the employers who support dedicated
volunteerism in the workplace.
-21-
Highlights Around the Firm
Boston
Seattle
A team of lawyers from the Boston office, with
Citizen Schools and Discovering Justice, coached
a mock trial team of middle school students from
area schools. All of the children involved came
from underserved schools, and for many of them,
participation in the program afforded them their
first trip downtown, their first trip in an office
building, and the first time they interacted with a
lawyer.
The firm’s Seattle office funds and supports the
Future of the Law Institute (FLI), an organization
that provides scholarships for disadvantaged high
school students to attend college. FLI was founded
in 2002, and since its inception, partners in the
Seattle office have served as board members.
Currently, partner Chris Hirst sits on the board.
The team of students and lawyers met in the
Boston office for an hour each week for 10
weeks. At the end of the 10 weeks, the students
had the opportunity to argue a case before state
and federal judges and the federal district court.
Charlotte
The 2010-2011 school year marks the fifth year
that the Charlotte office has sponsored a business
law class at North Carolina Central University
School of Law in Durham, N.C. Charlotte
partner Sean Jones teaches a practical 101-style
corporate practice class and even holds office
hours for questions and gives and grades exams.
This outreach effort introduces the corporate
law practice to many students who have no
prior knowledge, awareness, or exposure to the
corporate legal practice.
-22-
Sponsorships
The firm has recently participated in a
number of diversity-related events and
organizational sponsorships.
Speaking Engagements and Events
• Partner Mary Dietz served on the faculty
of the Center for Women in Law – UT
School of Law Boot Camp. (Austin)
• Partner Wilson Chu serves on the
board of directors of the Texas Minority
Counsel Program, and the Dallas
office sponsored the organization’s
2010 annual conference. (Dallas)
• Partner Felicia Washington serves on
the advisory group to the CharlotteMecklenburg Managing Partners and
General Counsel Diversity Initiative,
to which K&L Gates is a signatory,
and the Charlotte Office participates
in initiatives and events. (Charlotte)
• The firm is a title sponsor of the Corporate
Counsel Women of Color conference each
year. Seattle partner Pallavi Wahi served
as the moderator of a panel titled “General
Counsel Roundtable: An Update on
Regulatory/Legal Issues and Best Practices
in Law Department Management.” (firmwide)
• Partner Felicia Washington presented at
the 2011 Law Day program hosted by
Communities in Schools. (Charlotte)
• The Los Angeles office sponsored the
2010 Southern California Chapter of
the Association of Corporate Counsel’s
Annual Diversity Award. The award
was given to the Sempra Energy
Law Department. (Los Angeles)
• Partner Kim Askew presented at the
ABA Women in Law Leadership
Academy and spoke on a panel at
the Dallas Bar Association’s 2010
Inspiring Women CLE. (Dallas)
• The Miami office co-hosted a reception
with the Hispanic Bar Foundation. (Miami)
• Partner Martin Garza served as a
panelist at the Hispanic National Bar
Association Annual Convention in
Minneapolis and serves as the president
of the Friends of Dallas Law Magnet
High School Foundation. (Dallas)
• The Miami office and associate Christopher
Tillson, along with the Bolivian-America
Chamber of Commerce, hosted a
visit from the Minister of Economy &
Public Finance of Bolivia. (Miami)
-24-
• Partner Richard Winston hosted the ABA/
IBA/IFA Latin American reception. (Miami)
• Partner Karen Salas-Morales hosted
the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of
Commerce reception. (Miami)
• The Portland office is sponsoring and
partner Carol McCoog is speaking at
the National Asian Pacific American Bar
Association Regional Conference. (Portland)
• Partner Denise Stiffarm is the board president
of and the Seattle office sponsors the Chief
Seattle Club annual dinner. (Seattle)
• The Seattle office sponsored the South Asian
Bar Banquet, and partner Pallavi Wahi was
the organization’s first female president and
continues to serve on its board. (Seattle)
-25-
Sponsorships
• The University of Texas Minority
Women Pursuing the Law (Austin)
• Filipino Lawyers of Washington first
annual barrio fiesta (Seattle)
• Lesbian and Gay Bar Association
of Massachusetts (Boston)
• Latina/Latino Bar Association of
Washington annual awards gala (Seattle)
• Thurgood Marshall College Fund 7th
Annual Scholarship Dinner (Charlotte)
• Loren Miller Bar Association annual
gala and dinner (Seattle)
• Dallas Asian American Bar Association
2010 Awards reception (Dallas)
• Northwest Indian Bar Association
annual dinner (Seattle)
• Annual Retreat of the Asian Pacific Interest
Section of the State Bar of Texas (Dallas)
• South Asian Bar Association (Seattle)
• Legal Momentum, the Women’s
Legal Defense and Education
Fund (Washington, D.C.)
• J.L. Turner Legal Association
scholarship gala (Dallas)
• Dallas Hispanic Bar Association
Annual Lighting the Path to Legal
Education event (Dallas)
• On a firmwide basis, the firm is the
title sponsor of the Corporate Counsel
Women of Color and a sponsor of the
National Association of Women Lawyers,
the Association of Law Firm Diversity
Professionals, the Minority Corporate
Counsel Association, the Hispanic
National Bar Association, the National Bar
Association, the American Bar Association
Minority Counsel Program, the National
Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the
Thurgood Marshall College Fund Annual
Scholarship dinner, the Street Law annual
awards dinner, Lambda Legal, and the
National LGBT Bar Association. (firmwide)
• Dallas Debate Alliance (Dallas)
• Puerto Rican Bar Association
of Florida (Miami)
• The Cruz Reynoso Fellowship
(San Francisco)
• QLaw Association annual banquet (Seattle)
• Washington Minority Bar Associations
Collaboration Project (WAMBAC)
statewide diversity conference (Seattle)
• Asian Bar Association of Washington
annual dinner and banquet (Seattle)
• Chief Seattle Club (Seattle)
-26-
James M. Nabrit Lecture Series
The firm was the inaugural sponsor of and
continues to be the sole sponsor of a lecture
series honoring James M. Nabrit at the Howard
University School of Law. The firm’s support
of the lecture series has allowed students to
hear presentations from U.S. Supreme Court
justices, U.S. Cabinet officials, ranking members
of Congress, and prominent judges and law
professors from around the country.
In 2011, speakers at the lecture series included
Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme
Court; author William T. Coleman, Jr.; and
Valerie B. Jarrett, senior advisor and assistant to
the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and
Public Engagement.
-27-
For more information about our diversity initiatives, please contact:
Valerie Jackson
Firmwide Director of Diversity & Inclusion
+1.202.778.9185
valerie.jackson@klgates.com
Paul Sweeney, Jr.
Partner & Chair of Diversity Committee
+1.310.552.5055
paul.sweeney@klgates.com
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K&L Gates includes lawyers practicing out of 37 offices located in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle
East, and represents numerous GLOBAL 500, FORTUNE 100, and FTSE 100 corporations, in addition to growth
and middle market companies, entrepreneurs, capital market participants and public sector entities. For more
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This publication is for informational purposes and does not contain or convey legal advice. The information herein should not be used or relied upon in regard to
any particular facts or circumstances without first consulting a lawyer.
©2011 K&L Gates LLP. All Rights Reserved.
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