Shipman & Goodwin LLP
Counselors at Law

CULTIVATING DIVERSITY
March 2017

We are committed to achieving a workplace that is reflective of the clients we serve and the communities in which we live and work.

Firm Endorses Two Diversity and Inclusion Pledges

Shipman & Goodwin has proudly endorsed American Bar Association Resolution No. 113 and the Connecticut Bar Association’s Diversity & Inclusion Plan and Pledge for the Connecticut Legal Community.
 
On August 8, 2016, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates passed ABA Resolution No. 113 urging all providers of legal services to expand and create opportunities at all levels of responsibility for diverse attorneys.  It further urged the chief legal officers of Fortune 1000 companies to assist in facilitating the creation of opportunities for diverse attorneys and direct a greater percentage of the legal services they purchase, both currently and in the future, to diverse attorneys.
 
In 2016, the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) began an initiative to bring together legal leaders in the state to enhance diversity and inclusion within their own organizations and within the Connecticut legal community as a whole.  As part of this effort, the CBA began soliciting signatories for a collective pledge reflecting the commitment of Connecticut legal organizations to create more diverse and inclusive environments and for a collaborative plan to achieve this goal.  The CBA plan is intended to identify and implement best practices for the promotion of diversity and inclusion, with a different focus for each of the next several years, including organizational self-assessment and building a diversity infrastructure; education and training; hiring and pipeline initiatives; retention; and leadership and career advancement.  The pledge and plan, which are available at ctbar.org/pledge, were presented at the Inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Summit on October 26, 2016, at Quinnipiac University School of Law.  The Firm was a cornerstone sponsor of the Summit, where attendees participated in workshops and panel discussions to learn why diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do, but is good business; how implicit bias impacts the workplace; what strategies to use to implement diversity and inclusion within their organizations; and how to track and measure progress using best practice benchmarks.  The Firm’s Managing Partner, Alan Lieberman, attended the Summit, along with Leander Dolphin, Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and Dan Schwartz and Alfredo Fernández, members of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.  Alfredo also advised the Summit Planning Committee on behalf of the CBA Young Lawyers Section and as a leader in the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association. 
 
Our endorsement of ABA Resolution No. 113 and the CBA Plan and Pledge is consistent with the Firm’s long-standing commitment to its core values.  These core values include a commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace marked by mutual respect among colleagues at all levels and a commitment to each other marked by collegiality, compassion, candor, honesty, fairness, self-sacrifice and good humor.  These commitments both guide our day-to-day decisions and actions and define Shipman & Goodwin as an institution.  (Picture Caption: Justice McDonald, CBA President Monte Frank, Chief Justice Rogers, CBA President-elect Karen DeMeola, Attorney General Jepsen, Allen Gary Palmer, Justice Robinson, and Diversity & Inclusion Summit Committee Chair Christine Jean-Louis

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION

Two Attorneys Promoted to Partner

The Firm named Michele L. Backus and William J. Roberts Partners of the Firm as of January 1, 2017. Michele is a member of the Insurance & Reinsurance and Litigation practice groups and practices in our Washington, D.C. office.  She has been listed as a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer® Rising Star in the area of Insurance Coverage from 2013 to the present.
 
Bill is a member of the Health Law Practice Group and is the Chair of the Firm’s Privacy and Data Protection team.  In 2014, Bill was appointed by the ABA to serve as a Business Law Section Envoy for a two-year term (2014-2016).  As part of the ABA’s leadership and diversity outreach program recognizing a small number of outstanding junior, diverse, and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender lawyers, the Envoy Program provides leadership opportunities within the Business Law Section in order to increase diversity in the Section and to identify new leaders to help shape the future of the Section.

Dolphin Receives 100 Women of Color Award
Leander Dolphin, a Partner in the Firm’s School Law Practice Group, was recognized at the 100 Women of Color Gala & Awards event in Hartford, Connecticut.  The award recognized 100 women of color from Springfield, Massachusetts to Stamford, Connecticut for their leadership, entrepreneurial success and community service.

PIPELINE INITIATIVES

Opportunities For Diverse Students

Our commitment to introducing the law to diverse students begins early with a variety of efforts aimed at educating youth about the legal system and the legal profession.  
 
At the high school level, we sponsor Law Day at the Firm, an annual event designed to give students from diverse backgrounds an inside view of life at a law firm.  In addition, we partner with area high schools to offer a diverse high school senior the opportunity to spend time in a law firm environment, learning about different areas of law, interacting with practitioners, and developing legal reasoning and written and oral communication skills.  Each year, we host a tutoring program for students from the Fred D. Wish School in Hartford, Connecticut. Volunteer tutors are paired with students in grades 3 through 8, and the students visit the Firm once per week for an hour.  During that time, tutors assist students with their homework and take part in educational activities and games.  In addition, our attorneys often participate in diversity bar association events. For example, Alfredo Fernández will be a panelist at a Pre-Law Symposium hosted by the CBA Young Lawyers Section at Quinnipiac University School of Law on March 22.  The event is a full day educational program designed to teach students from Connecticut’s cities about the law and to hopefully encourage them to consider a career in the legal profession.
 
At the law student level, we have been involved with the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity (LCD) since its inception in 2003, when it was formed to make Connecticut a more attractive place for diverse lawyers by uniting the resources, energy and commitment of Connecticut’s law firms, corporations, public sector entities, law schools and state bar associations.  Each fall, we host LCD’s annual mentor event that partners law students of color from area law schools with attorneys in the local legal community. 
We also partner with clients to offer summer associate positions to diverse law students.  Last year, we partnered with UnitedHealth Group to provide meaningful learning opportunities for two diverse 1L students.  The two students spent five weeks in the Firm’s summer associate program and then spent five weeks at UnitedHealth Group to learn about working in a corporate legal environment. This year, we are partnering with The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. to afford two diverse law students, both from UConn School of Law, the opportunity to gain experience working in both a law firm and an in-house legal department.  Given the very competitive nature of recruitment, this opportunity provides invaluable experience to these students early on in their legal careers and helps to build their legal knowledge and resumes.
 
Since 2010, the Firm has been involved with the Legal Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), a partnership between corporate chief legal officers and managing partners dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.  We have participated annually in the 1L LCLD Scholars Program, sending a diverse student to the LCLD Scholars Summit each summer for networking opportunities and presentations on how to be successful in the legal field.

UConn Law School Diversity Week

For the fifth consecutive year, the Firm will be the exclusive law firm sponsor of UConn School of Law’s Diversity Week which occurs each March.  This year’s theme is “Missed Conversations,” and the agenda includes presentations on immigration, implicit bias, and LGBTQ issues, among others. Throughout the week, student organizations will host a variety of events that encourage community members to pause and appreciate how each member contributes to the Law School’s campus culture. For more details on the event, visit https://www.law.uconn.edu.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Shattering The Glass Ceiling: Tips From Women at the Top

On October 18, as part of its “In Community” Series, the Firm hosted Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Tips From Women at the Top.  The panel featured: Nancy Wyman, Lieutenant Governor, State of Connecticut; Alexandra D. DiPentima, Chief Judge, Connecticut Appellate Court; Joelle A. Murchison, Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, UConn; and Harriet Munrett Wolfe, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Webster Financial Corporation. Partners Jessica Ritter and Leander Dolphin, Co-Chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, introduced and moderated the panel. This impressive panel of women ceiling crashers from corporate, educational, political and legal backgrounds shared their personal experiences and success stories, and then discussed barriers that remain and ideas to create a more equitable and competitive workplace.
 
This presentation is the ninth of the Firm’s In Community series, presentations focusing on a variety of issues facing our workforce and community. Other titles have included:
Working With the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Population: A Case Study Under the ADA

Race and Cultural Identity in the Working Environment

Understanding Gender Identity and Expression and Its Impact in the Workplace
Understanding Islam
“Not for Sale” - Combating Child Trafficking and Exploitation
“Gotta Have Faith?” - Religion and the Workplace
The Mischief Biases Play in Law and the Legal Profession
A Conversation About Race and Criminal Justice Reform in Connecticut

Partner Retreat Focuses on Implicit Bias and Diversity

The Firm hosted its annual Partner Retreat on September 22 - 24, 2016, at the Mystic Marriott in Groton, Connecticut. This year’s agenda focused on Implicit Bias and Diversity and Inclusion. Our guest speakers were Professors Kimberly Norwood and Richard Harvey.
 
Kimberly Norwood is a Professor of Law, African Studies, and African American Studies at Washington University School of Law. She served on the ABA’s Diversity and Inclusion 360 Commission. She is a prolific writer and frequent speaker on issues surrounding race and implicit bias.  Richard D. Harvey, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Saint Louis University; his research primarily centers around Collective Identity and its relationship to a variety of social group related (e.g., prejudice, stigma and colorism) and organization related (e.g. engagement, performance) phenomena. 
 
The retreat kicked off with a plenary session entitled “Bias in the Mind, Life and the Practice of Law” presented by Kimberly Norwood. Following the plenary, there were several group sessions and exercises focused on analyses of biases with Professor Richard Harvey. The group sessions culminated in a group report and discussion which yielded results that were at times surprising and eye-opening. The report and accompanying statistics were used as a basis for discussion of where we stand currently as a Firm as well as a basis for discussion of next steps toward the goal of increasing diversity and inclusion at the Firm specifically, and in the legal profession generally.

Implicit Bias Training For Attorneys and Supervisory Staff

As a follow-up to the Partner Retreat, the Firm is conducting implicit bias training for all attorneys and supervisory staff involved in the evaluation process.  Performance reviews that suffer from a lack of clearly defined objectives, ineffective communication, too many subjective and non-specific criteria, uncomfortable dynamics and other shortcomings are most susceptible to bias, so Gabe Jiran and Kevin Roy, Partners in our Labor, Employment and Benefits Practice Group, outlined common shortcomings in evaluations, as well as a list of dos and don’ts designed to raise awareness of bias and educate evaluators in order to produce more effective performance evaluations.

Women at the Helm (WATH) To Host Several Networking Events

Women at the Helm, our networking alliance, strives to provide a platform for our women attorneys and clients to share their insights, ideas, experiences and inspirations.  Through various events and meetings, diverse and talented women are brought together to establish longstanding, valuable relationships and to enhance their network. WATH is committed to cultivating an environment that advocates professional development and promotes the advancement of women.  Internally, WATH provides a forum for discussion of issues facing women attorneys and serves as an avenue for developing mentoring relationships.
 
This year, WATH will be hosting an internal celebration, as well as a series of brown bag lunches featuring guests who are trailblazers in the business community. In May, WATH will host its 3rd Annual Golf Clinic at Lyman Orchards, providing  an opportunity for our women lawyers and guests at all levels of ability and interest to take some lessons from LPGA instructors and to enjoy each other’s company.  

Black History Month Celebration

We celebrated Black History Month in our Hartford office on February 28, 2017, with a presentation entitled “Sing the Truth: Voices From The Amistad Center.” 
 
“Sing the Truth” is a traveling exhibition from The Amistad Center for Arts and Culture at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.  The exhibition, which celebrates how “Black women musicians created a soundtrack for the Modern Civil Rights movement,” officially launched at the New Haven Free Public Library and has traveled to various locations around Connecticut. We were proud to be able to feature the exhibition as a part of Shipman & Goodwin’s 2017 Black History Month Celebration.
 
During our celebration, attendees had a chance to view the exhibition, which included a banner display of photographs and short stories of African American female vocalists, including the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Mahalia Jackson and Lena Horne. In addition, Dr. Frank Mitchell, Executive Director of the Amistad Center, provided a presentation on the genesis of the exhibition and the featured artists, including musical selections.

One Big Event

Shipman & Goodwin was a sponsor of the The Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective’s annual One Big Event fundraiser on Saturday, October 15, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. One Big Event is one of the premier LGBTQ events in Hartford, featuring cocktails, dinner, silent and live auctions and dancing. The money raised at the event supports the programs and services that the Health Collective provides to predominately LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities.

National Sponsorships Offer Networking and Client Development Opportunities

Shipman & Goodwin sponsors several conferences nationally that allow our diverse attorneys opportunities for networking and client development.  Each year, we send four attorneys to the National Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Conference, a conference for corporate legal departments committed to identifying and retaining African American attorneys as outside counsel. This year’s attendees, Robert Simpson, Clarisse Thomas, Latonia Williams and Amanda Oakes, are shown (left to right) accepting the plaque commemorating the Firm’s gold sponsorship.  In addition, we send three of our diverse women attorneys to the Corporate Counsel Women of Color annual conference, which is designed to provide a support network to in-house women attorneys of color and to promote the national and international advancement of women of color in the legal profession and workplace.

Contact Us:

To learn more about our commitment to diversity and our diversity initiatives, please contact: Leander A. Dolphin at (860) 251-5086 or ldolphin@goodwin.com or Kevin M. Roy at (860) 251-5162 or kroy@goodwin.com. 

For a complete list of diversity events/sponsorships, visit www.shipmangoodwin.com/diversityevents.

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