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Date:

September 25, 2013

Time:

8:30am - 2:00pm

Location:

Cipriani 42nd Street

110 East 42nd Street (Between Lexington & Park Avenues)

New York, NY

Best Law Career Accelerator Summit

Building a Leadership Pipeline for Women. Thirty percent has become the magic number to target for women in leadership roles at the equity partner ranks, on influential committees and as department chairs at law firms. At this program, we will learn from a panel of women law firm chairs and managing partners about how to gain a critical mass of women to not only get a seat at the table but also give them the voice to change law firm management. Through breakout discussions, attendees will debate the steps to creating greater transparency in the leadership pipeline, grooming high potential candidates for key roles, developing robust leadership training, engaging senior women and men as sponsors, as well as empowering women to raise their hand for leadership and seek strategic alliances. Attendees will leave the program, armed with action steps and inspiration to redesign women’s roles at law firms and cultivate the female talent pool to get on the path to power.

Awards Luncheon Keynote

Inspiring the Success of Women of Color in Law Firms. The “double bind” that women of color face cannot be underestimated in the law firm context. As law firms undertake the second generation of initiatives to enhance the advancement of women, how do they acknowledge how race and ethnicity and other cultural differences can compound the barriers to success that women face? What type of awareness, dialogue, and cultural skills are necessary to ensure that law firm efforts to elevate women are inclusive of all women?

Diversity consultant and author Vernā Myers’ remarks and facilitated conversation will give attendees the opportunity to engage in a more open, inclusive and nuanced discussion about these issues and consider how to foster such conversations in their firms.

Agenda

8:30 am - 9:10 am Breakfast & Registration

9:10 am - 9:30 am Welcome Remarks

Carol Evans / President / Working Mother Media

9:30 am - 10:15 am Panel: Building a Leadership Pipeline for Women

Thirty percent has become the magic number to target for women in leadership roles at the equity partner ranks, on influential committees and as department chairs at law firms. At this program, we will learn from a panel of women law firm chairs and managing partners about how to gain a critical mass of women to not only get a seat at the table but also give them the voice to change law firm management. Through breakout discussions, attendees will debate the steps to creating greater transparency in the leadership pipeline, grooming high potential candidates for key roles, developing robust leadership training, engaging senior women and men as sponsors, as well as empowering women to raise their hand for leadership and seek strategic alliances. Attendees will leave the program, armed with action steps and inspiration to redesign women’s roles at law firms and cultivate the female talent pool to get on the path to power.

Moderator:

Deborah Epstein Henry / Founder & President / Law & Reorder, A Division of Flex-Time Lawyers LLC

Panelists:

Ellen Moran Dwyer / Managing Partner / Crowell & Moring LLP

Anastasia D. Kelly / Co-Managing Partner (Americas) / DLA Piper

Susan C. Levy / Managing Partner / Jenner & Block

10:15 am - 10:45 am Breakout Conversations

10:45 am - 11:30 am Report Back & Conversation

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Cocktail Reception

12:00 pm - 12:55 pm Awards Luncheon & Welcome Remarks

Carol Evans / President / Working Mother Media

12:55 pm - 1:25 pm Keynote: Inspiring the Success of Women of Color in Law Firms

The “double bind” that women of color face cannot be underestimated in the law firm context. As law firms undertake the second generation of initiatives to enhance the advancement of women, how do they acknowledge how race and ethnicity and other cultural differences can compound the barriers to success that women face? What type of awareness, dialogue, and cultural skills are necessary to ensure that law firm efforts to elevate women are inclusive of all women?

Diversity consultant and author Vernā Myers’ remarks and facilitated conversation will give attendees the opportunity to engage in a more open, inclusive and nuanced discussion about these issues and consider how to foster such conversations in their firms.

Vernā Myers / Principal / Vernā Myers Consulting Group, LLC

1:25 pm - 1:40 pm Conversation

Deborah Epstein Henry / Founder & President / Law & Reorder, A Division of Flex-Time Lawyers LLC

Vernā Myers / Principal / Vernā Myers Consulting Group, LLC

1:40 pm – 2:00 pm Awards Presentation: 50 Best Law Firms for Women