Gold Sponsor

About​ Latham & Watkins

www.lw.com

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Platinum Sponsor

About Barnes & Thornburg LLP

www.btlaw.com

You’ll find us at the heart of business. With more than 800 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. We serve clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, South Florida, Texas and Washington, D.C. We provide guidance in more than 50 dedicated practice areas in litigation, intellectual property, labor and employment, government services and finance, healthcare, real estate, environmental, corporate, and finance, restructuring and insolvency. We understand that true dedication to DEI requires action. That is why we have made the deliberate commitment to align the business of DEI with the business of the firm. Three pillars anchor our DEI commitment: Sponsorship, Integration, and Culture.

Click below to learn more about our firm:

Our DEI Advantage: https://insight.btlaw.com/21/1174/uploads/dei-advantage.pdf 

Soak Up Knowledge – Podcast & Videos: https://btlaw.com/en/insights/videos-and-podcasts

2022 DEI Annual Report: https://btlaw.com/en/insights/publications/2023/2022-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-annual-report

Why did you decide to become a NBA-CLS sponsor?

We decided to do so because the NBA is a great organization that has historically supported African American lawyers and the African American Community. It also has led to great networking for our lawyers and the development of substantial relationships with in-house counsel. Moreover, it has a support network for our African American lawyers that focuses on some of the unique issues those lawyers may have in navigating historically majority group firms. With that, comes leadership opportunities for our African American lawyers that enhance their name recognition, practices and community engagement. In short, the professional and personal group the NBA provides for our African American lawyers is unmatched by any other professional organization in America.

Additional Information

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the legal industry abound. At Barnes & Thornburg, however, they are not just initiatives or programs. Instead, all are part of our long-standing core values, fully and deliberately integrated into the way we do business. Our mission is simple: to position all of our talent to win – individually, collectively, and for our clients.

Through conscious programming, engaged sponsorship and the continual internal and external investment of time, talent and resources, we are building and sustaining an inclusive, respectful, and open culture made up of accomplished individuals of all backgrounds.

Our commitment is authentic and spearheaded by one of our longstanding and active equity partners (Dawn R. Rosemond), who serves full-time as the Firm Diversity Partner for all of our offices. She reports directly to the Firm Managing Partner, works in tandem with him to drive strategy, and meets at least monthly with the Management Committee to facilitate substantive discussion regarding strides, challenges and opportunities. Empowering an existing owner to serve in this capacity as their primary role was a deliberate and bold move on the part of firm leadership to drive change. This top-down commitment has proven effective and has produced tangible positive results for the firm relative to each of our platform pillars and beyond.

September 2023 Attorney Spotlights

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Gold Sponsor

About​ Fish and Richardson PC

www.fr.com

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Platinum Sponsor

About Stinson

www.stinson.com

Stinson LLP collaborates with clients ranging from individuals and privately held enterprises to national companies and international public corporations. Our accomplished attorneys leverage deep knowledge and experience to deliver practical guidance, helping clients minimize risks and realize opportunities. We take pride in our collaborative approach, our lasting relationships and our unique perspectives. Connect with us at one of our 13 offices nationwide.

Why did you decide to become a NBA-CLS sponsor?

Stinson LLP decided to first sponsor the NBA CLS conference because one of our partners was moderating a CLE panel at the conference in Dana Point, CA and sponsorship was participation criteria. We therefore decided that sponsorship was a worthwhile investment based on the decades of intentional work that the Commercial Law section of the NBA has done to increase the visibility and marketability of Black lawyers in large law firms and corporations. Stinson LLP further supported sponsorship based on our partner who was granted an interview at the conference expo which ultimately resulted in engagement of some of the companies in attendance. In addition, the high quality, yet relatively small number of conference attendees, appeared to be a wonderful combination for high-level networking that would produce measurable results.

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