Welcome and Opening Remarks from MCCA’s CEO & President, Jean Lee

Words May Inspire but Only Action Creates Change: Where Are We Today?

 
Almost one year ago corporate America joined activists and concerned citizens in condemning the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other Black Americans. Numerous corporate statements of support were shared in support of the Black Lives Matter movement acknowledging centuries of oppression and that more must be done to eradicate the existing systems that perpetuate inequities.

Many viewed the broad corporate statements of support with skepticism and noted that charitable giving and statements alone will not effectuate real change. Others noted the disconnect between what businesses were saying and actually doing. Why is this moment different than countless others? Is this a moment or movement? These are just a few questions that were raised as pledges of support and change proliferated across our country. Confronted with this stark reality of systemic racism in our society and the public’s skepticism; corporate leaders, advocates, and lawyers united to demand meaningful change; calling for an end to systemic racism, encouraging personal and institutional reflection to further anti-racism and sharing action plans with measurable goals and accountability.

This panel will discuss where are we now one year later and what has been the impact on the legal profession. Leaders will share their personal and organizational commitments to change, transparency and accountability, and the action plans they are implementing to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

Panelists:

• Bryan Brantley – Partner, McGuireWoods LLP
• Seth Krauss – Chief Legal Officer, Endeavor
• Marie Ma – Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Gap Inc.
• Debbie Walters-Francique – Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, Pfizer Inc.
• Neil Wilcox – Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Fiserv, Inc.

Break

With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility: Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Racism

 
Increasingly companies see AI as critical to their future, however, concerns about possible misuse of the technology are on the rise. In a recent Deloitte survey, 76 percent of executives said they expected AI to “substantially transform” their companies within three years, while about a third of respondents named ethical risks as one of the top three concerns about the technology. Recently, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission indicated an increasing focus on fairness in AI, with one of its five commissioners publicly stating that it should expand its oversight of discriminatory AI.

This panel will discuss how the legal profession urgently needs to tackle the ethical issues that AI raises, including how AI may further marginalize protected groups and perpetuate existing bias in the legal system. Our esteemed presenters offer guidance for navigating the ethics of AI and minimizing AI’s potentially discriminatory effects where AI is integrated into legal decision-making, including in an attorney’s role as legal advisor for their client’s business decisions.

Moderator:
Charles Imohiosen – Of Counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Panelists:

• Donna Haddad – Global Senior Counsel, IBM Data and Watson AI, IBM
• Rick McFarland – Chief Data Officer, Lexis Nexis, a RELX Company
• William Wilson – Senior Corporate Counsel, Autodesk, Inc.

Networking Reception

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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: The Ascension of ESG

 
In a recent report from Harvard Business Review, a third of all professionally managed global assets, or roughly $30 trillion, are now subject to ESG criteria. That represents an increase of more than 30% since 2016. Increasingly we have heard statements valuing company stakeholders over shareholders and investment demand has shown that the ESG theme is gaining traction.

BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street have all made boardroom, leadership and workforce diversity a focus and stakeholder demands for corporations to make their leadership more diverse have increased as ESG metrics have drawn more attention. In December 2020, Nasdaq filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt new listing rules related to board diversity and disclosure. If approved by the SEC, the new listing rules would require all companies listed on Nasdaq’s U.S. exchange to publicly disclose consistent, transparent diversity statistics regarding their board of directors. Such steps, although critical, need to be accompanied by fundamental shifts in the board’s understanding of which directors should be recruited, how the board should engage in discussions about racial justice, and how directors should hold themselves and the company’s leaders accountable.

This panel will discuss the importance of developing and implementing a boardroom diversity long-term strategy, transparency including public disclosure of board diversity measures and workforce data, and accountability for companies where board diversity falls behind market norms and expectations.

Moderator:
Belinda Vega – Partner, Venable LLP

Panelists:

• Andrew Droste – Board Advisory Specialist, Russell Reynolds Associates
• Julie Reiser – Partner, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
• Kim Yapchai – Senior Vice President, Chief ESG Officer, Tenneco Inc.

Break

Hard Roads Require Will of Steel: The Obstacles Black Women Face in Law Firms and How to Be a Champion and an Ally

 
Progress to increase diversity in the legal profession has been slow, with only small gains for women and almost none for women of color over the last decade. Women of color continue to be significantly underrepresented in equity partnership ranks at majority owned law firms. According to our 2020 Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Survey Report, women of color comprised 3.3% of equity partners, up from 3.1% in 2018. Black/African American women have seen the least gains and continue to represent less than 1% of equity partners. These numbers are even more disappointing when we look deeper into our longitudinal data where progress has essentially been flat the last twelve years. Our research shows in 2007 (before the 2008 recession) Black/African American women comprised less than .5% of equity partners at majority owned firms.

John Lewis stated, “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week or one year. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”

This panel will discuss what clients can do to amplify their efforts to ensure their women of color outside counsel have an equal chance to develop and succeed. This outstanding panel of Black/African American women partners will share their professional journeys, the obstacles they have faced and how clients can be their champions and allies.

Moderator:
Mike Jackson – Assistant General Counsel/Senior Director for Microsoft’s Global Workplace Investigations Team (WIT), Microsoft Corporation

Panelists:

• Mylan Denerstein – Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
• Mareesa Frederick – Partner, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
• Jill Louis – Office Managing Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
• Lorraine McGowen – Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Closing Remarks from MCCA’s CEO & President, Jean Lee

Break

Networking Reception