McGuireWoods Becomes First Law Firm to ‘Adopt’ MCCA Mentoring Program

McGuireWoods Becomes First Law Firm to ‘Adopt’ MCCA Mentoring Program

WASHINGTON, DC – The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) announced that McGuireWoods LLP has become the first law firm to create a firm-wide volunteer pool for MCCA’s new KAN-Do! Mentoring Program. Nearly 120 McGuireWoods lawyers volunteered to be KAN-Do! Mentors, which is more than 10 percent of its lawyers, and they represent all of McGuireWoods 15 U.S. offices.

“To have so many lawyers from one firm sign up to mentor diverse law students is impressive. It shows McGuireWoods’ commitment to diversity,” Veta Richardson, Executive Director of MCCA said. “For lawyers from historically underrepresented groups, including women, racial/ethnic minorities, LGBT lawyers and lawyers with disabilities, mentoring can be an instrumental element in advancing their careers and helping them break through the glass ceiling.”

KAN-Do! Mentoring stands for Knowledge Access Networks, is a mentoring program designed to advance diversity in the practice of law. MCCA developed this web-based approach to mentoring to empower seasoned lawyers in its network to connect with up and coming diverse lawyers.

“When we learned of the KAN-Do! Mentoring program, we immediately wanted to adopt it as a way for our lawyers to give back to the legal profession,” said Richard Cullen, Chairman of McGuireWoods. “The fact that so many of our lawyers have stepped forward to mentor a new, diverse generation of law students speaks not only of our commitment to diversity, but our excitement about this program’s potential in helping historically underrepresented groups succeed as the ‘next generation’ of lawyers.”

Three key aspects to the KAN-Do program are:

Knowledge – Through research and education efforts, MCCA focuses on increasing knowledge of diversity issues and strives to be a trusted knowledge center on diversity issues for the entire legal profession.

Access – MCCA’s diversity best practices and programs, such as the CLE Expo, its Pathways to Diversity® Conferences and “Hot Jobs” emails are designed to provide greater access to opportunities for diverse lawyers.

Networks – Participants in MCCA face-to-face and online events consistently rate these events highly for the networking opportunities they make available. It’s MCCA’s goal to offer people who are committed to advancing diversity a variety of ways to connect with one another and to build their professional and personal networks.

For more information about this program, visit the MCCA website, click on “Career Center” and go to the section on “Mentoring Program.” If you, your corporate law department or law firm are interested in becoming involved with the MCCA KAN-Do! Mentoring program contact Lori L. Garrett at MCCA (404) 870-4619 or email her at lorigarrett@mcca.com

The Minority Corporate Counsel Association advocates for the expanded hiring, retention, and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate legal departments and the law firms that serve them. Since its founding in 1997, MCCA has emerged as the legal profession’s knowledge leader on diversity issues and its expanded platform  offers solutions to diversity management challenges involving women, physically challenged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lawyers, in addition to attorneys of color (which remains its primary focus).

MCCA advances its mission by publishing innovative research, illuminating diversity best practices, honoring diversity leadership with its prestigious Employer of Choice and Thomas L. Sager awards, and assisting diverse law students through the Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Program. MCCA’s award-winning programs and services have been cited by several leading organizations, including the National Minority Business Council, Inc., the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National LGBT Bar Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

McGuireWoods LLP is a full-service law firm with approximately 900 lawyers in 18 offices in the United States, Europe and Central Asia, providing legal counsel to clients around the world. For more information, visit www.mcguirewoods.com.

MCCA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and also has a southeast regional office in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, go to mcca.com.