Diversity Matters - Vol. 2017, Issue 1
Welcome to the 2017 edition of Diversity Matters. Here, you will read about Pepper’s promotion of four female attorneys to partner and two more to of counsel. It marks the first time the firm has promoted six women in one class. You will also read some advice proffered by successful women lawyers from Pepper in this edition. In 2016 and continuing this year, all of our partners and of counsel have been required to undergo implicit bias training, which was conducted by Dr. Arin Reeves of Nextions Consulting.
Pepper’s 2017 Champion of Diversity is Sharon Barner, Vice President and General Counsel of Cummins Inc., who has had a long career of promoting, and motivating others to promote, diversity and inclusion in the legal field. She and the winners of our seventh annual Honorable James T. Giles High School Essay Contest were honored at the 12th Annual Celebrate Diversity event held on July 19, 2017.
In order to continue our diversity pipeline work, we also invited the high school essay participants to a program on "fake news," the First Amendment and the media, graciously hosted by Michael Days, Editor for Reader Engagement and Vice President of Philadelphia Media Network, at the offices of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com.
With the help of the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity, we also enlisted recent law school grads and seasoned attorneys to conduct an academic and professional success program for law students to teach them skills they will need to excel in law school and how to navigate their legal careers. You will also read about the work of our attorneys to preserve the memory of a little-known African-American civil rights activist, who helped to secure rights for all during and immediately after the Civil War.
Lastly, you will read about some of the engagements of the members of our affinity groups, including the Veterans Group’s recognition of Brigadier General (ret.) Carol Eggert, who served in the Army, Army Reserves and National Guard, at our annual Memorial Day event, where she shared her efforts to provide opportunity and support to veterans in the workforce. We hope you will read this newsletter and continue to work with us to improve diversity and inclusion in the legal field.
The material in this publication was created as of the date set forth above and is based on laws, court decisions, administrative rulings and congressional materials that existed at that time, and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinions on specific facts. The information in this publication is not intended to create, and the transmission and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship.