Lavender Link is the LGBT Bar’s educational program series for legal professionals. It’s designed by in-house counsel for in-house counsel, but is available for all who are interested in the issues facing in-house attorneys.
Big, Bold, and Bipartisan? Communications Policy During the Biden Administration
Sponsored by Womble Bond Dickinson’s Womble PRIDE
Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate. She is the host of the “Tech on the Rocks Podcast. Gigi is one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable and democratic communications networks. From 2013 to 2016, Gigi was Counselor to the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler. She advised the Chairman on a wide range of Internet, telecommunications and media issues, representing the Chairman and the FCC in a variety of public forums around the country as well as serving as the primary liaison between the Chairman’s office and outside stakeholders. From 2001-2013, Gigi served as the Co-Founder and CEO of Public Knowledge, a leading communications and intellectual property policy advocacy organization serving the interests of consumers in Washington. Gigi holds a B.S. in Broadcasting and Film, Summa Cum Laude, from the Boston University College of Communication and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Washington, DC with her wife, Lara Ballard, their daughter Yosselin and their cats, Pepe and Zap.
Mignon Clyburn, a member of President Joe Biden’s FCC Review Team, served 2 terms as FCC commissioner from August 2009 until June 2018. She also served as Acting FCC Chairwoman from May – November 2013. While at the FCC, Commissioner Clyburn was committed to closing the digital divide. She was an advocate for Lifeline Modernization, which assists low income consumers defray the cost of broadband service, championed diversity in media ownership, initiated Inmate Calling Services reforms, emphasized diversity and inclusion in STEM opportunities, and fought to preserve a free and open internet. Prior to the FCC, she spent 11 years as a member of the sixth district on the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Carolina. Prior to the PSC, she was the publisher and general manager of her family-founded newspaper for 14 years, the Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community.
Net neutrality. Closing the digital divide. The future of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Whether the protections provided to social media platform by Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act will be transformed. These and a host of other communications policy issues await the FCC under President Biden. Policy changes could have profound impact on businesses of all shapes and sizes and all parts of the country.
Watch an insightful discussion about the future of communications policy under the Biden administration with Consumer Advocate and Washington Insider, Gigi Sohn; introductions by former FCC Acting Chairwoman and Commissioner, Mignon Clyburn; and moderated by David Carter, Partner, Womble Bond Dickinson and Founder of TCPA Defense Force.
For more than 30 years, Gigi has worked across the country to defend and preserve the fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open and protective of user privacy, including as Counselor to the former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler during the Obama Administration. Gigi shares her thoughts about how the Biden administration might shape the communications landscape.
‘In Justice’ Series
Beyond Allyship: 10 Ways to Elevate and Activate For Your Black Colleagues
Mike Jackson is Assistant General Counsel/Senior Director for Microsoft’s Global Workplace Investigations Team (WIT). As a member of the WIT leadership team, Mike leads a team of seven ethics and compliance attorneys responsible for conducting complex workplace investigations for the U.S. and Canada (retail). Mike also leads WIT’s data governance team.
Prior to Microsoft, Mike was Director, Employee Relations Counsel at Target Corporation where he led the employment team for Target’s Central US region. Before Target, Mike led an Employee Relations and Labor Relations team for all of Smucker’s U.S. manufacturing facilities. Prior to Smucker, Mike was global employment counsel at McDonald’s Corporation.
Mike was recognized by the LGBT Bar as one of its 2019 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers under 40, and he was also recognized as an LCLD Fellow in 2019. Mike lives in Seattle, WA with his husband, Chad.
Nona Lee is Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Before dedicating her time solely to the D-backs, she served as Associate General Counsel and VP and Associate General Counsel for the Phoenix Suns, D-backs, Phoenix Mercury, Arizona Rattlers, Chase Field, US Airways Center and Dodge Theater. Lee is active in the community and in the sports industry, currently serving on the board of directors and as Immediate Past-President of the Sports Lawyers Association. In addition, Lee is an Arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s Sports Law and Commercial Business Panels. Lee also currently serves as a member the Board for Arizona State University’s Sports Law & Business Program, a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Sports Law Institute, and an Advisory Board Member for the Arizona Chapter of Women in Sports and Events. She is also the founder of the Phoenix Women’s Sports Association.
Bendita seeks to transform the legal profession into an inclusive industry where women, minorities, LGBT+, differently-abled and other professionals the world views differently are able to thrive. She works to create and implement Hogan Lovells’ diversity and inclusion strategy for the benefit of the firm’s clients, diverse professionals and culture. Bendita is honored to be able to engage in two of her passions at Hogan Lovells – serving as a catalyst for diverse professionals to be able to thrive and for others to invest in them, and working across difference to create community – by building systems, inspiring investment, and cultivating connections.
Bendita practiced law for nearly a decade and draws on her experiences as a large law firm lawyer financing projects in emerging markets, in-house counsel at International Finance Corporation and Goldman Sachs, a diversity consultant for large and mid-size organizations, and a certified professional coach to catalyze change in institutions and individuals. Bendita was honored as a 2015 Rising Star by Super Lawyers, to Who’s Who Legal – Project Finance in Washington, DC for 2015, and to Who’s Who in Black Dallas in 2016 and 2017.
Bendita also increases inclusivity in legal profession through service as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the National LGBT Bar, as a member of the Institute for Inclusion in Legal Profession’s Social Impact Incubator, as part of the national Mansfield Rule Taskforce implementing the transforming diversity rule in the legal industry in the US and UK, and on a committee to launch a version of the American Bar Association 113 diversity initiative in the UK market. She previously spent nearly a decade as a member of the Board of Directors of the Harvard Real Estate Academic Initiative. Bendita is a proud graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School. You can connect with Bendita at www.linkedin.com/in/bendita
Our esteemed panel of speakers shared tips on how to “Ally Up” and develop sustaining and evolving strategies for allyship.
LGBTQ+ and Black History: A Conversation
Zaylore Stout, Esq. received his B.A. from Cal State Fullerton in International Business Management and J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He served as an outsourced human-resource consultant for 12-years prior to attending law school. Upon graduation he founded, Zaylore Stout & Associates, LLC (ZSA), which handles employment law matters which include sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage & hour disputes. ZSA is a MBE, LGBTBE, and DOBE. Zaylore’s a former candidate for city council in St. Louis Park and member of the city’s Human Rights Commission. Zaylore is both domestically and internationally published, with his most recent book Our Gay History in 50 States selling thousands since its publication in October 2019. The book highlights the significant people, places, and “queer facts” relating to LGBTQIA history on a state-by-state basis. Zaylore has received many honors during the course of his career including but not limited to the Business of Pride Award through the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, the Lavender Magazine Community Award, and serving as the co-emcee for the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers annual gala.
Historian Zaylore Stout, recent author of “Our Gay History in 50 States,” joined us to add historical perspective to the national dialogue on racial equity. He focused on how two important January events (Inauguration and first MLK day since George Floyd) fit into our nation’s larger story.
Judging Injustice: Fireside Chat with Chief Justice Richard A Robinson
The Honorable Richard A. Robinson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Connecticut in 1979 and a Juris Doctor degree from West Virginia University School of Law in 1984. He was admitted to the West Virginia Bar and the Connecticut Bar, and is a member of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of West Virginia and the U.S. District Court, Connecticut.
From 1985 – 1988, Justice Robinson was Staff Counsel for the City of Stamford Law Department. In 1988, he became Assistant Corporation Counsel in Stamford where he remained until his appointment as a Judge of the Superior Court in 2000. He remained a Superior Court Judge for the next seven years during which time he served as Presiding Judge (Civil) for the New Britain Judicial District (May 2003 – September 2006); Presiding Judge (Civil) and Assistant Administrative Judge for the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District (September 2006 – September 2007); and Presiding Judge (Civil) for the Stamford Judicial District (September 2007 – December 2007). He was appointed as a Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court on December 10, 2007, a Justice of the Supreme Court on December 19, 2013 and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on May 3, 2018.
Our first video in this series brings together the Honorable Richard A. Robinson, Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court and the National LGBT Bar Association’s President Wesley Bizzell for a conversation focused on implicit bias, racial justice, and our country’s continued struggle toward racial equality. A longtime civil rights advocate, Justice Robinson has been named by the NAACP as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut and by Ebony Magazine as a Power 100 award winner. This conversation reflects on the tragic and disheartening events of this year, discusses the journey ahead, and provides tips for participants on how they can play a role in advancing equity, inclusion, and justice in their communities and workplaces.
Trans Awareness For The Workplace
Jamie Francesca Rodriguez focuses her practice on investigations, regulatory advising, dispute resolution, and diversity and inclusion matters. She is a former U.S. Air Force military attorney and satellite engineer. More recently, Ms. Rodriguez served as an Assistant General Counsel with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). She represents the firm’s clients in accident investigations conducted by the NTSB and U.S. military services, and advises on transportation regulatory matters, especially concerning autonomous vehicles, FAA aviation regulation, commercial space launch and satellite operations, and regulation by the FMCSA, NHTSA, and PHMSA.
Ms. Rodriguez also advises clients and speaks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and company policies, and serves as the Director of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for an aviation-related bar association.
More than 90% of Fortune 500 companies explicitly embrace gender identity non-discrimination policies (up from 3% in 2002). Therefore, you are more likely now than ever before to encounter transgender people and their colleagues in the workplace. In this presentation, Jamie Rodriguez, Senior Counsel at Holland & Knight LLP, will help us understand how to be aware and intentional in interacting with transgender individuals, how we can be allies to the transgender community, and the unique issues transgender people face in the workplace. In June 2019, Jamie was the first openly trans employee to transition at Holland & Knight LLP. By learning her story and listening to her guidance, we can help create inclusive workplaces and organizations, where transgender people feel supported, empowered, and safe to bring their authentic selves to work.
Bankruptcy 101: What Every In-House Lawyer Should Know as We Continue to Weather the Economic Fallout of COVID-19
Creditors, landlords, trustees and those with equity interests in commercial bankruptcy cases, fraudulent conveyance litigation and preference lawsuits rely on Jeff’s seasoned legal counsel. With more than 35 years of experience in bankruptcy cases, Jeff not only has the knowledge and background to deal with almost any issue that can arise in a commercial bankruptcy case, but he also has a long track record of achieving successful results for his clients.
Wendy Walker has been a Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at JPMorgan Chase Bank and head of the Commercial Bank’s Bankruptcy and Workout Legal group since Fall of 2014. Prior to that, Wendy was an associate and then a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP. Wendy started out of law school in 1990 as an Associate at Zalkin Rodin & Goodman which was acquired by Morgan Lewis in 1999.
As the economic fallout from COVID-19 continues to dominate headlines, many companies are confronting both the short-term and long-term impacts on the financial stability of their company, vendors and customers. Nearly every business will have to engage with issues related to bankruptcy proceedings in one way or another, and members of the National LGBT Bar Association serving as in-house counsel will be called upon to guide their organizations through the critical decisions about the fate of their companies or how to respond when debtors are unable to pay or perform. This webinar will be a one-hour introduction to the most significant issues companies are likely to encounter in bankruptcy cases, including the impact of the automatic stay, getting paid for services rendered, and continuing business with a debtor in bankruptcy.
If We Want To Go Far, Go Together: Partnering with Law Firm Diversity Professionals to Advance Change
Bendita seeks to transform the legal profession into an inclusive industry where women, minorities, LGBT+, differently-abled and other professionals the world views differently are able to thrive. She works to create and implement the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy for the for the benefit of our clients, our diverse professionals and our culture. Bendita is honored to be able to engage in two of her passions at Hogan Lovells – serving as a catalyst for diverse professionals to be able to thrive and for others to invest in them, and working across difference to create community – by building systems, inspiring investment, and cultivating connections.
Bendita practiced law for nearly a decade and draws on her experiences as a large law firm lawyer financing projects in emerging markets, in-house counsel at International Finance Corporation and Goldman Sachs, a diversity consultant for large and mid-size organizations, and a certified professional coach to catalyze change in institutions and individuals. Bendita was honored as a 2015 Rising Star by Super Lawyers, to Who’s Who Legal – Project Finance in Washington, DC for 2015, and to Who’s Who in Black Dallas in 2016 and 2017.
Bendita also increases inclusivity in legal profession through service as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the National LGBT Bar, as a member of the Institute for Inclusion in Legal Profession’s Social Impact Incubator, as part of the national Mansfield Rule Taskforce implementing the transforming diversity rule in the legal industry in the US and UK, and on a committee to launch a version of the American Bar Association 113 diversity initiative in the UK market. She previously spent nearly a decade as a member of the Board of Directors of the Harvard Real Estate Academic Initiative. Bendita is a proud graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School. You can connect with Bendita at www.linkedin.com/in/bendita
The clarion call to advance diversity and inclusion in the legal profession – and specifically, at law firms – has never been louder. That push has come through the many initiatives (including the Mansfield Rule Initiative and ABA 113 requests) and open letters where general counsel are requiring their outside counsel to demonstrate progress on diversity or risk losing their work. You have seen these calls and you too are interested in using your position as in-house counsel to advance change both internally and externally. Whether you are new to requesting D&I information from your law firms or you want to revamp your existing initiatives, your law firms’ diversity and inclusion professionals can help.
During this session you will learn:
- What D&I professionals at law firms do.
- Mutually beneficial ways that law firm D&I professionals partner with in-house counsel to advance diversity.
- Approaches that aren’t as successful in partnering with law firm D&I professionals.