AGENDA: Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Time's 2017 person of the year was The Silence Breakers. How can the legal community use this momentum to create more opportunities and diversity? Key metrics such as pay equity and the ratio of women in leadership positions, show that there is inequality both in-house and at law firms. Implicit and explicit sexism is real – what can be done to create change on an individual basis, in organizations and across the country?

This panel will examine:

• Silence Breakers and utilizing the country’s awareness
• The current pay equity landscape for female lawyers both in-house and at law firms
• How can the current momentum be used for change?
• What does top down change look like?

Juggling ambition, professional fulfillment and the right career choices is a challenge for many women in the legal profession. What career choices do you have? What realistic sacrifices will you make to pursue a fulfilling, rewarding and balanced career?

This panel will examine:

• What are the best ways to manage your career?
• What are the career paths available to you?
• How to discuss schedule and productivity with your employer/manager?
• Will working from home negatively impact your career?
• How to approach this with family/partners?

Having a mentor is great but it may not be realistic as you can’t ask a peer at a rival company if you just made a mistake. However, in order to progress your career you must find sponsors to learn and develop. So where can you get mentorship? What people and experience should you seek? How can you be seen and heard so the quality of your work can be judged on its own merit?

This panel will examine:

• The value of good mentorship
• No mentor? Where to seek guidance
• Sponsorship and its importance
• Creating your own meritocracy

Many of today’s successful female attorneys have stated that working with your own style, using your own approach and finding your strengths is a good foundation to build a fulfilling career. Why is this such an important topic? How will you recognize and develop your work style and approach? Conversely, how can you catch the pervasive pressures and traps that may cause you to work in someone else’s style?

This panel will examine:

• Why is developing your own work style important?
• Traps and pressures to watch out for
• Training your manager
• Open forum questions

When networking and self-promotional opportunities come up that are in culturally male-dominant areas, what choices do women have? How can you bond and network with internal and external clients in a manner that enhances your personal brand? What are the other ways you can network and promote yourself?

This panel will examine:

• How can you take part in male-dominated networking opportunities?
• What other ways can you promote and build your personal brand?
• How to utilize social media in the right way?
• How can you change the culture in your organization?

In this session you will learn about how to engage men as allies for gender equality in your firm or corporation, including how to make the business case for gender equality and how to motivate men to speak up and act on behalf of women.

The keynote will explore:

• The Business Case: Diversity and inclusion is where the money is – learn about the eye-popping value of diversifying firms and companies at the highest levels of management and ownership.
• Getting Men on Board: Identifying and combatting bias – learn how to provide implicit bias training in a straightforward and non-judgmental environment; learn about bias interrupters and practical information about what can be done right now to disrupt bias.
• Motivating and Teaching Men How to Become Allies: Lean how to invite men to be part of the solution, raise awareness of gender bias and appeal to their sense of fair play to engage them in solution-building.
• Tell Men What They Can Do to Contribute: Take home a “Monday Morning To Do List” which walks men through a candid assessment of where they stand in terms of true diversity and provides a list of specific things they can do instantly.
  
  

Your choice of four rotating, 20-minute discussions hosted by a topic expert.

Roundtable 1: Networking and Promoting Yourself
Allyson Angelo, Partner, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

Roundtable 2: Developing Your Own Work Style
Malinda Miller, Partner, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

Roundtable 3: Breaking into the Boys Club
Kajal Alemo, Attorney, Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano, LLP

Roundtable 4: Mentorship & Sponsorship
Nancy Del Pizzo, Partner, Rivkin Radler LLP

Roundtable 5: Self-Advocacy & Career Development 
Doreen Lilienfeld, Partner, Shearman & Sterling 

Roundtable 6: Work-Life Balance
Caitlin Strauss, Partner, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

Click here for more details.

Key elements from the conference will be reviewed interactively with the audience. What questions/comments do you have about today’s panels, roundtables and presentations? Our panelists will summarize their key takeaways from the panel discussions and facilitate a conversation on how to create positive change for women in law.

This panel will examine:

• Key points of summary and thoughts on today’s topics
• How can the country’s attention be utilized for change?
• Audience questions and discussions
• Call to action