GEORGE B. VA SHON I NNOVAT OR AWAR D S


PEPPER HAMILTON Pipeline


INSTEAD OF TALKING about the need to identify, recruit, and retain diverse talent, Pepper Hamilton is putting its money where its commitment is through a partnership with Villanova Law School that it hopes other firms will replicate as a step toward filling the pipeline. Since 2006, the Philadelphia-based firm has partnered


with nearby Villanova School of Law in a diversity program to enable deserving minority students a legal education, internships, and possibly a full-time job. Pepper Hamilton, a multi-practice law firm with more


than 500 lawyers nationally, provides corporate litigation and regulatory legal services to leading businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and individuals globally. Each year the firm awards a three-year, full-tuition


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scholarship to two incoming Villanova Law School students of diverse backgrounds. Te Pepper Hamilton LLP Pathway Program hires two minority Villanova Law students as first- year associates and then as part-time law clerks during their second or third year. In addition, the firm’s Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture


Forum brings leading scholars to the law school each year to explore topics of social justice, politics, racial identity, and spirituality. Te initiative also includes a six-week sum- mer program at Villanova for sophomores and juniors of historically black colleges and universities to introduce them to a career in law and to provide an introduction to legal reasoning and writing. “What better way to [find] qualified diverse talent than


to create them?” says Kassem L. Lucas, a partner in the commercial litigation practice who is in charge of diversity. “It’s one program with multiple components.” Tere are three goals:


• Maintain diversity and inclusion as core values in the firm,


• Recruit, retain, develop, and promote diverse talent, • Find ways to partner with clients and members of the community to enhance diversity. “It’s a tangible way to help increase the quality of diverse


persons in our legal system,” Lucas says. “It means a lot more than having the firm’s name on a plaque.”


PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL


LGBT


HOLDING THE SECOND spot on the list of the 2013 World’s Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE maga- zine in the Insurance: Life, Health category, Prudential Financial is committed to diversity and inclusion internally and through its outreach efforts. Prudential Financial’s Law Department has successfully


partnered with the LGBT community as part of its diversity and inclusion efforts. Since 2010, the law department has worked closely with the National LGBT Bar Association to identify qualified LGBT candidates for programs including Prudential’s summer minority internship program and its 18-month fellowship program. Te 135-year-old Prudential is one of the world’s largest


financial service institutions with operations in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Its business operations in more than 20 countries are an impetus for the legal depart- ment’s outreach for talented, creative individuals from a variety of backgrounds, worldviews, and life circumstances. Executive Vice President and General Counsel Susan


Blount says Prudential’s efforts to increase diversity and inclusion awareness make it a trendsetter. “We’ve had a longstanding commitment to diversity,”


says Blount, who has been with Prudential for 28 years, the last eight as general counsel. “Much of corporate America is looking for ways to re-energize their initiatives.” Blount says the area she oversees in compliance—business


ethics and external affairs—has for the last five to six years had annual all-hands-on-deck meetings on diversity topics. “Each year we’ve focused on a different community,” says


Blount. “In the past, for example, we focused on Hispanic Americans, African American culture, and the Japanese cul- ture. Tis year, the planning committee thought it was time for us to put that same level of focus on the LGBT commu- nity committee. We did an outstanding four-hour program.” “Tere were nearly 400 people and standing room only


in the company’s largest auditorium and [employees] in remote offices [saw the program] at the same time.” Te program’s speakers included firm associates who are gay. Te panels included the mother of a New Jersey college student who committed suicide after his roommate broad- cast him engaged in sexual activity with another man. “During the panel discussion, you could hear a pin drop.


It was touching when a group of associates led the audito- rium in the song ‘We Are family,’” says Blount.


DIVERSITY & THE BAR® NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 MCCA.COM


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