PAR 5th Annual Conference

The Project for Attorney Retention 5th Annual Conference   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Crowell & Moring LLP 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 Registration: 8:00 am Registration includes: continental breakfast and lunch Conference: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Ellen facilitates a panel of firm chairs discussing women in power  and the role of sponsorship   General Counsel weigh in on the results of PAR's new study of  work/life balance in-house, "Still Better on Balance?" An Open Conversation with General Counsel: Engaging the Client  in Changing the Culture of Firms Verna Myers addresses how flexibility can help foster a  culture of inclusion To register: Click Here CONFIRMED SPEAKERS Paulette R. Dodson SVP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary Sara Lee Corporation Sven Erik Holmes Vice Chairman, Legal,Risk and Regulatory and Chief Legal Officer KPMG Nancy Laben SVP, Legal, and General Counsel AECOM Joshua E. Petty Senior Executive - Senior Director of Legal Services, North American Contracting Accenture Thomas L. Sager SVP and General Counsel DuPont Kelley Sears SVP and Deputy General Counsel Walmart Genhi Givings Bailey Director of Diversity & Inclusion DLA Piper Michelle M. Bufano Director Gibbons Elizabeth A. Campbell Partner and Chief Diversity Officer Andrews Kurth Ellen Moran Dwyer Managing Partner Crowell & Moring M. Carter DeLorme Partner Jones Day Kent A. Gardiner Chairman Crowell & Moring Rebecca Matthews Director of Professional Development and Legal Recruiting Seyfarth Shaw Vernā Myers Principal Vernā Myers Consulting Group Michael E. Nannes Chair Dickstein Shapiro Ellen Ostrow Founding Principal Lawyers Life Coach Tara L. Piurko Partner McCarthy Tétrault Joan C. Williams Distinguished Professor of Law; Co-Founder, Project for Attorney Retention, UC Hastings College of the Law Benjamin F. Wilson Principal Beveridge & Diamond For more information, call 415-565-4640 or contact here.    At the conference, they will also be presenting their 2012 PAR Flex Success Award.

Thinking About Starting a Blog?

I had a nice chat today with a colleague who is thinking about starting a blawg.  Here's a bit of advice on that topic, first posted on May 17 last year.  Be sure to check out Kevin's original post, it is full of useful info.

Have you ever wondered what it is really like to write a blog/blawg?  The best description I've read of what it's like just came across my desk in A Blogger's Reflection by Kevin LaCroix, who writes the D & O Diary, A Periodic Journal Containing Items of Interest from the World of Directors and Officers Liability, with Occasional Commentary.  Congratulations, Kevin, on reaching the five year milestone!

He observes, however, that

The actual blog content is only a small part of the operation. The fact is that I am for all practical purposes in the publishing business. I am not only responsible for content, but I am the copy editor, the fact checker, the proofreader, the typesetter and the art editor. I am the research department, the customer service department, and the subscription department. I am the managing editor, the business manager, and the chief operating officer. With all of these duties, the process of maintaining the blog takes an insane amount of time.

and then he notes

Another problem is that the blog has required me to dwell among the demons of technology. No one would ever believe (except perhaps another blogger) how many weird technological challenges I have had to confront. To cite just one example, one day out of the blue, for no apparent reason and without any warning, our firm’s IT manager changed the IP address of the server on which I housed all of the self-hosted documents to which I had linked on my site. That meant that every single one of the hundreds and hundreds of links on my site to self-hosted documents (pleadings, case decisions, etc.) was broken. I was on suicide watch for several weeks. I eventually repaired the links in the most recent posts but the links in many older posts simply don’t work, and at this point, alas, probably never will again.

You really should read his entire post on the topic if you are at all interested in blogging.  All of Kevin's comments are right on target.  His blog is an excellent resource, and the scope of his reach is testament to how well he works his craft.  But even without having that sort of readership, writing a blog can be incredibly fulfilling.  I'm only approaching my third anniversary this fall, and I have a way to go before I reach my millionth reader, but I enjoy it just the same.  Just like Kevin, I get more out of it than I ever imagined I would when I began.

So if you like writing and think you might enjoy blogging, give it a try.  But just don't keep any part of it on your firm's server.

Women in the Boardroom

I spent a couple of hours today at a great Women in the Boardroom program here in San Francisco.  The panel facilitator Wendy Beecham moderated three wonderful speakers, Nilofer Merchant, Linda Amuso and Barb Stinnett.  Each of them had terrific advice for business women interested in Board service, or simply interested in how public company boards recruit members.  If you get a chance to attend one of the events the group has planned this year, jump on it!

ABA Business Section, Business Law Fellows, Ambassadors and Diplomat Programs

Greetings, Diversity Committee Members.  Please see the following and pass along to any of your peers who might be interested.

The Section is Now Accepting Applications for the Business Law Fellows, Ambassadors and Diplomat Programs.

The Fellows, Ambassadors, and Diplomat Programs are designed to involve young lawyers, lawyers of color and lawyers with disabilities in the substantive work of the Section. The Section funds the two-year term of five Fellows, five Ambassadors and one diplomat, including their particpation in three Section meetings each each year (Spring Meeting, Annual Meeting and a stand-alone committee meeting). Applications are due April 27, 2012.  Please encourage any of your qualified committee members to submit an application to one of the programs.  For more information about the programs, please click here.  http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=CL715000