MoFo Color - Morrison Foerster

MOFO
C O L O R
“We at Morrison & Foerster will continue
our work to break down barriers to equal
opportunity, to value fully the differences
among people in our organization while
recognizing our similarities, and to create
an atmosphere in which each individual can
develop his or her potential to the fullest
extent possible.”
— Morrison & Foerster Diversity Mission Statement
Morrison & Foerster lawyers come in all stripes
and colors. We’re a mix of individuals from various
ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds, united
in our belief that our shared diversity makes a
difference in serving the interests of our clients, our
profession, and the communities in which we work
and live. That’s why we continuously work to attract,
develop, and retain talented lawyers of diverse
backgrounds. Ultimately, our goal is to create an
environment in which lawyers can see, experience,
and benefit from working with talented colleagues.
Every lawyer should recognize MoFo as a firm where
he or she can professionally grow, advance, and
make a meaningful difference.
Photo Credit: Todd France Photography
MoFo’s commitment to diversity begins at the very top. In May 2014, Larren Nashelsky (left), the firm’s
chair and chief executive partner, Michelle Roberts (center), a legal secretary in our Washington, D.C.
office, and Brett Miller (right), managing partner of our New York office, welcomed noted civil rights
activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte to a 50th anniversary celebration of the Civil Rights Act.
Our Leaders
Diverse lawyers hold key leadership positions throughout the firm. They serve on the
committees that define the firm’s strategy, lead our industry-leading practices, and
run our global offices.
Obrea Poindexter, a partner in our Washington, D.C. office, co-chairs the firm’s
Diversity Strategy Committee. She also co-heads our Financial Services Practice
Group and heads the firm’s Mobile Payments Group.
Washington, D.C. partner Hector Gallegos chairs the Partner Review Committee,
which makes recommendations on partner promotions. Hector previously led our
Los Angeles litigation practice. Other members of the Partner Review Committee include
San Francisco partner Arturo González and Los Angeles partner Sean Gates.
Sean also chairs our Pro Bono Services Committee.
On the practice and office levels, San Francisco partner Eric McCrath co-chairs our
Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity and Buyouts Groups.
Arturo González leads our Commercial Litigation and Trial Practice Group. From 2010
to 2014, he co-chaired our 500-lawyer Litigation Department.
Los Angeles partner Mehran Arjomand and San Francisco partner Rich Hung
co-chair our U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trial Practice Group. Rich also serves
as the deputy chair of our IP litigation practice.
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Washington, D.C. partner Christopher Ford
chairs our firmwide Global Sourcing Group,
and New York partner Vivian Hanson is cohead of MoFo’s U.S. Sourcing Group.
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From 2002 to 2011, partner Michael Braun
led the New York Corporate Group. He
currently co-chairs our Japan Practice Group.
San Francisco partner Eric Tate is
co-chair of the firm’s Employment & Labor
Group. He previously co-chaired the
Diversity Strategy Committee.
NUMBER OF BOARD,
COMMITTEE, AND
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
HELD BY DIVERSE
LAWYERS
San Francisco partner Peter Yim
leads our Electronics, Software, and
Telecommunications Patent Group.
Los Angeles partner Peter Hsiao is head of
the firm’s Environment & Energy Group and
the green products and chemicals team.
San Francisco partner Tiffany Cheung chairs
our Consumer Class Action Practice Group.
Jackie Liu, a partner in our San Francisco
office, is co-chair of the Corporate Finance
Group.
Bradley Lui is the managing partner of our
Washington, D.C. office.
James Mullen is the managing partner of
the San Diego office.
Ven Tan is the managing partner of the
Hong Kong office.
Louise Stoupe is the administrative
partner in our Tokyo office. She also is
deputy chair of our Commercial Litigation
and Trial Practice Group.
Trevor James served as managing partner
of our London office for nearly seven years.
He continues to serve the firm as a member
of the Morrison & Foerster Foundation’s
board of directors and a member of the
Diversity Strategy Committee.
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MoFo’s first African
American associate joins
the firm. He is elected
partner in 1979.
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The firm’s first Asian
American associate joins
the firm.
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MoFo elects its first partner
of color.
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The firm appoints its first
Asian American partner.
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The first African American
woman associate joins the
firm. She is elected partner
in 1986.
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MoFo elects its first Asian
American partner.
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MoFo’s first Latino associate
joins the firm. He is elected
partner in 1992.
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Investing in Diverse Leaders
Since 2011, MoFo has supported the development of talented diverse partners as
fellows with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). Fellows
have included Washington, D.C. partner Chris Ford, Los Angeles partners Tritia
Murata, Purvi Patel, and Sylvia Rivera, and San Francisco partner Eric Tate.
Over the years, several of our summer associates have participated in LCLD’s
1L Scholars Program.
Pipeline Initiatives
Our commitment to increasing diversity within the firm includes a grassroots pipeline
strategy to attract both 1Ls and pre-law interns.
2014 marked the third year that MoFo has recognized and supported the career
development of promising law students of color through our 1L Diversity
Fellowship Program. Last year, two of our 1L diversity fellows won research
writing competitions sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League and ITC Trial
Lawyers Association for projects completed during their time with us as summer
associates.
To date, diversity fellowships have been awarded to 20 students from some of the
leading law schools in the United States, including Columbia, Cornell, Harvard,
New York University, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Yale.
Since 2008, we also have sponsored a group of low-income public high schools
students as pre-law interns through the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
(SEO) program. More than 23 students have participated in the program over the
years, and four have completed the full pipeline and joined us as full-time associates.
In addition, we also sponsor pre-law interns through the Initiative for Diversity
in Education and Leadership (IDEAL) program and the Legal Employment
Action Program (LEAP).
Affinity Groups
We have nine affinity groups that provide support networks and programming for
lawyers of diverse backgrounds.
Litigation associate Klinton Miyao chairs the D.C./Northern Virginia Attorneys and
Paralegals of Color Affinity Group.
Litigation associate Jonder Ho chairs the Los Angeles Asian & Pacific Islander
American Affinity Group, and litigation associates Doug Beteta and Andrea
Contreras co-chair the Los Angeles Latina/o Affinity Group.
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Judy Mok, an associate in our
financial services practice, heads the
New York Asian Women Associates
Affinity Group. Melissa Crespo, an
associate in our litigation practice,
chairs the New York Black Women’s
Group.
MoFo’s New York office celebrated the 50th
anniversary of the Civil Rights Act by hosting
an evening with noted civil rights activist and
entertainer Harry Belafonte. The event was
livestreamed to our other U.S. offices.
Litigation associate Antonio
Ingram chairs the San Francisco
Black Associates Group.
We also sponsor affinity groups
for our New York attorneys and
paralegals of color, San Francisco
Latina/o associates, and
San Francisco women of color.
Celebrating Our
Diverse Heritages
Throughout the year, we host
programs and events to celebrate our
rich and diverse backgrounds.
In 2014, the New York office played
host to noted civil rights advocate
and entertainer Harry Belafonte.
The event, which commemorated the
50th anniversary of the Civil Rights
Act, extended the dialogue initiated
by Congressmen John Lewis and
Steny Hoyer during an event held
in our Washington, D.C. office the
previous year.
Our San Francisco office annually
celebrates Latino Heritage Month
with various educational and cultural
events, including a salsa cook-off
that has become an office tradition.
Lawyers and staff also hold a raffle to
raise money for a local charity, which
has recently included La Casa de
las Madres.
Photo Credit: Todd France Photography
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MoFo Diversity Summit
Since the early 1990s, we have held
professional development workshops for
our U.S.-based lawyers of color. In 2014,
the workshops were expanded to include
LGBT lawyers and became known as the
Diversity Summit. More than 100 diverse
lawyers attended the two-day event in
2014. Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice
Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional
Law at New York University School of Law,
gave the keynote address.
In the Community
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MoFo launches firmwide
diversity program.
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MoFo establishes the
Diversity Strategy
Committee.
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The firm launches its affinity
groups program.
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The firm establishes
the Morrison & Foerster
1L Diversity Fellowship
Program.
MoFo’s commitment to giving back to the communities in which we work and live
includes the sustained support of communities of color.
We have a long history supporting the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded at the request of
President John F. Kennedy to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law for
African Americans and other diverse communities. Two MoFo partners currently
serve on the board of directors, and one was co-chair from 1997 to 1999.
For more than a decade, MoFo has supported Legal Outreach in its efforts to
prepare urban youth from underserved communities in New York City to compete
at high academic levels through intensive legal and educational programs that
encourage students to pursue higher education.
As a firm, we annually contribute more than $100,000 to scholarship programs targeted at
disadvantaged youth, as well as scholarship and fellowship programs for diverse scholars.
We fund a three-year scholarship for a law student from an historically
underrepresented group at the University of San Diego School of Law. In
previous years, scholarships have been awarded at the Golden Gate University
School of Law, University of Colorado School of Law, University of Denver
Sturm College of Law, and the University of the District of Columbia David
A. Clarke School of Law. Named in honor of Steven Dunham, a former chair
of the firm, these awards honor Steve’s passion for education and his commitment to
promoting diversity within the legal profession.
MoFo also supports various other public interest scholarships and programs
that promote diversity within the legal profession, such as the California Bar
Association’s Diversity Scholarship Program and the Justice & Diversity
Center’s Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Program.
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Since 2000, our charitable foundation has contributed more than $2.7 million in
support of Equal Justice Works and its fellowship program. Based in Washington,
D.C., this national program creates partnerships among public interest lawyers,
nonprofit organizations, law firms, corporate sponsors, and other donors to provide
underrepresented populations effective access to the justice system.
We also donate to or sponsor a range of organizations serving diverse populations and
communities, including 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, APA Family Support
Center, API Wellness Center, Asian American Multicultural Association,
Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Bay Area Urban Debate
League, Businesses United in Investing Lending & Developing (BUILD),
CASA Sacramento, Colorado “I Have A Dream” Foundation, East Bay
College Fund, East Harlem Tutorial Program, Harlem Children’s Zone,
Harlem RBI, Inner-City Arts, La Casa de las Madres, New York Asian
Women’s Center, and Para Los Niños.
On an individual level, our lawyers devote countless pro bono hours on behalf
of individuals and communities of color. They also volunteer their time with
organizations that serve the needs of diverse communities, and many hold leadership
roles within these organizations.
San Francisco litigation partner Eric Tate is a mentor with Level Playing Field
Institute’s IDEAL Scholars Program. He also is the past board president of the
Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.
San Diego litigation associate Christian Andreu-von Euw serves on the
Crawford High Academy of Law’s board of advisors and supervises its
mentorship program.
Monica Castro, a litigation associate in our New York office, is a mentor with Legal
Outreach.
MoFo proudly sponsored the Power of Diversity Program
initiated by London’s Lord Mayor during her first year
in office. The yearlong program raised awareness
and promoted diversity within the London business
community through a diversity breakfast series, CEO
forum, and various marketing and advertising campaigns,
including the launch of three diversity buses that
prominently featured MoFo’s corporate logo.
Photo Credit: Clive N. Totman
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In the Profession
As a firm, we’ve been a trailblazer in
various efforts to promote diversity within
the legal profession.
We were among the six firms that helped
found the American Bar Association’s
Minority Demonstration Counsel
Program. The firm was influential in the
development of the Goals and Timelines
for Minority Hiring and Advancement
established by the Bar Association of
San Francisco. MoFo is also a signatory
of the New York City Bar’s Statement of
Diversity Principles.
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The firm receives the
National Legal Aid &
Defender Association’s
Beacon of Justice Award
for significant pro bono
contributions in the area of
immigration law.
For the second year
running, MoFo receives
La Mancha Law Firm of
the Year Award from Casa
Cornelia in San Diego. The
award recognizes the firm’s
pro bono commitment to
indigent immigrant victims
of human rights and civil
rights violations.
We have long-standing relationships
with professional organizations and bar
associations that serve diverse communities.
These include Asian American Bar
The Asian Law Caucus
Association, Asian American Law
honors MoFo for a
Fund of New York, Asian American
Freedom of Information Act
Legal Defense and Education Fund,
request that exposed the
Asian Law Alliance, Asian Pacific Bar
unwarranted surveillance
Association of Silicon Valley, Bay Area
and investigation of African,
Latino Lawyers’ Fund, California
Arab, Middle Eastern,
Minority Counsel, Casa Cornelia
Muslim, and South Asian
Law Center, Centro Legal de la Raza
communities in Northern
(Oakland), Hispanic National Bar
California.
Association, Inner City Law Center,
Korean American Bar Association of
Northern California, La Raza Centro
Legal, La Raza Lawyers Charitable
Foundation, Mexican American Bar
Association, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, National Asian
Pacific American Bar Association, Neighborhood Defender Service of
Harlem, Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services, and South Asian Bar
Association.
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Our lawyers are leaders within many of these organizations.
Washington, D.C. partner Hector Gallegos is a trustee of the Mexican American
Bar Association Foundation.
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Los Angeles litigation partner Purvi Patel
serves on the board of the South Asian Bar
Association of Southern California
Public Interest Foundation, a nonprofit
that organizes, supports, and promotes
public interest activities for the benefit of
the South Asian community and Southern
California more generally.
San Francisco partner Rich Hung sits
on the board and Palo Alto partner Rudy
Kim is an advisory board member of the
Asian Law Alliance, which provides legal
assistance to the Asian/Pacific Islander
community. Rudy is also a past president
of the Asian Pacific American Bar
Association of Silicon Valley.
From 1999 to 2001, San Francisco of counsel
Grant Kim served as the overseas president
of the International Association of
Korean Lawyers (IAKL).
San Francisco partner Raj Chatterjee
previously served as the president of
the South Asian Bar Association of
Northern California.
Palo Alto corporate partner Janet Xiao is a
past president of the Chinese-American
Biopharmaceutical Society and remains
an active member of its leadership team.
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MoFo helps found the
American Bar Association’s
Minority Demonstration
Counsel Program.
The firm helps develop
the San Francisco Bar
Association’s Goals and
Timelines for Minority Hiring
and Advancement.
MoFo participates in
Lawyers for One America,
responding to President
Clinton’s call to enhance
diversity within the legal
profession.
The Lawyers’ Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law
honors MoFo for its role with
the U.N.’s periodic review of
the U.S. implementation of
the International Convention
on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial
Discrimination.
In 2013, San Francisco partner Arturo González delivered
the keynote address at La Raza Centro Legal’s 40th
anniversary celebration. Centro Legal is a multicultural
community social justice center in San Francisco’s
Mission District. MoFo has been a longtime supporter
of Centro Legal, which is one of the only nonprofit
organizations that provides legal services to
low-income, monolingual Spanish-speaking, and
immigrant communities.
Photo Credit: Miguel J. Flores Photography
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Awards + Recognition
We’re proud of the recognition that our firm and
lawyers have received for their commitment to
advancing diversity within the legal profession.
American Lawyer
MoFo was among the top 10 firms on The
American Lawyer’s 2014 Diversity Scorecard. We
have placed in the top 10 every year since 2010
and among the top 15 every year since 2001.
Vault 100
In its most recent guide, Vault ranks MoFo as one
of the top 20 firms for racial and ethnic diversity.
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of
Silicon Valley
In 2011, we became the second law firm to ever
receive the Law Firm Diversity Award.
Minority Corporate Counsel Association
MoFo has twice received the Thomas L. Sager
Award in recognition of our sustained commitment
to hiring, retaining, and promoting lawyers of
color.
National Asian Pacific American Bar
Association
In 2008, NAPABA honored us for our commitment
to and achievements in maintaining a diverse
workplace.
Starbucks
Starbucks Coffee Company honored MoFo with
its third annual Starbucks Excellence in Diversity
Award in 2011.
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Target
In 2013, Target Law Department presented us with its inaugural
Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award.
United Way
MoFo received the 2014 Paul Glad Advancement Award from the
United Way of the Bay Area. Named in honor of Paul Glad, an
ardent supporter of justice and inclusion, the award is presented
to a law firm that goes above and beyond in fostering diversity and
women’s leadership in the workplace.
National Association for Law Placement
Natalie Fleming Nolen, a litigation associate in MoFo’s
Washington, D.C. office, was named an NALP Diversity Champion
in 2010.
Centro Legal de la Raza
Arturo González was named 2012 Attorney of the Year in
recognition of his efforts to advance the rights of immigrant,
low-income, and Latino communities through legal representation,
education, and advocacy.
National Law Journal
In 2011, The National Law Journal named Washington, D.C.
partner Brian Matsui to its Minority 40 Under 40 list.
In 2008, the publication honored Arturo González as one of
the 50 most influential minority lawyers in the United States. The
editors chose lawyers “who have demonstrated the power to change
the law, shape public affairs, launch industries, and get big things
done.”
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We are Morrison & Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include
some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, and Fortune 100, technology,
and life sciences companies. We’ve been included on The American Lawyer’s A-List for
11 straight years, and the Financial Times named the firm number six on its 2013 list of
the 40 most innovative firms in the United States. Chambers USA honored the firm as
its sole 2014 Corporate/M&A Client Service Award winner and recognized us as both the
2013 Intellectual Property and Bankruptcy Firm of the Year. Our lawyers are committed
to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the
differences that make us stronger.
©2015 Morrison & Foerster LLP