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Diversity Highlights

Diversity Retreats Offer Diverse Associates Valuable Forum for Mentoring and Career Development

was Wendy Shiba, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of KB Home. In 2007, our guest speaker was Douglas Gaston, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Comcast Cable.

The attendees have responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback. These successful events have become a regular part of Duane Morris' diversity programming.

Duane Morris Partner Scott Marder Leads Professional Networking Group for LGBT Professionals

Duane Morris partner Scott Marder is one of the founders of the Maryland Corporate Council, a professional networking group geared toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender professionals in Baltimore. He was featured in an article in the Baltimore Sun on the group and its goals to support the LGBT business community in Baltimore. Marder practices in the areas of complex business, commercial and construction litigation. He has significant experience in the banking, real estate, construction and gaming industries. He is also a member of Duane Morris' Pro Bono Committee.

Duane Morris Attorney Cyndie Chang Presents at 2011 NAPABA Annual Convention

Duane Morris associate Cyndie M. Chang presented at the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Annual Convention: Sustainability 2011: Renewal and Growth for Today and Tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia. Chang co-chaired and co-moderated the "Action for Lawyers II" program. Duane Morris is a silver sponsor of the NAPABA annual convention.

Nolan Atkinson Receives Founder's Award From the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group

Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., the firm's Chief Diversity Officer, received the Founder's Award from the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, Inc. (PDLG) at its 10th Anniversary Luncheon. Atkinson is the former chair of the PDLG, a consortium of law firms and corporations committed to increasing ethnic and racial diversity in Philadelphia's larger law firms. The award recognizes Atkinson's key involvement in improving diversity in the profession in the region.

Duane Morris Sponsors LGBT Event at Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Convention

Duane Morris was a co-sponsor for the LGBT Champagne Reception at the HNBA Annual Convention in Dallas this year. The reception was very well attended. Also during the HNBA Convention, Duane Morris partner Mauro M. Wolfe participated in a panel discussion on the topic of "Corporate Compliance and Business Ethics Programs."

Duane Morris Partner Denyse Sabagh Receives American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Leadership Award

Denyse Sabagh, head of the firm's Immigration Practice Group, was honored with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)'s Hala Salam Maksoud Leadership Award. Named after former ADC president and nationally recognized civil and human rights advocate Dr. Hala Salam Maksoud, the award is presented annually to a community leader who has exhibited great leadership, strength and compassion toward the concerns of the community and the mission of ADC.

Adam Taliaferro Foundation Hosts Annual All-star Football Classic

The Adam Taliaferro Foundation, founded by Duane Morris attorney and former Pennsylvania State University football player Adam Taliaferro, hosts an annual All-star Football Classic. This football game features the best graduating high school seniors—as selected by their coaches—from southern New Jersey. Adam Taliaferro is the founding board member of the Adam Taliaferro Foundation. He is an attorney in Duane Morris' Cherry Hill office and practices in the area of employment law and litigation. Taliaferro represents clients in a variety of employment law matters and in the gaming industry in a wide range of legal matters. He has helped clients with National Football League (NFL) contracts and has planned and formed limited liability companies on behalf of professional athletes in the NFL and the National Basketball Association. Taliaferro was a 2011 inductee of the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame and was elected to serve on the Gloucester County Board of Freeholders.

Duane Morris Partner Andrew Hahn Receives NYC Bar's Diversity Champion Award

Andrew T. Hahn has been selected by the New York City Bar Association (City Bar) to receive one of its Sixth Annual Diversity Champion Awards. The honor recognizes the key role individual attorneys have played in initiating and sustaining change within their organizations and the overall New York legal community. Award recipients embody City Bar's Statement of Diversity Principles, which defines diversity as an inclusive concept. Hahn is a former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Asian American Bar Association of New York. He is a board member of the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York, and received the association's Trailblazer's Award in 2008.

Jennifer Kearns Receives Tom Homann LGBT Law Association Annual Friend of the Community Award

Jennifer A. Kearns, a partner at Duane Morris, was honored by the Tom Homann LGBT Law Association with its annual Friend of the Community Award. The award is presented to people who have made a positive impact in San Diego and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in particular. Kearns was honored for her work in support of Mama's Kitchen, Inc., a San Diego nonprofit organization. She first became involved with Mama's Kitchen nearly 20 years ago. The organization was founded to deliver hot meals and groceries to low-income persons affected by HIV/AIDS and their families. In 2006, Mama's Kitchen expanded its mission to serve low-income persons affected by cancer. Since its inception, Mama's Kitchen has delivered more than five million free meals.

Duane Morris Named One of the Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality By The Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the nation's largest advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Americans, gave Duane Morris a perfect score for the second year in a row and rated it one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality" based on the firm's non-discrimination policies, gender identity and diversity training, domestic partner health insurance and other benefits for domestic partners.

The Legal Intelligencer Names Two Duane Morris Partners to 2011 Diverse Attorneys of the Year List

Duane Morris partners Robert L. Archie, Jr. and Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer, were named to The Legal Intelligencer's 2011 Diverse Attorneys of the Year for their outstanding professional achievements. Letters of recommendation for the recognition were solicited from bar associations, law firms, public interest groups, corporations and government offices. George B. Vashon, Atkinson’s great-grandfather, who was posthumously admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 2010, was also listed.

Duane Morris Partner Teresa Cavenagh Receives National Diversity Council's Powerful and Influential Women Award

Trial partner Teresa Cavenagh was awarded a Powerful and Influential Women award by the National Diversity Council at the 2010 Pennsylvania Diversity and Leadership Conference. At the conference, Cavenagh presented on a panel called Strategies for Professional Success. Cavenagh, who practices in the areas of commercial, class action, fraud, RICO and qui tam litigation, also presented earlier this year at the Pennsylvania Diversity Council Women in Leadership Symposium. In addition, she is a participant of the Leadership Program sponsored by the Committee on Women in the Profession of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Nolan Atkinson Obtains Posthumous Admittance of George Vashon to Pennsylvania Bar

Chief Diversity Officer Nolan Atkinson, Jr. played a major role in petitioning the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of the family of George B. Vashon, Atkinson's great-grandfather, to posthumously admit Vashon to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Vashon sought admission to practice law in Allegheny County in 1847 and 1868, but was rejected in both cases because of his race. He was the first black to graduate from Oberlin College, later became the first black lawyer in New York state and the first black professor at Howard University.

More than a century and a half after he was first denied admission to the bar in Allegheny County because of the color of his skin, George Boyer Vashon was officially admitted to the state bar by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a ceremony held on October 20 at the City-County Building in Pittsburgh.

Cyndie Chang Accepted to Join Prestigious Leadership Academy; Named Among NAPABA's "Best Lawyers Under 40"

Cyndie Chang, an associate in the Los Angeles office, has been accepted to join the ABA's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Leadership Academy for the 2010-2011 bar year. TIPS is a highly competitive program for emerging leaders in the law. Chang was also honored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) with its 2010 "Best Lawyers Under 40" award. Chang was one of 20 lawyers recognized at NAPABA's 22nd Annual Convention. Chang previously was honored with the President's Award at the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA) banquet for outstanding service and commitment to SCCLA. In 2007, Chang chaired "Phoenix Rising," a full-day MCLE event. SCCLA is one of the largest and oldest minority bar organizations in Southern California. Chang is the treasurer of the organization.

Duane Morris Sponsors Diversity Event in Boston

Duane Morris' Boston office recently hosted the Asian-American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts' third annual Speed Mentoring Night. Twenty mentors and 42 mentees engaged in five rounds of 15-minute sessions during which law students, recent graduates and junior lawyers were paired with more-senior attorneys from various fields and affiliations. The event was featured in a spread in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Duane Morris Sponsors Diversity Event in Chicago

Duane Morris hosted and sponsored an event for the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms. "Sweet Home Chicago," is an annual cocktail and networking gathering of the Committee showcasing diversity in large law firms to attorneys and law school students from around the country. Partner Neville Bilimoria helped to organize and support the event and partner Cheryl Blackwell Bryson spoke on "Maximizing Your Chances for a Successful Summer Experience" along with a panel of outside presenters. The firm's Chicago office held a reception for more than 350 attendees after the program.

Denyse Sabagh Named One of 30 "Stars of the Bar" by Washingtonian Magazine

Denyse Sabagh has been named as one of the 30 "Stars of the Bar" in Washingtonian magazine's listing of the "top guns of the profession" in Washington, D.C. The magazine said, "Sabagh's peers describe her as the immigration lawyer who can do it all."

Sabagh practices in the areas of immigration and nationality law and litigation and has more than 25 years of experience in representing diverse clients. She helps corporate clients manage both inbound and outbound employment immigration and is a recognized leader in developing strategic business immigration programs and policies.

Nolan Atkinson Honored With Inaugural Diversity Awards

Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., the firm's Chief Diversity Officer, received the inaugural 2009 American Bar Association Section of Litigation Diversity Leadership Award. The honor was bestowed to recognize Atkinson's commitment to promoting full and equal participation in the legal profession through the encouragement and inclusion of women, people of color, persons with disabilities and/or persons of differing sexual orientations and gender identities.

In another first, Atkinson was honored with the Philadelphia Bar Association's inaugural Chancellor's Diversity Award. That award was created to honor a law firm, legal organization or individual for advancing diversity in the legal profession. Atkinson was noted for his work to co-found the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, an organization that promotes diversity in the practice of law and helps connect first-year minority law students with summer internships at firms and companies. Atkinson is also a recipient of the Philadelphia Business Journal's 2010 Minority Business Leader Award.

Atkinson Named to Mayor's Advisory Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform

Atkinson was named by Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter to serve on the Mayor's Advisory Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform. The Task Force provides a comprehensive evaluation of the city's public campaign financing ordinances, ethics board opinions and other ethics issues.

Duane Morris Partner Lida Rodriguez-Taseff Receives Diversity Award

Lida Rodriguez-Taseff has been awarded a Legacy Diversity Award from the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO). The award honors those who have demonstrated leadership in advancing opportunities for diversity in the legal profession. Rodriguez-Taseff was also selected to be honored by The Miami Workers Center, an organization that develops and supports community organizing campaigns and education programs. Rodriguez-Taseff was chosen for her work mobilizing thousands of Latinos in the area during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Rodriguez-Taseff, who practices in the firm's Miami office, focuses in the area of commercial litigation. She is a frequent television legal commentator and is a national Spanish media spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union. She is a member of Duane Morris' Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

CLEO promotes diversity through providing scholarships and support programs to minority, underrepresented and economically disadvantaged law students.

Duane Morris Partner Robert L. Archie, Jr. Named One of Philadelphia's Most Influential African Americans

The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation's oldest black newspaper, named corporate partner Robert L. Archie, Jr. one of "Philadelphia's Most Influential African Americans 2009: Movers and Shakers" for demonstrating leadership in the community. Archie serves on the boards of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, Universal Institute Charter School, Lincoln University (the first historically black university in the U.S.) and Universal Communities Homes, Inc.

Terrance Evans Selected for Stakeholder 100 Program

Duane Morris San Francisco associate Terrance Evans was selected as a member of the Stakeholder 100 Class of 2007. A team of senior in-house counsel and executives enlisted by Stakeholder 100, which invests in top performing associates of color, selected Evans from nominations around the country based on his application, nomination by partner Yvette Roland and overall excellent track record. Evans will receive ongoing formal career management training through the Stakeholder Academy, which will provide the tools and network to help maximize his value to the firm, his clients and the legal profession.