George Boyer Vashon

PHILADELPHIA, April 30, 2019—Duane Morris LLP will hold its 9th annual George Boyer Vashon Lecture on Friday, May 3, 2019. The Vashon Lecture honors the life of George B. Vashon by exploring issues of justice and fairness. Vashon was a noted African-American legal scholar and abolitionist in the 1800s. He twice sought admission to practice law in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, but was rejected in both cases because of his race. In October 2010, after Vashon’s great-grandson, Duane Morris’ former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., and others petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Vashon was officially admitted posthumously to the bar of the courts of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

This year’s program will focus on what the legal profession is doing for social justice and will include:

• A welcome address by Matthew A. Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer, Duane Morris LLP;
• Introductory remarks from Ricardo Anzaldua, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Freddie Mac;
• A keynote speech by Kristen Clarke, president and executive director, National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law;
• And a panel discussion moderated by Joseph K. West, partner and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Duane Morris LLP. The panel will feature:
  • Ricardo Anzaldua
  • Catherine Carr, co-chair, Civil Gideon Task Force, Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Neil Steinkamp, managing director, complex situations consultant, Stout

The event will be held at the Westin Hotel, 99 S. 17th St. (Liberty Place), Philadelphia, Pa. 19103. Registration will begin at 3:30 p.m., with the program beginning at 4:00 p.m., followed by a networking reception from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

To see more photos from the 2019 Vashon lecture, please visit the Duane Morris LLP Facebook page.

The Vashon Lecture serves as a kick-off to Duane Morris’ annual Diversity and Inclusion Retreat. Each spring, diverse attorneys, firm leadership and others from across the country come together to share their experiences at the firm and delve into topics including retention issues, Q&A sessions on matters that affect minority attorneys and panels on marketing and business development strategies.

To see more photos from the Diversity and Inclusion Retreat, please visit the Duane Morris LLP Facebook page.

Duane Morris manages its diversity and inclusion program with the objective of utilizing the best talent worldwide in solving legal problems. The firm recruits a diverse pool of lawyers that collectively possess an awareness of cutting-edge 21st century issues—legal, social and economic—for which clients require solutions. Duane Morris recently received a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The CEI rates companies and law firms on detailed criteria in four broad categories: nondiscrimination policies; employment benefits; supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility including public commitment to LGBTQ equality; and responsible citizenship.

About George Boyer Vashon

As a teenager, alongside his father who was an abolitionist and well-respected leader in the black community, Vashon co-founded the Pittsburgh Anti-Slavery Society in 1838. He attended Oberlin College, where he was the first African-American to receive a bachelor’s degree. After he was denied the right to practice law in Allegheny County, he moved to New York and became the first licensed African-American attorney in that state. Later returning to Pittsburgh, Vashon became a principal at an African-American public school and served as president of Avery College. He moved to Washington, D.C., where he was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and, in 1867, became one of the first black professors at Howard University. Vashon died in Mississippi in 1878 during a yellow fever epidemic.

About Duane Morris

Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 800 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad array of clients, spanning all major practices and industries.