UC Law SF Alumni Sign Letter Calling for More Diversity, Inclusion
Nearly 20 alums from UC Law SF College of the Law are among a group of more than 170 general counsels and corporate lawyers who signed an open letter urging the legal industry to commit to improving diversity and inclusion in new partner classes.
The letter includes signatures from Leah Goldberg ’91, General Counsel at East Bay Community Energy;聽Su-Jin Lee 鈥99, VP and General Counsel at Popsugar Inc.; Allyson Willoughby ’93, General Counsel at CareZone Inc.; Anjali Kumar ’03, Co-Founder of The Justice Dept.; Bridget Ausman ’11, General Counsel at Enrollease Inc.;聽Cary Chen ’04, SVP and General Counsel at Recology; Darcy Manning ’97, Chief Legal Officer, VP Finance and Secretary at DHC USA Inc.; Elizabeth T. Duong ’04, VP and General Counsel, Business & Staffing Solutions at ActOne Group; Jarett Nixon 鈥05, Head of Legal at ThousandEyes, Inc.; Jill Simeone 鈥93, General Counsel and Secretary at Etsy; Kathy L. Hibbs 鈥88, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer at 23andMe; Lina Brenner 鈥97, SVP Legal at Nurx; Mariah Panza Garcia ’98, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Conco; Michelle Paulson ’09, general counsel at Redacted; Nicole Campbell 鈥92, Chief Legal Officer at App Annie Inc.; Sangeetha Raghunathan 鈥03, General Counsel at Indiegogo;聽Sherwin Chen ’02, General Counsel and Secretary at Color Genomics, Inc.; Thomas Chow 鈥04,聽General Counsel and Secretary at PubMatic, Inc; and Kristin Sverchek 鈥07, General Counsel at Lyft. The additional signees represent public and private companies, start-ups, and non-profit organizations.
鈥淭he only way you can flesh out an idea is with diversity of opinion and that needs to be reflected in the diversity of people giving us the opinion,鈥 Sverchek 鈥07 . The open letter was also published in several published聽on Law. com, the and also in the .
Published in response to recent announcements of partner classes at top law firms that have been predominately white and male, the letter states that the signees will 鈥渄irect outside counsel spend to those law firms that manifest results with respect to diversity and inclusion, in addition to providing the highest degree of quality representation.鈥
The letter continued, 鈥淲e believe that a diverse workplace is evidence that you have created an environment where all employees feel they belong and are accepted.鈥
The letter goes on to point out that many firms fail to reflect the demographic composition of entering associate classes. Partnership classes remain largely male and largely white, the letter said.
鈥淲e have no doubt that these lawyers worked hard to earn partnership and deserve the success they have obtained at your firms. We also know that there are women, people of color, and members of the LGTBQIA community and others who are no doubt equally deserving, but are not equally rewarded. We are left to wonder if you and your partners value diversity enough to put into place programs to develop, promote, and retain talented and diverse attorneys,鈥 the letter said.