Annual Conference Leads Legal Industry in Diversity Discussions

Continuing to promote true diversity in the legal industry, the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) will gather for its Annual Meeting and Law Firm Expo at the Marriott - Dallas Las Colinas Hotel on November 13-14. Highlights of the meeting will include career development and legal education seminars, a diversity awards luncheon, networking opportunities and an expo highlighting the minority and women-owned law firm members.

The association's fourth annual meeting will focus on promoting the inclusion of minority and women-owned law firms as outside legal counsel and more than 100 law firms and corporations are expected to attend. Every year the conference attracts some of the top legal minds in the country, and panelists from a variety of firms, corporations and the public sector. Some of this year's panelists will include:

-- Pam Bethel, The O'Riordan Bethel Law Firm, LLP

-- James R. Beyer, Director-Employment Law- Americas, Accenture LLP

-- Susan Brune, Brune & Richard

-- Valerie Caproni, General Counsel, FBI

-- Sheryl Galler, Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, LLP

-- Joan Lebow, Lebow Malecki & Tasch LLC

-- Darren Sharpe, Senior Counsel and Director of Freddie Mac

-- Angela Whiteside Smith, Legal and Commercial Counsel, Accenture LLP

-- Barbara Stevens, Corporate Counsel, Vice President of Contracting,

Prudential Financial

-- Jeffery Williams, Assistant General Counsel, Pfizer

"The NAMWOLF conference is the only meeting of its kind that truly sets the standard for fostering thought-provoking discussions on establishing diversity in our legal communities," said Yolanda Coly, managing director. "This year promises to be another exciting event as we continue to grow our membership base; we look forward to connecting nationally-recognized minority and women-owned law firms with companies."

A sample of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) sessions during the meeting will include:

-- Law Firm Member CLE Session: "Developing New Business: How to Effectively Respond to RFPs" -- A panel featuring both experienced law firm members who will equip attendees with the necessary skills to effectively bid on RFPs, including identifying opportunities, steps for preparing a response that achieves results and maximizing resources. Additionally, corporate and public issuers of RFPS will be on hand to offer further insight into developing successful RFP responses.

-- CLE Session: "Stay Out of Court, Stay Out of the Media and Stay Out of Trouble: The Many Faces of Corporate Compliance" -- A session featuring a lively negotiation of tough contract terms where attendees will take away relevant and useful tools for resolving these challenges. Panelists will address issues in global and multi-jurisdiction contracts and offer advice on obtaining the best deal terms in future transactions.

-- CLE Session: "Extreme Contracting Challenges: Tough Topics/Strategic Solutions" -- A CLE session focused on reviewing decision-making processes for corporations in regards to dealing with compliance issues. Topics will range from the process for disclosing potential violations to responding appropriately to government subpoenas and media inquiries. This interactive session also will address federal laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Sarbanes Oxley Act.

In addition to a variety of engaging sessions, NAMWOLF's Annual Meeting also will feature an awards luncheon banquet honoring corporations that promote diversity in their legal divisions by committing to spend at least 5 percent of outside legal budgets on minority- and women-owned law firms.

American Airlines is the preferred carrier for the NAMWOLF 2008 Annual Meeting and Law Firm Expo. For more information about the conference and to attend, visit http://www.namwolf.org or email: events@namwolf.org

About NAMWOLF

The National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (http://www.namwolf.org) was founded in June 2001. Headquartered in Milwaukee, NAMWOLF is a national trade association that advocates for promoting true diversity in the legal profession by fostering the development of long lasting relationships between preeminent minority and women owned law firms and private/public entities.