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MCN News and Committee Highlights MCN NETWORK NEWS MCN COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS
MY VISIT WITH PRESIDENT BUSH Tamara Sampson, DuPont Legal It was an ordinary work day, and then I clicked to open the invite in my Lotus Notes. "The President will visit DuPont tomorrow. If you would like to attend, click 'yes' and follow the instructions provided." My first thought, "Too busy!" My second thought, "How often do you get to meet the President?" If you are going to meet the President of the United States, be prepared for lengthy security instructions. My instructions were: (1) don't drive, take the bus provided; (2) no big handbags; (3) bring DuPont ID; (4) prepare for multiple check points; and (5) the DuPont Theatre will be locked down one hour prior to President Bush's arrival. If you leave the theatre after lock down for any reason, you are not allowed to return. I have never seen a more enthusiastic group of DuPonters. We were giddy with excitement as we passed through the security check points. After two hours of patiently waiting in our seats, President Bush entered at exactly the scheduled hour. Amazing logistics! I was surprised to learn that after more than 200 years of operation and many projects in service to the government, this was the first visit to DuPont by a U.S. President. President Bush gave an impressive speech praising DuPont's history of scientific innovation and encouraging us to use the talents of our scientists to create alternative fuels. It's a good feeling when your President says he needs your talent. Sharing the experience of meeting the President with my DuPont colleagues was a once in a lifetime experience. I'm really glad that I clicked "yes"!
PATRICK E. BEASLEY is an associate with the law firm of Abbott, Simses, & Kuchler. Mr. Beasley works in the firm's Jackson, Mississippi office. Mr. Beasley graduated from Belhaven College with honors in 1998, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration. In 2001, he received his law degree from Mississippi College School of Law. Mr. Beasley is admitted to practice in the state courts of Georgia, as well as the Mississippi state and federal courts. He began his legal career as a law clerk at the Mississippi Court of Appeals for Presiding Judge, Leslie Southwick. Mr. Beasley's primary focus areas are commercial litigation, insurance defense and toxic tort litigation. He is a former Assistant District Attorney, who was responsible for the prosecution of felony cases in a three county area geographically located in south-central Mississippi. Mr. Beasley is an honorably discharged combat veteran, who retired from military service in 2004. During his military career, he participated in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Joint Endeavor, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Before attending law school, Mr. Beasley was employed as a narcotic investigator for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he teaches ethics and business law at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Mr. Beasley can be reached via e-mail at pbeasley@abbott-simses.com
SPOTLIGHT ON MICHELLE M. PANG MICHELLE M. PANG is Counsel with DuPont, where her practice focuses on commercial transactions. Ms. Pang is a member of DuPont's Sourcing Legal Group and serves as commercial counsel to DuPont's Hospitality and Consulting Solutions group. She joined DuPont as Counsel in 2002 after receiving her B.S. from Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 1998, and after receiving her law degree from American University's Washington College of Law in 2002. TINA HARRIS HONORED FOR COMMITTMENT TO DIVERSITY --Tina Harris, Shook, Hardy & Bacon's Director of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, has been selected as a 2007 Black Achiever in Business and Industry by the Kansas City chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC and local businesses collaborate annually to recognize those individuals dedicated to leading their community and organization as advocates for equality and diversity. The organization cited Tina's leadership role in local and national bar associations in honoring her with the award. Having spoken at various national and regional diversity conferences in 2006, Tina has once again been recognized for her originality and creativity in how to lead a diversity program within a large law firm. This year's recipients and their organizations were celebrated at an awards ceremony January 11 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Kansas City. EMILIE NINAN JOINS BALLARD SPAHR ANDREWS & INGERSOLL, LLP EMILIE R. NINAN has joined Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP as a partner in its Public Finance Department. Emilie will be responsible for the public finance practice in Delaware and is a resident of the firm's Wilmington, DE office. Emilie has served as bond counsel on bonds issued for the benefit of various conduit borrowers including hospitals, primary and secondary private schools and other 501(c)(3) organizations. She has also served as bond counsel on general obligation and revenue bonds issued by counties, cities and towns throughout the State. Emilie earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, her M.B.A. from Georgetown University School of Business Administration, and her B.B.A from Temple University, summa cum laude. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Commercial Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA) and a Director of the North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA). She is a former Business Law Ambassador of the American Bar Association's Section on Business Law and is a past recipient of the Leadership Award of the Multicultural Judges and Lawyers Section of the DSBA.
MCN COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS Communications/Newsletter Committee The mission of the DuPont Communications/Newsletter Committee is to prepare and distribute communication regularly to network members. The communication may include marketing opportunities, mentoring opportunities, stories of success, CLE information, member-authored speeches or articles, or any information that will further the objectives of the network. The committee's goal is to develop and maintain the DuPont Minority Counsel Network Newsletter as a quarterly communication medium for use by the DuPont Minority Counsel Network members. The newsletter has been largely successful and the Newsletter Committee will continue to improve and expand the topic areas and information distributed to the MCN to make the information useful and thought-provoking. The co-chairs of the Communications/Newsletter Committee are: Dawn R. Tezino Eric Oliver
Networking/Marketing Committee The mission of the Networking/Marketing Committee is to provide networking opportunities for minority counsel network members, both inside and outside the network. The Committee's objectives are to improve communications within the minority counsel network, to provide network members with effective networking and marketing tools and to use the network to create networking and marketing opportunities for members that would be difficult or impossible for members acting on their own to arrange. In pursuit of these objectives, the Networking/Marketing Committee has identified the following projects:
The co-chairs of the Networking/Marketing Committee are: George Diaz-Arrastia Tina Harris
DuPont Minority Counsel Network Mentoring/Retention Committee ("MRC") has emerged as a primary focus for improving diversity at law firms because "one step forward" with hiring does no good if it is accompanied by one or more steps backwards due to attrition. Successful advancement by individual lawyers at their firms is the key to retaining them, and effective mentoring is critical to such advancement. The MRC's fundamental goals are (1) to create a strategic model for a mentoring and retention program that firms within the Network can use in their respective environments; (2) to develop a customized mentoring program to operate within the Network itself. The MRC has proposed a structure for use in developing mentor/mentee pairings from the Network's membership and participation by DuPont personnel, and has introduced a small number of actual mentor/mentee pairings to comprise a beta/pilot case for testing the Network's mentoring program. The co-chairs of the Networking/Marketing Committee are: W. Randy Eaddy Natasha Wilson
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Abbott, Simses, & Kuchler Announces New Member