Recent Initiatives

Recent initiatives of the Partners Committee on Diversity include the following:

• Increased firm profile at law schools through sponsorship and support of the Thurgood Marshall trial team
• Partnered with law school placement officials to identify qualified minority candidates
• Sponsor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards Dinner (2008-2012) 
• Sponsor of the Chinese American Bar Association of Chicago, 2012
• Moderator of Issues and Questions Unique to Mexico at the Mexico Judicial Conference at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2011
• Organizers and panelists at the 2009 Asian American Bar Association’s Law Forum
• Sponsor of the University of Wisconsin Law School’s annual Legal Education Opportunities Banquet (2008-2011) 
• Sponsor of Hispanic Bar Association’s 2012 Annual Convention: El Futuro Sin Limite/Future Without Limits
• Hosted a diversity presentation by Dr. Arin Reeves of the Athens Group for firm partners and associates
• Hosted breakfast and panel discussion, “Life as an associate at SmithAmundsen,” for minority students
• Established a SmithAmundsen Scholarship in partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law to reward excellence in legal writing and the recipient’s contribution to diversity