Rainmaking Equals Influence
Chicago Wyndham Hotel, May 13-14, 2010
Women rainmakers have greater influence
in their firms and are more likely to be in leadership roles. This conference
is designed for women who want to achieve their full potential, and it will
focus on equipping you with the skills to help you to achieve your goals.
What did the women who attended this
conference have to say about it?
| THURSDAY, May 13th | |
| 10:00am - 1:00pm | Registration |
| 1:00 - 1:30 | Opening Remarks and Overview of the WLA by Beverly Hedrick, WLA President |
| 1:30 - 2:45 | Keynote Panel: Glass Ceiling or Glass Door? |
| A
panel of highly successful women rainmakers and leaders in their firms will
discuss the opportunities they created or used to become influential in their
firms. They also will talk about the obstacles in law firms that can prevent
women from becoming great rainmakers and leaders. This discussion will cover topics
ranging from firm politics to gender issues and how women lawyers can become
influencers in their firms in today's environment. Confirmed Panelists: M. Maxine Hicks is a Member of Epstein Becker & Green, Managing Partner of the Atlanta office, member of the firm's Board of Directors and Chair of the firm's National Real Estate Practice Group. Cathy Fleming is a partner at Hodgson Russ in New York City. She focuses her practice on complex litigation including business, securities, antitrust, and employment; corporate governance; white-collar defense and investigations, and consults on diversity/women's initiatives. Cathy is the former President of the National Association of Women Lawyers and a founding member of the NAWL Foundation. In 2008, the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association (NJWLA) honored Cathy with the NJWLA's Platinum Award for Women's Initiative & Leaders in Law. She was named a Woman of Power & Influence by the National Organization for Women in 2007. She also is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Paulette Brown is a partner and Chief Diversity Officer of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP and is a member of the Firm’s Labor & Employment Group. Throughout her career of practicing in excess of 30 years, Paulette has held a number of positions, including in house counsel to a number of fortune 500 companies and as a Municipal Court Judge. Paulette is a frequent lecturer on diversity issues and on labor and employment issues. She serves on the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association and is Treasurer of the Labor and Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Paulette has received a number of awards, including being named one of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in the U.S. Bonnie Glantz Fatell (Moderator and Panelist) is a partner with Blank Rome LLP and has concentrated her practice on bankruptcy reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings, and related litigation for over 25 years. Bonnie is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and serves on the Board of Regents as regent for the Third Circuit. Bonnie is listed in Best Lawyers in America and recognized by Chambers USA as a leading bankruptcy lawyer. In addition to her legal practice Bonnie chairs Blank Rome's Women's Forum which is committed to advancing and promoting the professional development of the women attorneys in the firm through leadership training, business development opportunities, and mentoring. Bonnie also serves on the firm's Distribution Committee and was a Practice Group Leader to the firm's Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy group for over six years. | |
| 2:30 - 2:45 | Break |
| 3:00 - 4:00 | What Would You Do? Lessons Learned and to be Learned by Women Rainmakers |
| What issues are you currently dealing with in your own practice and firm? Are you stuck in the trenches?
Are you being elbowed out of opportunities by your male colleagues? Are you disappointed with the progress you are making in business
development? Are there steps to your own personal success that may have been missteps? Is it hard for you find time to devote to
business development? In this highly interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of our panel of seasoned women lawyers and rainmakers, and receive practical advice about how to overcome the issues and problems you face as you move forward to be the most successful lawyer/rainmaker you can be. Moderator: Beverly Hedrick, President of the Women Lawyers Alliance Confirmed Panelists: Stephanie Scharf, J.D. a partner in the Chicago firm of Schoeman Updike Kaufman & Scharf concentrates her practice on complex litigation. She has litigated or tried complex contract disputes, product liability and toxic tort lawsuits, insurance coverage disputes for corporate policyholders, employment disputes, mass torts and class actions, and disputes over collaboration, distribution and supply agreements, and indemnity agreements. Stephanie co-chaired the American Bar Association's Products Liability Committee (Section of Litigation) and has served as a member of the ABA's Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law. She is a Sustaining Member of the Product Liability Advisory Council and member of the PLAC Case Selection Committee. She is President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) Foundation, Past President of NAWL and founding Chair of the NAWL Committee for the Evaluation of Supreme Court Nominees. Stephanie has served as a Board Member of the Illinois Bar Foundation. Margaret “Peggy” Daley, J.D. joined Duff & Phelps in 2008. She is a managing director in the Chicago office and part of the firm’s Dispute and Legal Management Consulting practice. She also is the co-chair of the Global Electronic Discovery and Investigations group. Peggy has more than 20 years of experience in investigations, electronic discovery, dispute resolution and regulatory compliance. She has conducted investigations throughout North America, Asia, Europe and South America. Susan R. Sneider, J.D. is the Director of Client & Business Development for Freeborn & Peters, LLP. A former general counsel and management consultant to the legal industry, Susan has worked with law firms, legal departments and law schools on all aspects of the business of the practice of law. A gifted trainer, Susan has presented workshops throughout the United States and Europe on client relations, business development, marketing, leadership, mentoring, networking, and career development. She is the author of the American Bar Association’s best-seller, “A Lawyer’s Guide to Networking” and one of the authors of the critically acclaimed West/ACC 4-volume treatise, “Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel.” Cheryl Tama Oblander, J.D. has a broad litigation background in employment, commercial and bankruptcy matters. She represents Fortune 500 companies in large-scale complex litigation, class actions, multi-plaintiff litigation, TROs, as well as single-plaintiff cases. For 14 years, Cheryl represented a major international airline as its Midwest regional counsel for employment matters. She has represented corporate debtors, lenders, unsecured creditors and committees in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and workouts. Before joining Butler Rubin in 2009, Cheryl was a partner at Winston & Strawn in its Chicago office. | |
| 4:00 - 5:30 | Networking in Action |
| In this interactive and innovative session we will work on honing each participant's introductory or "elevator" speech. In the second part of this exercise each participant will practice her skills by meeting other WLA members at the conference to maximize her ability to obtain referrals from other members. | |
| 5:30 - 6:45 | Cocktail Reception and Networking |
| Dinner on own | |
| FRIDAY, May 14th | |
| 7:30 - 8:30 | Breakfast Presentation & Networking Best-selling author Shaunti Feldhahn takes us through her unprecedented, research supported findings on how men privately think in the workplace, and those words and actions that most positively (and negatively) affect their unstated perceptions of female colleagues. Every professional woman should be equipped with this essential knowledge, which will allow every woman to make informed decisions about her approach to male bosses, colleagues, subordinates in any workplace situation, and have the greatest possible effectiveness and influence. |
| 8:30 - 10:30 | Is it all in My Head? |
| A presentation, frank discussion and Q&A session by experts in their field about how gender
and gender differences affect women when trying to develop business and become successful leaders in their firms. Moderator: Shaunti Feldhahn is a popular public speaker, research analyst and best-selling author with 2 million copies of her books sold in 18 different languages. She holds a Master in Public Policy with a concentration in business from Harvard University, and worked on Wall Street as an analyst and on Capitol Hill before becoming a surprise bestselling author. This wife of Harvard Law School attorney Jeff Feldhahn and mother of two, now applies her analytical skills to the startling research of what men privately think in the workplace but rarely share. After launching her latest book, The Male Factor: The Unwritten Rules, Misperceptions and Secret Beliefs of Men in the Workplace, on The Today Show in January 2010, Shaunti is now speaking to corporate groups about her surprising findings. Confirmed Panelists: Florence L. Denmark, Ph.D. is the Robert Scott Pace Distinguished Research Professor at Pace University. She served as the 88th president of the American Psychological Association and has been a president of the International Council of Psychologists, Eastern Psychological Association, New York State Psychological Association, and Psi Chi. She also was a vice-president of the New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Denmark is an internationally recognized scholar, administrator, leader, researcher, and policy-maker. Dr. Denmark's most significant research during her career has emphasized women's leadership and leadership styles, the interaction of status and gender, women in cross-cultural perspective, women and aging, and the contributions of women to psychology. Dr. Denmark currently also serves as an American Psychological Association, Non-Governmental Organizations representative to the United Nations and serves as treasurer of the NGO Committee on Aging. Karen B. Kahn, Ed.D. is principal at U.S.-based consultancy, Threshold Advisors where she advises lawyers, corporate executives and other professional services providers in a range of areas including business development, leadership, strategic thinking, communication, personal effectiveness and team-building. A recognized "gender expert," Karen often focuses on helping both women and men maximize their impact by leveraging their unique strengths within the marketplace and at work. In addition, she works with large law firms to build and strengthen their gender initiatives. As a coach, consultant and speaker she has worked with many U.S. law firms and is a frequent presenter at the National Association of Women Lawyers conferences. Ronda Muir, J.D. is a Senior Consultant with Robin Rolfe Resources, Inc. Her expertise is in lawyer personalities and organizational development. She draws from her experience as a former practicing lawyer and her behavioral science and conflict resolution studies to offer business-savvy, psychologically sophisticated and real-world solutions to people management issues in the legal workplace. Ronda formerly practiced law at New York's Davis Polk & Wardwell, was Co-General Counsel for the TAG Group, based in Paris, France, and Vice President of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution. | |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | Break |
| 10:45 - 12:00 noon | Developing and Executing a Personal Business Development Plan |
| Presentation by: Debra L. Bruce, J.D., PCC, President of Lawyer-Coach LLC, a law practice management training and coaching firm.
Debra practiced law for 18 years, starting out at Baker Botts LLP, and has been a professionally trained Executive Coach for 10 years.
She is a former Vice Chair of the Law Practice Management Committee of the State Bar of Texas, and past leader of the Houston Chapter of
the International Coach Federation. Debra was the first lawyer in Texas credentialed by the International Coach Federation. Topics to be covered include: | |
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Register for the Conference:
You must be a member of the WLA to attend the conference.
(To become a member you may sign up at www.wlalliance.org. Click on the "Become a Member" tab.)