Women in Law: #MeToo practice groups, recruiting while embroiled in sex discrimination suits & more

BIG LAW SAYS “ME TOO” TO #METOO PRACTICE GROUPS: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan launched a #MeToo-inspired practice group to represent victims of employment discrimination and sexual harassment. Partners Manisha Sheth and Diane Cafferata will head up the group [Bloomberg Law]. On the defendants side (as is more common), Kirkland & Ellis has cultivated its own #MeToo practice, but with a very specific angle — its expertise is in helping private equity companies manage harassment claims, whistleblower clauses and related issues [American Lawyer].

SHE’S GOT MOVES: Three female attorneys won MacArthur Genius grants ($625,000!): sujatha baliga, head of the National Restorative Justice Project; Danielle Citron, a law professor at Boston University Law School whose work focuses on privacy rights and cyberspace hate crimes; and Lisa Daugaard, executive director of Seattle’s Public Defender Association [ABA Journal]. Palmina Fava, who previously lead Paul Hastings’ global compliance and disputes department, will join Vinson & Elkins’ white collar defense practice as a partner [Bloomberg Law]. Ex-Covington & Burling and Justice Department litigator S. Starling Marshall will join Crowell & Moring as a partner in its tax and litigation groups in New York [Bloomberg Law]. Jenner & Block named Katya Jestin co-managing partner of the firm, effective January 2020 [Bloomberg Law]. Greenberg Traurig hired Carol Barnhart as a partner in its corporate and Latin America practices in Miami [American Lawyer]. Sally King, formerly of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, is the new chief operating officer at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler [Bloomberg Law]. Foley Hoag hired Rosa Nunez as its first-ever director of diversity and inclusion [Bloomberg Law].

RECRUITING AT A DISADVANTAGE: Curious about how prospective female lateral hires feel about law firms that have been sued for sex discrimination (paging Jones Day, Morrison & Foerster , Winston & Strawn and oh so many others…)? Apparently it’s not a total no-go, but it certainly raises serious questions, recruiters say. “Firms need to speak directly to the potential fears a candidate could have if there’s an allegation out there,” Michelle Fivel, a partner at legal recruiting firm Major Lindsey & Africa, told Law360. The way firms respond to these suits — whether they attack the plaintiffs personally, for instance — is also a major factor in how much impact these suits have on prospective hires [Law360].

DIVERSITY UNIVERSITY: Jen Kirby, who’s the chief intelligence and knowledge sharing officer at Diversity Lab — the company behind Mansfield certifications — discusses how the program works to encourage Big Law to give more women and minority candidates leadership opportunities [ATL]. Several big law firms and 26 general counsels from top companies have banded together to establish a $5 million fund to tackle the lack of diversity in the legal industry. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Goodwin Procter; Eversheds Sutherland; and Stoel Rives have agreed to participate in the project along with GCs from firms including Bloomberg, Ford and Starbucks [Corporate Counsel].

A LIST TO ASPIRE TO: Five law firms made this year’s Working Mother list of 100 best companies based on survey answers regarding leave policies, benefits, childcare, workforce representation, flexibility policies and more: Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer; Dechert; Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner; Katten Muchin Rosenman; and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman [ABA Journal].

EXTRA, EXTRA: ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio was the lucky date of LGBTQ advocate and “Orange is the New Black” actor Laverne Cox at the Emmys on Sunday. Cox’s custom rainbow-colored clutch had “Oct. 8, Title VII Supreme Court” written on it in reference to three upcoming Supreme Court cases examining whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act — which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion — applies to LGBT individuals. Cox and Strangio took the opportunity to discuss the importance of the cases on the red carpet. “Everyone should be aware that the administration is asking the Supreme Court to make it legal to fire workers just because they’re LGBTQ,” Strangio said [ABA Journal].