Barnes & Thornburg Selects Three Attorneys for Participation in National Legal Diversity Programs

INDIANAPOLIS – Three Barnes & Thornburg LLP attorneys have been selected to represent the firm by taking part in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s (LCLD) Pathfinder and Fellows programs in 2017. LCLD is a national organization working to build a more diverse and inclusive legal profession.

Barnes & Thornburg associate Rubin Pusha III (Indianapolis) will participate in LCLD’s Pathfinders program, which trains early-career attorneys in professional development. Barnes & Thornburg partner Steve Hernández (Los Angeles) will serve as a Pathfinder program facilitator to help guide Pusha through the program. Hernández previously served as the firm’s 2016 LCLD Fellow.

Additionally, LCLD has named Barnes & Thornburg partner Elizabeth C. Brandon (Dallas) as a member of the 2017 class of LCLD Fellows. The Fellows program exposes participants to a year of networking, training, peer-group projects and interaction with top LCLD leadership.

“Barnes & Thornburg continues to work toward greater diversity and inclusion in our ranks, and our participation in these key LCLD programs will help us continue to build a culture that recognizes the importance of diversity and true inclusive engagement in the legal profession,” said Dawn R. Rosemond, partner and director of diversity, professional development & inclusion at Barnes & Thornburg. “We congratulate our attorneys who were selected and look forward to having them share the knowledge they receive over the course of their programs to facilitate our continued and deliberate effort to be the best we can be.”

A member of the firm’s Corporate and Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring departments, Pusha joined the firm full-time in 2012 after serving as a summer associate.

“I’m thankful to the firm for the opportunity to serve as its representative for this prestigious Pathfinder program,” Pusha said. “I am excited for the chance to acquire the knowledge that can help me become a razor-sharp lawyer. I also look forward to meeting other program participants and enhancing my network of colleagues.”

The LCLD Pathfinder Program is now in its second year as a full-scale program, having been piloted in 2015 among a select number of LCLD Member law firms and corporations. It is an initiative that has filled a gap in LCLD programming, targeting junior associates and the youngest members of corporate law departments.

The LCLD Fellows program, which has trained more than a thousand mid-career attorneys since 2011, is one of LCLD’s most important initiatives. The program aims to increase diversity at the leadership levels of the nation’s law firms and corporate legal departments. Participants are challenged to improve their professional brand, build relationships that enhance professional development, participate in corporate learning experiences, and sharpen stewardship and leadership skills.

Brandon, the firm’s LCLD Fellow, is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, concentrating her practice on commercial litigation. She represents clients in a variety of complex business disputes, including class actions, securities litigation, public M&A, fiduciary duty and corporate governance disputes, shareholder derivative litigation, SEC and other regulatory and exchange proceedings and related counseling.

“I am honored to have been chosen for the LCLD Fellows program and cannot thank Barnes & Thornburg enough for nominating me for this important initiative,” Brandon said. “I am excited to join other experienced attorneys from across the country to delve more deeply into networking opportunities and training that can benefit my practice.”

She also defends and advises companies, officers and directors on matters relating to general corporate governance, including counseling on director independence, fiduciary duties, disclosures, regulatory compliance, and investigations by the SEC and FINRA that involve allegations of accounting and financial fraud, insider trading and other violations.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from 13 offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Delaware, Indiana, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter at @BTLawNews.