CHICAGO – Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is pleased to announce that it has been selected by the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms as the committee’s new home through 2010. The Chicago Committee is the preeminent voice and agent for fostering racial and ethnic diversity in the Chicago legal community, impacting the broader legal profession.
“In the Chicago Committee, we have found a partner with which we share many of the same objectives for the advancement of diversity in Chicago’s large law firms,” said Leslie Minier, Katten’s Chief Diversity Partner and a member of the Chicago Committee’s Board of Directors. “We are honored to have been chosen as the new home of the Chicago Committee and look forward to continuing our relationship with this fine organization.”
Beginning in January and running through 2010, Venu Gupta, Executive Director of the Chicago Committee, and Program Assistant Christina Harris, will move their headquarters to Katten’s Chicago office. They had previously been housed at Reed Smith LLP since 2006.
“The Chicago Committee is very excited about the move to Katten,” said Ms. Gupta. “Katten is an ideal organization from which to drive Chicago's law firms toward greater diversity. We look forward to working with the firm and its people.”
Ms. Gupta joined the Chicago Committee as the organization's Executive Director in January 2006. Prior to joining the Chicago Committee, she was the Director of Diversity Education & Outreach at the Northwestern University School of Law. Through her experiences in law school administration, private practice and non-profit organizations, she possesses a working knowledge of the Chicago legal community and law firms on issues of diversity. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1999 and was subsequently a law clerk for the Honorable David H. Coar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Ms. Harris joined the Chicago Committee as the organization's Program Assistant in July 2006 after completing a year-long Princeton Project 55 fellowship in the Office of New Schools at the Chicago Public Schools. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 2005.
“We have a strong tradition of support of and involvement in the initiatives that the Chicago Committee undertakes,” said Vincent A.F. Sergi, Katten’s National Managing Partner. “We are pleased to welcome Venu and Christina to our offices and look forward to working closely with the Chicago Committee to advance diversity in the Chicago legal community and beyond.”
Katten is dedicated to the achievement and promotion of diversity within both the Firm and the broader legal community. The Firm's National Diversity Committee is designed to address the steps necessary to accelerate the process of building diversity at every level within the Firm. The Firm actively supports and promotes diversity within its workplace through various programs, including its Women's Leadership Forum, which fosters career development and advancement and provides support, mentoring and training programs for the Firm's female attorneys, and its Minority Associates Committee, which is dedicated to the recruitment, retention and promotion of minority associates at the Firm. In addition, in 2007, Katten launched its Leadership Institute for Women of Color, the first program of its kind in the nation to proactively address the issue of women of color leaving law firms at a high rate, by providing them with the tools they need to ensure long-term success in their careers as attorneys at the firm. Katten was also a lead signatory to the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women “Call to Action” this past year and is actively involved in the Chicago Committee for Minorities in Large Law Firms. These initiatives, along with its Minority Scholarship Program, enable the Firm to better attract, retain, nurture and advance its diverse attorneys at every level.
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