7 General Counsel Speak At The Minority Counselor TV Legal Digital Innovator Conference

WASHINGTON - March 21, 2017 - PRLog -- Seven (7) General Counsel/Chief Legal Officers and Assistant General Counsel will speak at the Minority Counselor TV Legal Digital Innovator Conference at Howard University School of Business.  During the conference general counsel from Abercrombie & Fitch, Inc.,National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), DHL, Inc., MassMutual Financial Group, Wgl Holdings, Inc. & Washington Gas, Dyson, Inc., Leidos, Inc., ASB Allegiance Real Estate Fund, and Radio One will discuss why "Legal Diversity Still Matters".  These law department leaders will explain the importance of minority and women thought leadership and why innovative digital media technology that promotes their thought leadership is needed to make it easier for those looking for diverse lawyer talent to locate and retain their services.

"Had there been a national database where I could search for all diverse lawyers, review their thought leadership, practice area experience and compare their credentials, I would have achieved my goal much sooner," Mark Smolik, DHL, Inc.

In 2011, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) published its first Law Firm Diversity Professional Survey (http://www.mcca.com/_data/global/images/Research/2011LawF...) which revealed on P. 14 that over 113 law firms collectively spent on average between $5.7 million and $52.8 million over the last 6 years on diversity related programs. Despite this big spend on diversity programs, the most recent 2016 NALP Diversity Report (http://www.nalp.org/diversity2) revealed that the number of minority and women lawyers in AM Law 200 Law firms have not changed substantially over the last 10 years.

To address the diversity problem and slow pace of growth in the legal industry, these general counsel will share their beliefs on how a dedicated national diversity directory, that strategically promotes and markets the thought leadership and the accomplishments of minority and women lawyers, is needed to increase the utilization of minority lawyers by Fortune 1000 companies.  The list of general counsel includes Chief Legal Officer of DHL, Inc., Mark Smolik, and how he was able grow his legal department to 80% diverse lawyers.  "Hiring talented diverse candidates was easy, but locating diverse talent with the specific experience our legal department needed was the hard part.  Had there been a national database where I could search for all diverse lawyers, review their thought leadership, practice area experience and compare their credentials, I would have achieved my goal much sooner" says Mark Smolik.  Robert Botstrom, SVP and General Counsel for Abercombie and Fitch, points out that "we know that great diverse talent exists, but often our knowledge of diverse lawyers is limited to those lawyers within the firms that our legal department retains. We do not know the universe of all diverse lawyers in a practice area so that we can increase our retention of those unknown lawyers."

According to statics provided by various minority bar associations like the National Bar Association, which is the oldest bar association representing African-American legal professionals, the National Hispanic Bar Association and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association along with statistics gathered by the American Bar Association, it is estimated that there are over 120,000 legal professionals of color in the United States.  Although high profile civil rights lawyers like Ben Crump, who represented the family of Trevon Martin, are seen regularly in national news headlines, most lawyers of color are truly hidden figures, says Jo Saint-George, founder of Minority Counselor TV and real estate lawyer.   The civil rights movement was started with by approximately 5 African-American lawyers, and now we have over 120,000 lawyers of color, but you cannot see nor search for any of them in one single online portal, says Jo Saint-George.

The Legal Digital Innovator Conference is a diversity branding, marketing and thought leadership conference to share digital media strategies and technology that will enhance the visibility and retention of minority and women lawyers.  Media executives like, Hugo Bostrom, Director of Multicultural Marketing for ESPN, and Sheila Harris, PR Manager of Essence along with legal and political analyst like Paul Henderson, Esq. and Dr. Jason Johnson, will share how minority legal professionals can strategically leverage digital media to market their legal services.

About Minority Counselor TV

Minority Counselor TV is a media production, branding and marketing company focused on leveraging technology to increase diversity in the legal industry by promoting the thought leadership of lawyers of color and women through its network of websites, partners and affiliates.  Our mission is to become the leading source for locating lawyers of color and women as well as legal news to the business community and general public.   Our team of legal, technology and digital marketing professionals has the right solutions to transform your company's online presence and increase its visibility.

To learn more about Minority Counselor TV, visit http://tv.minoritycounselor.com or @minoritylawyers or call (202) 830-2004.