O’Melveny’s Embracing Diversity Day 2007

On June 13, 2007, the Firm celebrated its Fourth Annual Embracing Diversity Day with events in each O’Melveny office. The celebrations reiterated the importance of diversity at O’Melveny and re-affirmed our commitment to sustaining long-term efforts to ensure the development and maintenance of a professional environment that attracts, retains, and promotes lawyers and staff of all backgrounds.

The global office events ranged from panel discussions to movie screenings, and highlighting our existing diversity and raising awareness about diversity issues were the common themes of all events. Notably, O’Melveny’s Embracing Diversity Day celebrations, particularly those in the San Francisco office, were recognized and highlighted in the August issue of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s (BASF) Bulletin.

Beijing
Our Beijing office celebrated Embracing Diversity Day ("EDD") by focusing on the different nationalities that are represented within the people of China. Consistent with this theme, all employees were invited to dinner at a local Tibetan restaurant where the attendees were treated to a traditional Tibetan performance. During dinner, Partners Howard Zhang and Lawrence Sussman facilitated a discussion on the office's EDD theme and the restaurant's atmosphere sparked other attendees to share their experiences traveling in Tibet.

Brussels
Our Brussels colleagues used EDD to celebrate fun aspects of American culture. To set the mood, the first event was a lunch of quintessential American foods such as hot dogs and PB&J and a screening of an episode of the TV series, Friends. In the evening, the office headed off to a culinary center, where they were treated to a wine tasting class featuring six American wines.

Century City
A table centerpiece featuring a timeline of O'Melveny and judicial/political firsts stole the show during Century City's EDD luncheon. The luncheon speaker, Judge Consuelo Marshall, also moved the crowd with her stories about her path into the legal profession and becoming the first woman Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Hong Kong
Our Hong Kong office has experienced rapid growth in the past year, which has made it more difficult that usual for our colleagues there to get to know each other. Accordingly, they used EDD to learn more about some of their recent hires. They accomplished this goal by having Paralegal Sannie Chung and Associates Yan Li, Mark Chan, and Paloma Wang share their international volunteer, work, and study experiences during an office dinner at a local fusion restaurant.

London
London's inviting theme for EDD was "Music, Poetry, Food & Drink on the Terrace." While enjoying an evening of food and drinks from around the world, employees read poems and listened to music that reflected their own or an office colleague's background. The office plans to bind the poems submitted and create an "OMM-London Anthology" that will be used to reflect upon the experiences shared that day.

Los Angeles
Our Los Angeles colleagues started EDD bright and early with a breakfast panel discussion to address diversity issues specific to their office. The office anchored EDD with a "Patio Celebration" featuring foods from around the world and entertainment by a Latin trio and a Japanese drum ensemble.

Newport Beach
Over half the office attended a luncheon and a screening of the documentary Without Pity, which delves into the lives of six individuals living with disabilities, narrated by the late Christopher Reeve. After the screening, Counsel Marcus Quintanilla led a brief discussion continuing on the office's EDD focus on people living with disabilities.

New York
Our New York office kicked off EDD with laughter by screening the hilarious "Diversity Day" episode of the TV series The Office during an office breakfast. At midday, the office was treated to an enlightening talk about the needs and challenges of persons living with disabilities by Stanley Todd, who is a Vietnam War veteran and retired Program Coordinator for Academic Access at California State University. The office closed EDD with a cocktail reception that included a steel drum band, international wine tasting, and margaritas. During the reception, colleagues learned things about each other during a "little known facts" contest that got some laughs and proved that you can't judge a book by its cover!

San Francisco
Our San Francisco office screened the award-winning film Babel, which explores challenges of cross-cultural miscommunication. The screening was followed by a well-attended lunch and discussion led by the Diversity Director of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), Yolanda Jackson. In the evening, the office had a reception to unveil the cultural mural created by contributions from staff and attorneys and to raffle tickets to area cultural museums and events. The office's EDD events were highlighted in the August issue of the BASF bulletin.

Shanghai
Our Shanghai office celebrated EDD by learning more about the Uighur, which is one of Shanghai's Muslim, minority populations. All employees were invited to dinner at an Uighur restaurant, where they were entertained with a traditional Uighur performance. After dinner, the participants were treated to a brief talk on life for minorities in Shanghai by an Uighur professional. The talk flowed into small group discussions on topics such as how the Chinese and American understandings of diversity are different.

Silicon Valley
Our Silicon Valley office started EDD by screening Baraka, a film of images from around the world, reflecting different cultures and rituals, as well as Man's relationship with Earth. The screening was followed by a "Food, Wine, and Beer from Around the World" buffet, where everyone viewed a gallery of pictures and stories of several of their colleagues' ancestors and families.

Tokyo
The topic of the day for our Tokyo office was "Embracing Family Life: Parental Leave at O'Melveny," which was discussed during an in-house luncheon. Associate Yoshi Mizutani coordinated a presentation — with segments led by both staff and lawyers — to educate the large lunch crowd on the work/life balance issues surrounding parental leave.

Washington, DC
Our DC office kicked off EDD with a return of its "Taste of DC" luncheon featuring foods from around the world. While enjoying the food, the standing-room-only crowd was treated to a screening of John Beisner's interview with Bill Coleman, highlighting Mr. Coleman's extraordinary career both in and out of the law. After being awed by Mr. Coleman's stories, many employees traveled to the National Portrait Gallery to tour the "Portraits of Sandra Day O'Connor" exhibit, which showcases 25 different perspectives of the first woman Supreme Court Justice. The office concluded EDD with a cocktail party that started with an informal panel discussion where HR Manager David Lauder, IT Trainer Hartley Barnes, and Partner Kim Newman briefly shared the experiences that have shaped their perspectives on diversity and inclusion.