(CHICAGO) Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP announced today that Chief Diversity Officer and partner Leslie D. Minier was recognized among the "2018 Most Influential Black Lawyers" in Savoy magazine, and partner Diane E. Bell was named on Negocios Now magazine's 2018 list of "Who's Who in Hispanic Chicago."
The summer issue of Savoy, a business and lifestyle magazine that highlights professional success among African Americans, features a comprehensive list of top partners from leading national law firms and corporate counsel from Fortune 1000 companies. The special edition of Negocios Now, a publication focusing primarily on business owners, entrepreneurs and economic development in the Latino community, recognizes Hispanic leadership in the Chicago metropolitan area.
"Leslie and Diane are deserving of the distinction these national publications offer," said Katten Chairman Roger P. Furey. "Their hard work in their respective legal practices and their dedication to fostering inclusion and diversity help make Katten a great place for our attorneys and employees to work and for our clients to do business."
In her dual role as both partner and chief diversity officer, Minier has been instrumental in implementing a number of programs at Katten that have helped the firm improve its efforts to recruit, hire, promote and retain talented diverse attorneys. Additionally, she has extensive experience representing both private and public companies in mergers and acquisitions, venture financing and general corporate matters.
Bell, co-founder of Katten's LGBT Coalition, concentrates her practice on corporate matters, with a focus on private company mergers and acquisitions, venture financing and joint ventures. She represents clients in complex commercial transactions across a variety of industries, including media and technology, consumer products and for-profit education.
Katten has also been awarded the 2018 Gold Standard certification by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF).
The Gold Standard status is granted to firms that meet certain criteria, demonstrating that women represent a meaningful percentage of equity partners, in firm leadership positions and in the ranks of the most highly compensated partners.
Certified firms must have 20 percent of its equity partners, or at least one-third of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past 12 months, be women. Additionally, firms must satisfy at least three of the five criteria: 15 percent of firm and US branch office heads are women, 20 percent of the firm's primary governance committee are women, 20 percent of the firm's compensation committee or its equivalent are women, 15 percent of the top half of the firm's equity partners in terms of compensation are women, and 7 percent of women equity partners are women of color or 3.5 percent of women equity partners identify as LGBT.
The Gold Standard recognition comes on the heels of Katten being named among the Yale Law Women's Top Ten Female Friendly Firms and among the Best Law Firms for Women in Law360's "2018 Glass Ceiling Report."
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