2005 Conference

THE CONFERENCE

New Heights for Diversity
October 5-6, 2005
Los Angeles

Founded in 1989, the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) is a membership organization with a central mission of maximizing opportunities for attorneys of color. CMCP is the most successful minority counsel program of its kind in the nation. The Annual Business Development Conference is CMCP’s signature event and features speakers, MCLE programs, skill development, and discussion geared toward diversity in the legal profession—as well as our trademark product—Corporate Connections, brief matched interviews with a specific aim of generating leads that may ultimately yield business. This year, the conference will be held on October 5 and 6, 2005.

The conference will be held at the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown, 333 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California.

The first day of the conference, October 5, will conclude with a Judges Reception at the House of Blues in West Hollywood in the Sunset Strip Foundation Room. This event will give conference attendees an opportunity to meet and network with members of the judiciary. The Sunset Strip Foundation Room at the House of Blues provides a truly unique setting for entertaining where you can enjoy the skyline views of Los Angeles.

The conference will culminate with the General Counsel Reception on October 6 at the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown. The General Counsel Reception honors and features General Counsel from companies throughout California and the country.

THE BUZZ

"CMCP has served as a resource in helping to divesify our department internally....Wells Fargo attorneys have hired a number of outside counsel we met at CMCP events, both in minority and majority firms. The significant increase in the use of minority outside counsel...is due in large part to meeting those attorneys during the interview portion of the Annual Conference."

-Marci Rubin
Deputy General Counsel, Wells Fargo Bank

“We look forward to participating once again in CMCP’s annual conference. . . . as a result of our participation in the Annual Conference and Corporate Connections, we have sent work to at least five CMCP members. . . . As a public agency, we have found our participation a cost-effective and time-saving way to meet new outside counsel.”

-Dennis Herrera
City Attorney of San Francisco

"To Promote CMCP's goal of increasing diversity in the legal profession, in-house and outside counsel must work together as a team. CMCP fosters true teambuilding opportunities between in-houe and outside counsel. Through CMCP, we have met several in-house counsel who are committeed to the goal of increasing diversity and are eager to have us work closely with them toward achieving it."

-John Gibson
Partner at Paul, Hastings, Janosfky & Walker LLP

PROGRAM

2005 Conference Agenda

Day One
October 5, 2005

2:00pm           Registration
2:45-4:15pm    Concurrent
                       Roundtables
5:30-7:30pm    Judges Reception
                       House of Blues

Day Two
October 6, 2005

8:00am           Corporate Connections
                       Check-In
9:00-9:30am    Opening Remarks
9:30-12:00pm  Corporate Connections
9:30-12:00pm  Concurrent Sessions
12:15-1:45pm  Awards Luncheon
                      Presentation of
                      Diversity Awards

2:00-3:15pm  Concurrent Sessions I
3:20-4:45pm  Concurrent Sessions II
5:00-7:30pm  General Counsel
                     Reception

Detailed Program Information>>

Key Dates

AWARDS

The 2005 California Minority Counsel Program’s Annual awards are designed to honor those entities committed to goals and objectives of CMCP.Candidates are:

In-house legal departments at corporations and public agencies (John Essex and Guy Rounsaville In-House Counsel Diversity Award)
Majority-owned law firms (The Drucilla Stender Ramey Law Firm Award)
Minority owned law firms.

There is no restriction on the number of nominations that you can submit. However, a separate form must be completed for each nomination. Any member entity may apply on behalf of itself and we also encourage law firms and in-house law departments to nominate those entities that they have worked with that have demonstrated excellence in the criteria detailed below. One award per category will be presented at the CMCP Awards Luncheon.

Click here for complete information, awards criteria & nomination form (pdf).

SPEAKER

Welcoming Remarks

California Supreme Court Associate Justice
Carlos R. Moreno

Justice Moreno was sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California on October 18, 2001. Justice Moreno has served as President of the Mexican American Bar Association and on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School and the Board of Governors of the Association of Yale Alumni.