Last night at the Westin City Center hotel in Dallas, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association bestowed honors on two corporate legal departments and one private law firm for their commitment to diversity. American Airlines and Coca-Cola received the Employer of Choice award for their success in creating and maintaining inclusive corporate legal departments. American Airlines was recognized for its continued diversity in the face of turmoil in the airline industry. Gary Kennedy, general counsel for American Airlines, accepted the award for his legal department. Coca-Cola’s legal division has participated in Street Law’s Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline for four years and since 2005 the number of women, minorities and women/minority managers have increased by double percentage points. Geoffrey Kelly, general counsel for Coca-Cola, accepted the award for his legal department. And for the second year in a row, Vinson & Elkins won the Thomas L. Sager award for its diversity efforts. In 2008, female attorneys made up 46 percent of the firm's incoming class while 28 percent were minorities. As of December 2008, 21 percent of V&E’s associates in the southwest region are minorities while 55 percent of their associates are women. Barron Wallace, a partner in the Houston office of V&E, accepted the award for the firm.
-- John Council
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