Event Overview

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

4:15 PM – 4:55 PM — Welcome and Awards Ceremony | Rendezvous Trianon, 2nd Floor

4:55 PM – 6:00 PM — CLE Program | Rendezvous Trianon, 2nd Floor

2024 Constance Baker Motley Symposium: 10 Strategies to be a Culturally Effective Lawyer

Culture is characterized as a system of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits unique to a social group. Have you ever found yourself wanting to navigate cross-cultural interactions gracefully but unsure of how to proceed? You are not alone. Our interactive and candid presentation unites members from NYSBA’s Sections and Committees to delve into real-life scenarios we face when working with others who are different from us. Together, we will explore practical strategies and best practices for fostering cultural competency, ensuring you can be a more inclusive and effective lawyer in today’s diverse world.

Key Highlights and Objectives

  • Developing Cultural Competence: By the end of this program, participants should be able to demonstrate an increased understanding of cultural competence and its importance in the legal profession, as well as apply practical strategies to navigate and work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
  • Enhancing Interpersonal Skills for Cultural Sensitivity: After completing this program, participants should have improved their interpersonal communication skills, enabling them to engage in more constructive and respectful interactions with colleagues and clients from different backgrounds, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and culturally sensitive legal practice.

Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Co-Chairs:
Nihla F. Sikkander, Esq., The State University of New York, Albany, NY
Dena M. DeFazio, Esq., Barclay Damon LLP, Albany, NY

Program Chair:
Margaret T. Ling, Esq., Amtrust Title Insurance Company, New York, NY

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General Registration Fee

Required for in-person attendees.
NYSBA Members$220
Non-members$305

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Wednesday, January 17, 2024

1.0 MCLE Credit
1.0 Diversity Inclusion and Elimination of Bias

This program is not transitional and is not suitable for all attorneys
including those newly admitted.

4:15 p.m. – 4:25 p.m.

Welcome and Introduction

Speaker

Richard C. Lewis, Esq. | Special Counsel Hinman Howard & Kattell, LLP Binghamton, NY

4:25 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.

Presentation of the John E. Higgins, Esq. Diversity Trailblazer Award, the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg Beacon Award, and the Young Lawyers Section’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award

4:55 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

10 Strategies to be a Culturally Effective Lawyer

Culture is characterized as a system of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits unique to a social group. Have you ever found yourself wanting to navigate cross-cultural interactions gracefully but unsure of how to proceed? You are not alone. Our interactive and candid presentation unites members from NYSBA's Sections and Committees to delve into real-life scenarios we face when working with others who are different from us. Together, we will explore practical strategies and best practices for fostering cultural competency, ensuring you can be a more inclusive and effective lawyer in today's diverse world.

This program will:
• Develop Cultural Competence: By the end of this program, participants should be able to demonstrate an increased understanding of cultural competence and its importance in the legal profession, as well as apply practical strategies to navigate and work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.

• Enhance Interpersonal Skills for Cultural Sensitivity: After completing this program, participants should have improved their interpersonal communication skills, enabling them to engage in more constructive and respectful interactions with colleagues and clients from different backgrounds, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and culturally sensitive legal practice.

Speaker

Hon. Tanya R. Kennedy | Associate Justice Appellate Division, First Department New York, NY

Hon. Cheryl E. Chambers | Associate Justice Appellate Division, Second Department Brooklyn, NY

Mirna M. Santiago, Esq. | President and CEO Girls Rule the Law, Inc. Pawling, NY

Jacqueline J. Drohan, Esq. | Partner Drohan Lee LLP New York, NY

Kimberly Dobson, Esq. | Shareholder Littler Mendelson P.C. Melville, NY

Prof. Meredith R. Miller | Professor of Law Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Central Islip, NY

Bess Chiu, Esq. | Deputy General Counsel and Chief of Staff The State University of New York Albany, NY

Nihla F. Sikkander, Esq. | Assistant Counsel – Litigation and Labor The State University of New York Albany, NY

Dena M. DeFazio, Esq. | Associate Barclay Damon LLP Albany, NY

1.0 Credit in Diversity Inclusion and Elimination of Bias

Tina M Foster

2024 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Beacon Award Winner

Tina M. Foster, Esq.
Executive Director, JustCause

Tina Monshipour Foster is an Iranian-American human rights lawyer and the Executive Director of JustCause (formerly known as Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County), a not-for-profit organization that provides pro bono legal services to individuals in Rochester, NY.   JustCause staff and pro bono attorneys provide legal assistance to low-income clients facing serious civil legal problems in the areas of immigration, housing, family, bankruptcy, and other matters. Prior to joining JustCause in 2017, Foster was the Executive Director of the International Justice Network in New York, NY for over a decade. Foster previously worked as an attorney in New York City at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and in private practice at the law firm of Clifford Chance US LLP.   She is a graduate of Cornell Law School, and served as law clerk at the United States Court of International Trade.

Russell M Franklin

2024 John E. Higgins, Esq. Diversity Trailblazer Award Winner

Russell M. Franklin, Esq.
Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Russell Franklin counsels private and publicly held companies in connection with complex strategic transactions, including structuring and negotiating mergers and acquisitions (M&A), minority investments, and joint venture transactions for strategic and financial clients. His practice also includes general stock and asset transactions, and purchases and sales resulting from bankruptcy and out-of-court restructurings. Russell routinely partners with life sciences transactions (LST) lawyers on life sciences M&A and matters that include one or more equity components. Russell is a member of the firm’s SPAC Task Force and has counseled clients contemplating SPAC and de-SPAC transactions.

By focusing on understanding what his clients are looking to achieve, and leveraging his experience, Russell strives to provide creative solutions that allow his clients to meet their business objectives. In  some instances, this amounts to Russell providing advice to clients throughout the entire lifecycle of a target including acquiring the asset, managing the asset and, where applicable, ultimately disposing of the asset. His clients can be found in numerous industries including healthcare, life sciences, retail, financial services, and media.

AWARDS AND AFFILIATIONS

  • Recognized, The National Black Lawyers Top 100 (2023)
  • Rising Star, New York Law Journal (2022)
  • Recommended, M&A/corporate and commercial: M&A: large deals ($1bn+), The Legal 500 US (2020, 2021)
  • Executive Board, Cornell Black Lawyers Alumni Network

EDUCATION

  • Harvard Law School, 2007, J.D.
  • Cornell University, 2004, B.A., Government and Economics, with distinction