Senior Managing Legal Director
Dell Technologies
Dear ACC Northeast Chapter Members and Friends,
Spring is often a time of growth and rebirth, and for the ACC Northeast Chapter, it is a time to focus on our evolution as an inclusive community for in-house counsel. Inclusion starts with attracting attorneys from diverse backgrounds and experiences to join our member base, enabling them to feel welcome and valued, listening to their points of view, and working on ways to retain and develop them to elevate their participation in the broader in-house legal community.
We have an important role to play in driving greater inclusivity in our own organization and in the wider in-house legal profession. One way in which we have worked to develop deeper, more meaningful experiences for our members this spring, while we embrace our different individualized characteristics and perspectives, has been to collaborate with our peer bar associations and legal professional organizations.
In February, we co-hosted with the Boston Bar Association (BBA), “The Path to In-House Counsel.” This was the first program in a two-part series that explored the in-house legal practice. This program was tailored to law students and new attorneys and emphasized different approaches to searching for an initial in-house role, and how to succeed from the outset. This week, we co-hosted the second program at the BBA, Navigating and Advancing Your In-House Career. The second installment focused on the potential pathways for advancement in an in-house career, and the skill set needed for success. This collaboration with the BBA advances the first step to better inclusivity – exposing individuals early in their legal career, including law students, to the benefits of the ACC.
In March, we also collaborated with the BBA by co-hosting an in-house counsel DEI networking reception at the BBA. This affinity bar mixer was a wonderful opportunity to foster connections among in-house counsel members of the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Hispanic National Bar Association-Region 1, Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys, Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston. In May, my wife Rebekah and I attended the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA) annual gala representing the ACC Northeast Chapter, where we learned more about the impressive work that the MBLA is completing on behalf of their members. We look forward to deepening connections with all of the local affinity bars in 2024.
We continue to improve upon the way we welcome the newest members of the ACC Northeast Chapter. We now host New Member Welcome sessions, a program that we started in 2023 where our board members provide an overview of our chapter, and educate new members on how to make the most of their membership. Recently, we expanded the new member welcome initiative to include a Corporate New Member Welcome letter, which we send to the general counsel of new corporate member companies, an individualized approach to engaging with our newest company members. These initiatives are designed to bring a more personalized approach to our initial engagement with our newest members, and to foster more inclusivity.
With Mental Health Awareness month in full swing, it is also worth reiterating the focus on attorney well-being that I wrote about in the last quarterly newsletter. The ACC Northeast Chapter continues to deepen our collaboration with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers to highlight the unique stressors that in-house attorneys face, and the ways in which our organization can facilitate opportunities for connection and to seek support among peers within our membership base. Enabling exploration of various mental health topics and providing access to well-being resources is a main tenet of inclusivity in our organization.
In the coming months, we will release a new initiative that strives to provide regional-based networking for our members. We know that to meet our members’ needs, we need to meet members where they are located. This concept was created by ACC Northeast Chapter board member, Patrick Wu, who will lead the initiative in partnership with other ACC Northeast board members, who will host local lunches to provide networking opportunities for members in select geographic locations. We hope that these micro-meetups, outside of our normal event locations, will enable more members to participate in chapter activities from the convenience of a location near them, and to experience the power of our inclusive community.
If you have thoughts on how to make the ACC Northeast a more inclusive community, we would love to hear from you. We hope to see you at a chapter event soon.
Sincerely,
James Coughlin
President, ACC Northeast Chapter
