AttorneysEd Center

In June the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") and California Proposition 8. The Court's rulings will have dramatic implications for employee benefit plans covering domestic partners and the taxation of domestic partner benefits. Join Todd Solomon, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, and a frequent speaker and writer on employee benefits issues resulting from domestic partnerships and same-sex marriages, as he discusses the Court's rulings, the future of DOMA and Proposition 8, and the implications for benefit plan sponsors. Topics include: • The taxation of domestic partner benefits (Federal and state) after the Court's rulings. • The status of same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. • Can same-sex couples marry in California? • What policies and procedures should employers and their counsel be updating in light of the Court's rulings?

The obstacles that block women and minority attorneys from rising to the highest positions of power within law firms are still present. Eliminating these obstacles requires a fresh approach to the problem—the Organization Development perspective. Using models that explain how systems perpetuate bias and how to bring about behavioral changes in the decision-making of the empowered people within those systems, Susan Letterman White, Esq., offers new ideas for law firms from the strategies that have worked in other organizations and the latest thinking on inclusions strategies.

Join Andrea S. Kramer, Esq., author of “Professional Advancement and Gender Stereotypes: The “Rules’ for Better Gender Communications” and “Self-Evaluations: Dos and Don’ts,” for this important program on eliminating bias and improving gender diversity in the legal profession. Ms. Kramer, a partner in McDermott Will & Emery LLP, discusses how women lawyers can learn the “rules” of the gender communications game and substantially improve their professional status. She also discusses how men can benefit from an understanding of the differences in gender communication styles. Ms. Kramer offers tips for eliminating bias in the legal profession and leveling the playing field for both men and women attorneys, by: • Teaching ways to understand differences in gender communication styles • Providing techniques that men and women attorneys can use to become more effective communicators to stakeholders in the legal profession • Providing concrete “Dos and Don’ts” for self evaluations • Illustrating how training can eliminate