What legal and practical issues impact diversity in the legal profession?  Can employment best practices in recruitment and retention improve diverse representation across the legal profession?  Why do retention rates continue to suffer?  How can employment best practices achieve better retention rates through promotion and leadership?  Leading attorneys from the public sector, corporate counsel, and private sector law firms share their insights on this important topic. (1 hour CLE)

ESG is a relatively new acronym (environmental, social, and governance) that is getting extensive media coverage and generating a spectrum of questions.  What is it, and how is it being prioritized?  How do ESG tools improve performance both within and without an organization by addressing broader social concerns that infiltrate the workspace.  Explore what these leaders have to say about ESG.  (1 hour CLE)

This presentation acquaints the legal practitioner with the history of civil rights law, current statutory tools and case law to enforce laws against all forms of discrimination. The seminar will also focus on jury abuse in Virginia and explore legal and ethical considerations in jury selection. The panelists will discuss four specific areas: 1.) the status of the law before and after the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision and the history of Jim Crow laws intended to suppress voting rights and preclude African Americans from sitting on juries; 2.) key pieces of civil rights legislation, case law and enforcement; 3.) Jury abuse, voir dire and practical suggestions for lawyers in dealing with “pretextual” explanations to prevent abuse of peremptory strikes; and 4.) current ethical proposals and enactments to preclude jury abuse and discrimination in the legal profession. (2.5 CLE hours)