Ellen Dwyer Concludes Term as Chair of Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Board

Corporate Legal Department and Law Firm LCLD Members Continue to Pledge Lasting DEI Commitments

Washington, D.C. – September 28, 2022: Crowell & Moring Executive Committee chair Ellen Dwyer is concluding her tenure as chair of the board of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). Dwyer was honored at the organization’s 13th Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C. last week.

During her time leading the LCLD board, Dwyer helped develop and launch the Leaders at the Front initiative—a groundbreaking requirement that all LCLD members make a public pledge detailing the steps they will take to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. In the end, all 400 LCLD member organizations—from law firms to large corporations, along with their respective managing partners or general counsel—stepped up to the challenge.

Dwyer will be succeeded by Kim Rivera, chief legal and business affairs officer at OneTrust. She will become immediate past chair in January 2023.

“When I became chair of the board, LCLD was well known for its sterling quality development programs and its ability to bring diverse professionals together, but we had more to do and an audacious goal of transforming the profession. We needed our leaders of corporate legal departments and law firms to personally commit to invest in our people—to understand how they were experiencing our firms and legal departments and to change the culture and systems that have disadvantaged them. Now, 400 members of LCLD have committed to use their influence and voice to change their companies and firms. I am so proud to have served as chair of this brave organization,” said Dwyer.

“Ellen ascended to LCLD’s board in 2020—a critical time in the U.S. marked by the pandemic and a critical turning point in our nation’s journey to address systemic racism,” said Robert Grey, president of LCLD. “Ellen quickly realized that there was an urgency to these issues and that LCLD had an historic opportunity to create deeper institutional change. We are so thankful to Ellen for her strategic counsel, her drive, and her courage as she led LCLD for the past three years. Her work will have a lasting impact.”

In remarks to LCLD members, Dwyer reflected on her three-year term and encouraged law departments and law firms to continue their work.

“Now the hard work begins. We must move from pledge to execution. We must enhance the inclusivity of our companies and law firms, and the experience and pace of progression of our diverse talent. We must make good on this moment,” said Dwyer.

Dwyer also introduced a panel discussion on leadership, featuring an interview between Accenture chair and CEO Julie Sweet and general counsel and corporate secretary Joel Unruch.

About Crowell & Moring LLP

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia. Drawing on significant government, business, industry and legal experience, the firm helps clients capitalize on opportunities and provides creative solutions to complex litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and corporate and transactional issues. The firm is consistently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service and its programs and initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.