Lowenstein Sandler, as part of its close collaboration with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), has selected two of its lawyers to participate in the organization’s prestigious pipeline programs, which are designed to develop diverse lawyers through training, networking, and access to law firm leaders and in-house counsel executives.
H. Gregory Baker, partner in the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense group, will represent Lowenstein in the 2020 LCLD Fellows Program, a landmark initiative created to identify, train, and advance the next generation of leaders in the legal profession. LCLD Fellows connect leadership-oriented, midcareer attorneys with general counsel and managing partners from preeminent organizations for a yearlong, multitiered professional development series, providing exclusive opportunities to network with and learn from op leaders in the legal field.
Craig Dashiell, counsel in the firm’s Business Litigation and Class Action Litigation groups, will be a member of the 2020 LCLD class of Pathfinders, a program designed to train high-performing, early-career attorneys in critical career development strategies, including leadership and the building of professional networks. According to LCLD President Robert J. Grey, Jr., the LCLD Pathfinder Program offers participants “intensive in-person training, online experiential learning, and opportunities to network with peers and esteemed LCLD Fellows and Alumni in small group gatherings.”
Baker is a former senior counsel for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), where he managed investigations and litigations concerning investment advisers, hedge funds, private equity funds, and mutual funds, and where he received four Directors’ Awards from the Division of Enforcement. At Lowenstein, he provides strategic advice to individuals and businesses in financial services and other industries on investigations and litigation strategy, applying his firsthand knowledge of the SEC to help clients manage risk and achieve positive outcomes in matters led by financial regulators.
Dashiell represents individuals and businesses in the resolution of a wide variety of commercial disputes, including breaches of contract and business divorces. Active in the firm's pro bono program, he has successfully obtained asylum for clients from Honduras and Syria, advocated for detainees in the penal system, and advised charter schools on their internal practices. Dashiell is a founding member of Lowenstein’s Diversity Leadership Network (DLN), which focuses on recruiting, supporting, and promoting attorneys from diverse backgrounds; he also serves as an alumni mentor for Rutgers Law School's Minority Student Program.
“Both Greg and Craig have a great deal to contribute and will play an integral role in each of these programs–the same way they do within our firm,” said Gary M. Wingens, Lowenstein’s Chair and Managing Partner, who received an 2019 LCLD Compass Award for his participation in and support of LCLD’s mission and programs. “Our ongoing collaboration with LCLD to develop diverse lawyers at all levels is a critical component to our firm’s overall commitment to diversity and inclusion in our hiring, retention, and leadership practices,” said Wingens.
Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 320 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. The LCLD Fellows Program, which has trained more than a 1,600 mid-career attorneys since 2011, is one of LCLD’s most important initiatives. The LCLD Pathfinder Program has trained nearly 700 early-career attorneys since 2015, catering to junior lawyers in law firms and corporate legal departments who have demonstrated potential to become future leaders in the legal profession.
Last year, Lowenstein nominated Lesley P. Adamo, partner in the Tax group, to participate in the 2019 LCLD Fellows program, and the firm selected White Collar Criminal Defense associate Shontae D. Gray for the Pathfinders Program.
Lowenstein also participates in LCLD’s 1L LCLD’s Scholars Program, which provides diverse first-year law students with valuable professional experiences, while introducing them to the value of relationships and network-building.
These initiatives complement the firm’s other commitments to diversity and inclusion, such as the Lowenstein Sandler LS Scholars Program, which offers paid summer associate positions and scholarships to promising, diverse first-year law students, and employee resource groups such as the DLN; the LGBTQ Alliance, which advocates on behalf of the LGBTQ community inside and outside the firm; and the Women’s Initiative Network, a grassroots program that supports and empowers women attorneys to achieve professional and personal success.
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.
