Overview
CHICAGO (July 29, 2015) — The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism (the Commission”) has appointed McDermott Will & Emery partner Andrea Kramer to serve as a member of its state-wide Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board (the “Board”). The Board was formed to advise the Commission with respect to its goal of fostering a commitment to the elimination of bias and divisiveness in the legal profession.
As a member of the Board, Ms. Kramer will be working on a newly launched project “to stem the disproportionate departure of women, minorities and LGBT, as compared to majority male, lawyers from law firms.”
Ms. Kramer is head of McDermott’s Financial Products, Trading and Derivatives Group, and is a member of its Global Renewable Energy, Emissions and New Products Group and its International Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Group. She is a founding member of the Firm’s Diversity Committee, and chair of the Gender Diversity Sub-committee.
Ms. Kramer has written extensively about gender diversity and equality and has spoken at many conferences, webcasts and meetings around the country. She played a leading role in developing the Chicago Bar Association’s (CBA’s) “Call to Action,” designed to increase employment and advancement opportunities for women lawyers, while also serving on the working group that developed the compliance metrics with the CBA’s Call to Action goals
“Andie has long been an important voice for gender equality and diversity in professional service firms,” said Lydia R. B. Kelley, McDermott partner and chair of the Firm’s Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. “A champion of diversity and equality in the workplace, Andie has committed a tremendous amount of time and energy to improving the working environment for women, minorities and the LGBT community. She will bring a wealth of experience and passion to the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board as it works to achieve its important goals.”
McDermott has a tradition of promoting equality in both the workplace and the community, and was recently recognized as one of the top Illinois law firms for its commitment to LGBT inclusiveness by Equality Illinois at its annual “Raising the Bar” gala event in July.
McDermott scored a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2015 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. McDermott has earned a perfect score every year since it began participating in CEI in 2006, making the Firm one of the “Best Places to Work” in the United States for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.
About McDermott
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.