While the original Fiftyfaces podcast series focused on investors, as a former lawyer myself, I wanted to do the same for members of the legal profession, which suffers from some of the same perceived lack of diversity and representation. In this series, co-hosted by Patrick Devitt, we have assembled a group of seven diverse lawyers, each with fascinating stories of accomplishments and career paths. They convey their passion for the law, the different paths they took through it as well as some observations on diversity in the profession and how it can continue to improve.
The guests in Series 1 are:
Walter White, who has had a legal career that has spanned over 38 years. He is a retired international business and finance lawyer, as well as a committed human rights advocate and active participant in the American Bar Association’s Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities (IRR). His global career has spanned the US, Russia and now the UK.
The Honorable Judge Victoria Kolakowski, who is a judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County, in the Bay Area of California. In November 2010 she was the first Transgender person to be elected a Trial Judge. Judge Kolakowski is a committed advocate for transgender people and makes herself available throughout the United States and internationally for conferences, seminars and interviews acting as a role-model and providing support.
Dennis Archer, who has had a legendary career, as a lawyer, then as a judge on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit from 1994 – 2001, and he was the first African American head of the ABA. He is currently Chairman Emeritus at Dickinson Wright, a Detroit law firm, in addition to multiple Committee and Board Roles.
Dr. Margaret Casely-Hayford, CBE, who is Chancellor of Coventry University, a role she has held for close to 4 years. She has had an extensive career in law, having been a partner at Dentons for close to 20 years, and has held roles as NED of the NHS, as a Special Trustee at Great Ormond Street Hospital Childrens’ Charity, Chair at Shakespeares’ Globe, and as a Board Member of Co-op, to name just a few.
Carolyn Saunders, who is a Partner and Head of Pensions at Pinsent Masons, one of the largest specialist pensions law teams in the UK. She focuses not just on traditional areas of pensions law, but on issues at the cutting edge of current discourse, particularly around areas such as sustainable investing, climate risk governance and trustee fiduciary duties in this respect. She is an active participant in affinity groups such as the Fawcett Society and has a passionate interest in theatre and the arts.
Perry Zizzi, who is a Managing Partner at Dentons based in Bucharest, Romania, and he has worked in corporate law since the mid 1990s, when we met as office mates in a midtown Manhattan law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. He is the President, Founder and Board Member of the Romanian Diversity Chamber of Commerce.
Kip Hale, who is an attorney specializing in atrocity crimes accountability, specifically investigating such crimes in conflict zones. He has spent time as Senior Counsel at the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, and as an attorney at the UN tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Cambodia.
This series was made possible by the kind support of GuyLaine Charles and Charles Law PLLC, a law firm based in New York City, representing clients in the negotiation of a wide range of financial trading agreements.
