Collaboration and Community

the Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Program

attendance knew, the referred to ‘it’ was the dedication to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in legal careers and education. At the dinner, Saint Louis University School of Law kicked off its Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy community program.

The event included SLU LAW faculty, staff, and students as well as attorneys from Evans & Dixon, LLC, one of the first firms to join the program.

We all know we need it. We all know it’s possible, and we all know it’s worth it. I, for one, pledge my commitment.”

On October 6, 2022, Dean William Johnson made a speech and a promise in front of a crowd of students, staff, and local attorneys at Scott Hall’s Louis W. Riethmann, Jr. Pavilion. As everyone in

Speaking on behalf of the Evans & Dixon team, Danielle Strong and Maria Daugherty (‘10) were eager to share why the firm made joining the program a priority.

“I think that wanting to be a part of this advocacy program is that we understand, respect and acknowledge the caliber of the lawyers that come out of SLU LAW,” Daugherty said. “I may be a little biased, I’m a SLU LAW alum myself. If you’re going to partner with anyone in the community, you have to partner with someone who has the values you share and the values you’re hoping to gain more of. SLU LAW was kind of an easy decision. But hopefully, they were just the beginning.”

“Evans & Dixon also donates to a charity that matches the event of the month. For example, they donated to the Trevor Project, a nationwide 24/7 crisis support service for LGBQT+ individuals, during June’s PRIDE celebrations.

They’ve made great strides to support those around them; their initiatives are relatively new, although their imagination and ambition would make it hard to believe. “Our own Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee was formed in 2020 and we’ve been working to get involved with the community,” Strong said. “We have, so far, decided to give $100,000 to [SLU LAW’s Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Program] and we are really excited about that.”

The scholarships will assist students through law school by eliminating some of the costs of tuition. SLU LAW hopes to ensure the law is an expanding field, where all people can thrive.

Another firm that was an early addition to the Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Program is the Simon Law Firm, P.C. Founded by John Simon, the firm has been serving clients in the Greater St. Louis area since 2000. The Simon Law Firm has been a consistent sponsor of SLU LAW activities, including providing a free pancake breakfast from Chris’s at the Docket for all SLU LAW students, faculty and staff during final exam week.

Elizabeth Lenvivy, an attorney with the Simon Law firm since 2014, spoke to the Saint Louis Brief on behalf of the firm about the decision to join the Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Program. “Diversity is something that we lack in the legal field, especially in plaintiffs. Diversity only benefits the law firm. We represent clients of all different backgrounds. It makes for a stronger law firm and a stronger team,” Lenvivy said.

The Simon Law Firm encourages its members to partake and spread diversity awareness of all kinds. “I am a member of the Asian American Bar Association, and everyone was very supportive in me taking on that extra responsibility,” Lenvivy said.

Both the Simon Law Firm and Evans & Dixon are examples of firms that actively engage with the mission of SLU LAW regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

On November 16, 2022, the School of Law invited more firms to display how they promote diversity advocacy in their workplaces. The DEI Firm Showcase allowed local firms to present their mission to support their community and spread diversity awareness in the field of law. Other employers also came by, including the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney group. This two-hour showcase allowed students to mingle with attorneys and representatives and learn about what it is like to be a lawyer in the current field of law.

The showcase was made possible by a collaboration between the School of Law’s development and DEI office, including development director Michael Ruiz, development officer Kearney Liuzza, assistant dean Belinda Dantley, and JP BonnetLaboy, assistant director in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. SL B

MONICA EPPINGER

Associate Professor; Co-Director, Center for International and Comparative Law

Herding History: Law and the Transformation of Collective Subjectivities in the Dairyspheres of Ukraine, 16(2) J. F ood L. & P o L icy (2021).

MICHAEL DUFF

Professor; Co-Director, William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law

Fifty More Years of Ineffable Quo? Workers’ Compensation and the Right to Personal Security, 111 KENTUCKY L. J. (2022)

EMPLOYMENT LAW. 5th ed. (New York: Wolters Kluwer, forthcoming) (with Richard Carlson, Richard Bales, and Dallan Flake) (forthcoming 2023)

CHAD FLANDERS

Professor

Alaskan Exceptionalism in Campaign Finance, 37 Alaska L. Rev. 191 (2021).

ROBERT GATTER

Professor; Director, Center for Health Law Studies

Health Law: Cases, Materials and Problems, 9th edition, American Casebook Series, West (2022) (with Brietta R. Clark, Erin C. Fuse Brown, Elizabeth Y. McCuskey and Elizabeth Pendo)

WILLIAM JOHNSON

Professor; Dean

Disclaiming Warranties That Were Never Implied: The Irrelevance of UCC Section 2-316 for Article 35 of the CISG, 28 Southwestern Journal of International Law 685 (2022) (invited symposium article) (forthcoming)

YVETTE LIEBESMAN

Professor; Faculty Advisor for Intellectual Property Concentration

Offensive Mark Owners Have an Enforcement Problem, 59 HOUSTON L. REV 57 (2021).

DANA MALKUS

Professor; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Director, Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinics Legal Clinic

Author, Acknowledging the Racist Roots of Disinvestment and Abandonment: How Local Government Can set the Stage for Change, forthcoming, Univ. of Fl. J. of Law & Public Pol’y (Fall 2022)

MARCIA MCCORMICK

Professor; Co-Director, William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law

"QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION (forthcoming 2023)

ANTONIA MICELI

Professor; Academic Support and Bar Exam Success

Melissa Hale, Antonia Miceli, Tania Shah, The Ultimate Guide to the Uniform Bar Examination (Wolters Kluwer 2021).

HENRY ORDOWER Professor

Uniform International Tax Collection and Distribution for Global Development, a Utopian BEPS Alternative, 12 Columbia J of Tax L 126 (2021).

ELIZABETH PENDO

Joseph J. Simeone Professor of Law

Health Law: Cases, Materials and Problems, 9th edition, American Casebook Series, West (2022) (with Brietta R. Clark, Erin C. Fuse Brown, Robert Gatter and Elizabeth Y. McCuskey)

KAREN PETROSKI Professor

Fictionality, handbook in The New Critical Idiom series (Routledge, forthcoming 2022-23).

MICHAEL SINHA

Assistant Professor

EACH Person’s Right: The Importance of Federal Abortion Care Funding to Health Care Reform (with law student Cassandra LaRose), 48 AM. J. L. & MED. (forthcoming).

AM Last Page: How Male Allies Can Support the Advancement of Women in Academic Medicine (with Kristina Dzara and Stephanie K. Mueller) 97 ACADEMIC MED. (forthcoming).

CONSTANCE WAGNER

Professor; Co-Director, Center for International and Comparative Law

Constance Z. Wagner and Nancy Kaymar Stafford, Developing Standards for Gender-Responsive Human Rights Due Diligence, in A GUIDE TO HUMAN RIGHTS DUE DILIGENCE FOR LAWYERS (American Bar Association, Section of International Law, 2022)

SIDNEY WATSON

Jane and Bruce Robert Professor of Law

Primer, Missouri abortion law after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys State-by-State Law Summaries Building Defenses in PregnancyRelated Prosecutions: Understanding the Issues & the Science, July 2022 (with Mary Quandt)

MOLLY WILSON

Professor; Associate Dean for Research and Engagement

Effective Public Health Communication in a PostCovid-19 American: Lessons from Behavioral Science, 27 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2023).