Addressing Bias and Fostering Diversity in Law

Cari L. Sheehan | Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

With over 15 years of legal experience in civil litigation, conflicts of interest, and professional responsibility, Cari serves as the firm’s Assistant General Counsel. In this role, she advises firm attorneys with respect to ethics compliance, risk prevention, and conflicts of interest. In addition, she assists in the review and negotiation of outside counsel guidelines, conflict waivers and engagement letters, and other items with ethical implications. In addition, she assists in providing ethical training and education within the firm to its attorneys and staff.

Cari is an Adjunct Professor at the IU Robert H. McKinney School where she teaches Professional Responsibility. She is also a former Assistant Clinical Professor of Business Law and Ethics at the Kelley School of Business. She is passionate about promoting ethical awareness, integrity, and professionalism in the legal and business fields and contributing to the advancement of knowledge and practice in these domains.

Cari is a frequent presenter and author on ethics and professionalism in the legal industry. She is a reoccurring author with the Res Gestae regarding the Ethics Curbstone and has been quoted in publications for her knowledge on ethical topics. Cari is also an avid speaker, having given over 200 seminars on ethics and professionalism for various local and national platforms. Her primary area of research is regarding the ethics of AI and how it affects the legal and business community.

Chipo C. Nyambuya | CZL P.C

Chipo C. Nyambuya, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of CZL P.C., leads Legal Services. She is a highly respected corporate council, legal consultant, and a leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) development. She brings twenty-six years of cross-sector experience as a lawyer and policy advisor for corporations, social entrepreneurs/social enterprises, start-ups, international development agencies, and governments.

Chipo is a certified Mediator, has supported healthcare agencies to comply with regulatory audits necessary to operate.

Prior to founding CZL P.C., Chipo was the Director of Experiential Learning and Professional Development at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Chipo has served as faculty at Northwestern University in International and Area Studies teaching CSR and International Development, and at Loyola University School of Law. She worked in Liberia with UNDP and supported the Ministry of Justice and Judiciary in post conflict Rule of Law and Governance. She is on the Board of Survivors’ Truths Liberia and both her legal and NGO work is focused on peacebuilding and economic liberation.

She is the daughter of a Liberian mother and Zimbabwean father has contributed to her strong interests in anti-racism, decolonization, diversity, equity, and inclusion in Liberian, other African, and other international communities. Having studied, traveled, lived, and worked in six continents in her lifetime, Chipo has learned about harmonizing cultures and that balancing profitability and productivity with sustainable operations and social responsibility greatly benefits both national and international clients and the communities they serve. While serving as Chief Compliance Counsel, Allen also managed legal matters for the company’s political activities, its risk management function, and handled litigation, traditional labor and employment, and intellectual property matters. Allen currently teaches an upper-level course on in-house practice at Duke University School of Law as a senior lecturing fellow. Topics include ethics and compliance, public company matters, litigation, international law, employment law, and a wide variety of other corporate law topics.

Session I – Addressing Bias and Advancing Inclusion: Strategies for Equity in the Legal Profession | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Understanding bias and its impacts on attorneys from marginalized groups
• Assessing personal biases: Key considerations for legal professionals
• Best practices for promoting inclusion and equality in legal practice

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – Building Inclusive Legal Workplaces: Diversity, Equity, AI, and Ethics in the Modern Legal Profession | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Inclusion beyond compliance in the profession and practice (microaggressions, recruiting and retention)
• History of AI in the workplace
• AI and key ARCDEI+ themes: Bias and ethics