November Networking Happy Hour
Wednesday, November 13th
5:30 – 7:30PM at Crush (2007 14th St NW)
We are excited to invite you to the D.C. LGBTQ Bar Association November Networking Happy Hour! Please join us on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Crush. These gatherings are an incredible chance for us to foster community amongst our many wonderful members, to welcome new attorneys and law students, and to learn from one another.
This month we are especially proud to co-host this gathering with our firm sponsor Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP (WBK) and to highlight the firm’s exceptional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as its pro bono work.
WBK is proud to be a Mansfield-certified firm. The Midsize Mansfield Rule aims to increase diversity in leadership by expanding opportunities for women, LGBTQ+, disabled, and underrepresented racial and ethnic lawyers. In 2021, WBK was one of only 26 midsized firms in the U.S. and Canada to sign on to the Mansfield Certification program. The firm achieved the Mansfield Certified Plus designation in 2021-2022 and has been recertified for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. WBK has additionally collaborated with Diversity Lab to enhance measurement, transparency, and accountability in its internal processes.
WBK is also deeply committed to pro bono legal work, including work on several projects with Whitman-Walker Health (WWH). The firm has assisted a half-dozen LGBTQ+ clients from Cameroon secure asylum in the U.S. through WWH, as well representing a transgender client in a name change case and training attorneys to assist WWH clients with Medicare Part D enrollment during the 2024 open enrollment period. WBK provides pro bono counsel to other marginalized and underrepresented communities as well, including Native American tribes, African-American-owned businesses, and veterans through organizations such as the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance. WBK attorney participation in the DC Bar Pro Bono Honor Roll doubled from 2021 to 2022, and WBK expects to double the amount of firmwide pro bono hours committed in 2024 as compared to 2023. Attorneys select pro bono opportunities that align with their interests and DEI goals.
We look forward to partnering with WBK for the November networking event.