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Inspired by a
Wall Street Journal article about the efforts of Sister Anne
DeConcini of the Sisters of Mercy and organizations in advocating
greater diversity among corporate directors, our firm decided to
enhance and make available a resource we already have: A pool of
diverse, excellent candidates who are interested in serving on
America’s corporate boards. Our project, the Corporate Directors
Diversity Project, will begin in March of 2004 and will provide to
corporate directors and shareholders, free of charge,
information about talented attorneys who want to serve as corporate
directors and whose qualifications equal or rival those of directors
currently serving on the boards of America’s corporations.
Most recently,
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission promulgated a new rule
(17 CFR Parts 228, 229, 240, 249, 270 and 274, effective January 1,
2004) requiring greater transparency in the nomination process for
corporate directors. We were disappointed, however, that the new
rule stopped short of requiring corporations to state the degree to
which they consider diversity in nominating directors. Our hope is
that forward-thinking corporations and shareholders will use our
resource to increase diversity at the highest level in America’s
corporations.
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