SEATTLE, Wash. (January 27, 2016) - Perkins Coie is proud to announce the winners of its 2016 Diversity Champions Awards. Now in its second year, the Diversity Champions Awards are designed to recognize Perkins Coie lawyers and staff for their support and commitment to diversity as a key ingredient to driving excellence throughout the firm. The 2016 Diversity Champions are:

• Paul Hirose, Senior Counsel (Los Angeles)
  Paul, co-chair of Perkins Coie’s Supply Chain Compliance & Corporate Social Responsibility practice, is a longtime leader in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) legal community. A former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Paul chairs Perkins Coie’s API affinity group and has supported lawyers within the firm’s API community in achieving leadership roles.
• Sara Baynard-Cooke, Counsel (Seattle)
  Sara supports Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Seattle (MAMA), a community group that connects Puget Sound attorney mothers to peers for family-friendly networking, resource sharing, professional development and general support.
• Patti Simmons, Director of Administration (Anchorage)
  Patti has been instrumental in supporting programs and initiatives focused on the importance of diversity in the hiring process which has yielded a staff that reflects the diversity of the Anchorage community.
• Marc Elias, Partner (Washington, D.C.) and Chair, Political Law group
  As a partner in Perkins Coie’s Washington, D.C. office, Marc has spearheaded the hiring and development of diverse attorneys in the Political Law group, making it possible for diverse attorneys to be involved in some of the most important matters the firm handles.

Paul, Sara, Patti and Marc have each made an impact in areas that relate to the advancement of diversity, such as programs and activities in the firm or community that celebrate and raise awareness of diversity and inclusion; pipeline initiatives aimed at exposing diverse students to the legal industry; professional development of diverse attorneys; serving as a role model and influencing others in ways that advance the firm’s diversity efforts; cultivating diverse teams and external leadership involvement. Each Diversity Champion receives $1,000 to donate to a nonprofit of their choice.

In addition, this year Perkins Coie introduced a new Diversity Champion Lifetime Achievement Award, given to former Perkins Coie Partner and Executive Committee Chair Laura Neebling for her sustained commitment to diversity within the firm and throughout her career at Perkins Coie. The award recognizes Laura’s leadership on diversity initiatives, which has inspired and guided diverse attorneys and the firm as a whole.

Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high-value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients’ success. With more than 1,200 lawyers in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property, and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.

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