The firm supports a number of affinity groups, for lawyers who share common interests or backgrounds, designed to enhance our ability to offer networking and mentoring opportunities. They include affinity groups for African-American/Black; Asian/Asian-American; Hispanic/Latino American; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT); parent and women lawyers.

Events sponsored by these groups during the past year include:

African-American/Black

• Guest speaker: the Honorable Suzanne Beddoe, Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) and Davis Polk alumna
• Guest speaker: Roger Ferguson, CEO of TIAA-CREFand Davis Polk alumnus
• Guest speaker: the Honorable Stephen C. Robinson, S.D.N.Y., on his path to the bench
• Sponsored 1L mock interview session with area law students 
• Hosted a firmwide Black History Month reception

Asian/Asian-American

• Guest speaker: the Honorable Denny Chin, S.D.N.Y., a Davis Polk alumnus
• Screening of film “Karma Calling” at Asian American International Film Festival
• Biennial Asian partner panel discussions on such topics as how ethnicity has affected their career path, and the benefits and challenges of practicing overseas
• Hosted panel discussions by Davis Polk alumni on such topics as how their experience impacted their post-Davis Polk career
• Held in-house sake-tasting event

Hispanic/Latino American

• Guest Speaker: Raul Yanes, Davis Polk partner and former White House Staff Secretary
• Annual Salsa Night at Son Cubano with lessons by ballroom expert
• Ballet Hispanico performance at the Joyce Theater
• Sponsored 1L mock interview session with area law students 

LGBT

• Guest speaker: the Honorable Deborah A. Batts, S.D.N.Y., an openly LGBT member of the federal bench
• Guest speaker: ACLU Senior Staff Attorney on the topic of “Marriage for Same-Sex Couples: Where We Are Now, Where We Are Headed”
• Hosted Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) reception for New York City lawyers who volunteered on name change matters
• Hosted LeGal panel discussion on 2010 “year in review” of top LGBT decisions in the courts and various legislatures  

Davis Polk Parents

• Guest speaker: Ellen Galinsky, President and co-founder of Families and Work Institute, discussing her newest book, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs
• Guest speaker: Dr. Amir Miodovnik, Department of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, on “Simple Solutions to Protect Your Children from Toxins in Our Everyday World”
• Guest speaker: Louise deForest, Pedagogical Director, Early Childhood Program - Rudolf Steiner School, on "Early Childhood Storytelling"
• Other guest speaker programs on parenting topics such as child rearing, estate planning, child safety and domestic employment issues 

DPWomen 

• Guest speaker: Nicole Wells from NWK Consultants on “Gender & Communication Styles”
• Participated in the New York Women in the Boardroom Leadership Event at Grand Hyatt Hotel
• Attended screening and discussion of "Courting Justice," a film about six South African women judges working in previously all-male courts as they fulfill their deep commitment to breathing life into the country’s postapartheid human rights promises
• Hosted a joint program with Pfizer to discuss career paths for women while balancing work/life issues, which featured a keynote by Pfizer General Counsel Amy Schulman