The law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to release our 2024 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Annual Report. The report highlights Hinshaw's journey over the last year to advance DEI and chart a path forward for everyone, emphasizing inclusion and mindfulness. Our theme for this year's report—Stitching Together the Stories of All—pays tribute to the late Faith Ringgold, a pioneering Black woman artist-activist renowned for her storytelling quilts that interwove art with activism to champion racial justice.

The law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that Hinshaw partner Daniel (D.L.) Morriss and associate Mohamed Sweify have been elected to serve as officers of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) International Section. Morriss will serve as Secretary, effective from June 2024 through July 2025. Sweify will serve as Chair of the NYSBA International Section's Egypt Chapter for the same duration.

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that Daniel (D.L.) Morriss, a partner in our Business Litigation practice group based in Chicago and New York, has been selected for the 2024 Class of Fellows of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD).

Hinshaw partner D.L. Morriss recently published an article in Rockford Chamber of Commerce publication The Voice. Morriss—who currently serves as the firm's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Partner—wrote about the importance of cultivating relationships as part of career advancement and retention of diverse talent.

Hinshaw Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Partner D.L. Morriss recently attended and spoke at the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) International Section's 2019 Global Conference, in Tokyo, Japan. Following the trip, Morriss and NYSBA International Section Chair Diane O'Connell of PriceWaterhouseCoopers wrote about their experience and the importance of cultural competence as a path to diversity.

D.L. Morriss, a Chicago-based partner serving as the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Partner, was quoted in a Bloomberg BNA article titled "Are Big Law Associates Less Concerned with Diversity than Their Partners?" The article considers findings in a survey which indicated that younger attorneys value diversity and inclusion less than partners.

Attorneys D.L. Morriss and Mohamed F. Sweify will travel to Hamburg, Germany, on October 15, 2025, to present at the International Arbitration Conference. Both attorneys serve on the conference Steering Committee.

Partner D.L. Morris will deliver the opening keynote at the firm-sponsored Leaders League Alliance Summit: Law & Innovation, taking place in Miami, Florida, on June 10, 2025.

Partners Ed Lenci and D.L. Morriss will travel to Japan as part of a series of events organized by the New York State Bar Association’s International Section, May 18–23, 2025.

Hinshaw partner Ed Lenci and the firm's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Partner, D.L. Morriss will participate in a presentation titled "Love and Let Love: Breaking Down the Barriers to LGBTQ Equality" on June 24, 2021. The program—to be presented by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) LGBTQ Law Section and the NYSBA International Section, for which Lenci serves as chair—will cover marriage equality and anti-discrimination legislation in the United States and Japan.

​In observance of International Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, 2020, Hinshaw's LGBTQ Affinity Network was proud to host a virtual event in partnership with LAGBAC (Chicago's LGBTQ+ Bar Association), which featured Cook County Judge-Elect, Jill Rose Quinn, and Alexis Martinez.

Hinshaw's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Partner D.L. Morriss and David Alfini, the co-chair of both the firm's Mentoring Program and the LGBTQ Affinity Network, will serve as panelists for a webinar titled "How Employee Resource Groups Drive Diversity," on May 28, 2020 at 2:00 pm Eastern. The presentation—of which Hinshaw is a sponsor—is hosted by From Day One and will explore how employee resource groups (ERGs) can help prevent the regression of diversity and inclusion in corporations during times of economic crisis.

Download the hardcopy newsletter: The Report Card - February 2013

Executive Order Requires Posted Notice Detailing Employees’ Right to OrganizeOn January 30, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13496, creating new obligations for government contractors and subcontractors. The Order’s stated purpose is to keep employees informed of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in an effort to see government contracts “performed by contractors whose work will not be interrupted by labor unrest.” Employers that are covered by the Order will be required to “post a notice of such size and in such form, and containing such content as the United States Secretary of Labor shall prescribe, in conspicuous places in and about its plants and offices where employees covered by the NLRA engage in activities relating to the performance of the contract.” The United States Department of Labor’s rule proposal seeking to implement the Order mandates that the notice: outline “the fundamental rights regarding union activity and collective bargaining that employees have under the NLRA; provide examples of conduct that is illegal under the NLRA; and provide contact information in the event that an employee suspects that the law has been violated.” If an employer fails to post this notice, its “contract may be cancelled, terminated, or suspended in whole or in part, and the contractor may be declared ineligible for further Government contracts.” Exemptions can be granted where the Secretary of Labor finds that the purpose of the Order would not be served in requiring the notice. Notably, the Order revokes President George W. Bush’s Executive Order 13201, which required notice to employees of their rights not to join a union and not to pay agency fees for nonrepresentational union expenditures. Employers that are subject to Executive Order 13496 should prepare to post notices proponing union activity in order to keep their contracts, and should be ready for any repercussions that the notice might have. Executive Order 13496 as of January 30, 2009