Crowell & Moring's Monica Parham Elected President of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals

Washington, D.C. – January 10, 2013: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that Monica Parham, who serves as the firm's diversity counsel, was recently elected president of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP) board of directors.  

Founded in January 2006, the ALFDP is a not-for-profit association of law firm professionals working in the area of diversity whose mission is to act as a catalyst for the advancement of diversity in the legal profession through collective knowledge, vision, expertise, and advocacy in the area of law firm diversity.

As diversity counsel, Parham has full-time responsibility for coordinating the firm's implementation of its diversity and inclusion initiatives. She works closely with a number of firm committees and firm leadership to address and enhance the firm's recruitment, retention, and promotion of attorneys from groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession. Parham also facilitates communications regarding client expectations, and assists in coordinating client-focused  efforts, related to diversity and inclusion.

Prior to serving as Crowell & Moring's diversity counsel, Parham spent twelve years in the firm's Litigation Group, where she litigated in numerous venues across the country, including federal and state courts, and at the trial and appellate levels.

In addition to her work at Crowell & Moring and service in the ALFDP, Parham is the former president of the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBA), having also previously served on the WBA's board of directors and as co-chair of the WBA's Litigation Forum. She also serves on the board of advisors of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance (formerly the Project for Attorney Retention), the Diversity Committee of the American Bar Association Section of International Law, and on the National Task Force for Diversity in ADR.

Under Parham's leadership, Crowell & Moring has received several diversity related awards, including the 2010 Minority Corporate Counsel Association's (MCCA) Thomas L. Sager Award for the Mid-Atlantic Region and the 2012 MCCA Thomas L. Sager Award for the Western Region. Additional diversity– related awards the firm has received include: a 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index for three consecutive years; a ranking among Multicultural Law Magazine's "Top 100 Firms for Diversity;" recognition in 2012 as one of the "Ten Best Firms for Women in the U.S." by Yale Law Women; and selection as one of the 2012 "50 Best Law Firms for Women" by Working Mother magazine and the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) Flex-Time Lawyers LLC.

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with more than 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Anchorage, London, and Brussels.