Winston BLN Hosts Black Networking Lunch in Chicago

The firm’s Chicago office was the site for the second meeting of “It’s Just [Black Lawyers Having] Lunch,” an initiative led by Associate Chris Wilson and two other Chicago attorneys, which aims to provide a platform for growing and strengthening the network of black attorneys in the city.

More than 100 black attorneys attended the lunch on March 28, which featured opening remarks from Winston Black Lawyers Network (BLN) affinity group co-chair Sam Mendenhall. His words of wisdom as a veteran big law partner and litigator focused on the importance of networking and relationship building to career success. Other Winston attorneys in attendance included Partner Tim Kincaid and Associates DaWanna McCray, Bryan Smith, Sean Suber, and Idara Udofia.

The event was set up as a mixer with assigned seating based on color-coded name tags and a set of discussion questions to encourage attendees to get to know some of the unfamiliar faces in the room. At each table, the most junior person was designated as the moderator, and the person with a sticker under their plate was designated to report his/her table’s responses back to the larger group. Questions, which ranged from career-related topics to favorite books and apps, sparked lively conversations as well as new relationships.

 Click here for more photos from this event.