The California Minority Counsel Program (“CMCP”) recognized Susan Kumagai for her contributions to diversity in the legal profession and long-term involvement in the organization. Ms. Kumagai has actively participated in CMCP for a number of years. She served on CMCP’s Steering Committee and its Executive Committee, was the Chair of the 2002 CMCP Annual Business Conference and was a Co-Chair for its 2008 Conference. Ms. Kumagai will be inducted into the Diversity Leader Hall of Fame at CMCP’s 26th Annual Business Conference Recognition Lunch on October 23, 2015 in Los Angeles.
CMCP’s Diversity Leader Hall of Fame recognizes visionaries who saw the need, set the tone and paved the way, moving CMCP to a higher level. Hall of Fame members are individuals who have sustained long-term active involvement in CMCP in multiple ways, believe in the importance of CMCP as a primary diversity organization, and actively promote and support CMCP.
Susan Kumagai is a founding partner of Lafayette & Kumagai LLP. Ms. Kumagai heads the labor and employment department of the firm. She has extensive experience practicing in both federal and state courts. She specializes in labor and employment representing management in the areas of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistle-blower, wrongful discharge claims and ERISA.
Ms. Kumagai has a long-standing commitment to diversity in the legal field. She participated in the first meeting organized by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company to discuss how corporations could support diversity in the legal profession. Ms. Kumagai also participated in meetings and discussions for the 2004 Call to Action led by then Sarah Lee General Counsel Rick Palmore, an ongoing initiative which aims to increase corporations’ commitment to diversity in the legal profession. She previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bar Association of San Francisco (“BASF”), and as a member of its Nominating and Judiciary Committees. Ms. Kumagai is an active member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“NAPABA”), and the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (“NAMWOLF”). Ms. Kumagai serves as the Corporate Secretary for the National Minority Law Group (“NMLG”) and advocated with NMLG for inclusion of minority and women-owned firms to be considered as candidates to provide legal services to the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Troubled Assets Recovery Program (“TARP”). As a member of the BASF Board of Directors, Ms. Kumagai was also involved in BASF’s Bottom Line Partnership Task Force, conducting interviews of minority partners in San Francisco’s majority law firms to gain insight and report on their experiences and suggestions on how to best diversify the legal profession.
Ms. Kumagai has been recognized in the Northern California Super Lawyers® list for 2009 through 2015 and has an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. Kumagai has been a panelist for NAMWOLF, the National Employment Law Council, CMCP, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the State Bar of California’s Ethnic and Minority Relations Committee, NAPABA and Sterling Education Services. Ms. Kumagai graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Davis School of Law (King Hall).
For more information about the CMCP Diversity Leader Hall of Fame Award and California Minority Corporate Program, please click here.