Locke Lord Chicago Partner Ernesto Palomo Elected To U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Indiana Advisory Committee

January 21, 2015 – Ernesto Palomo, a Partner in Locke Lord’s’ Chicago office who heads that office’s Diversity Committee, has been elected to a two-year term on the Indiana Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

State Advisory Committees inform the Commission about civil rights issues of state and national concern related to race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, voting rights or the administration of justice. Committee members conduct reviews and provide the Commission with recommendations concerning matters they have studied.

Palomo, who is part of Locke Lord's Business Litigation and Arbitration group, devotes considerable time to pro bono matters through the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Center for Disability and Elder Law, and the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services.

Palomo is a board member of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. In 2014, he was selected for the Fellows Program of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, a mentoring program built to increase diversity at the leadership levels of the nation's law firms and corporate legal departments.

Diversity is an important part of Locke Lord's strategic plan. The Firm has an active Diversity Committee dedicated to the recruitment, retention and promotion of lawyers of varying ethnicities, races, genders, sexual orientations, languages, nationalities and religions. It believes that the diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives of its lawyers are invaluable tools in serving its clients.

Locke Lord LLP and Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP approved combining the two firms effective January 10, 2015, creating a firm of approximately 1,000 lawyers working from 23 offices that can better meet clients’ needs around the world. The new Firm, Locke Lord LLP, will be among the 50 largest firms in The American Lawyer’s “AmLaw 100” annual rankings of top U.S. law firms. In addition to a greatly enhanced domestic and global footprint, Locke Lord now has a stronger team of lawyers with the ability to represent private equity and venture capital clients across a broad spectrum of industries including energy, telecommunications, technology, real estate, health care and life sciences. The combined Firm will also experience a significant increase in the depth of its public finance, health care, insurance, reinsurance, intellectual property, financial institutions and fund formation teams.