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Miley at Mark's; Elton Next?
A record 8,600 friends of the Lanier Law Firm attended the Houston firm's annual holiday party on Dec. 14, where teen popster Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney show "Hannah Montana," entertained a huge crowd that included thousands of screaming, dancing preteen girls. W. Mark Lanier , who hosted the party on the grounds of his house in northwest Houston with his wife, Becky, says partygoers donated a covered wagon full of school supplies and more than $250,000 for Guatemala SANA. The charity was established by Rafael Espada, the vice president of Guatemala and a former doctor in Houston. Lanier says every penny donated at the party will go directly to the charity and its educational programs. Lanier says they hired Cyrus for the show to bring a large crowd to the Christmas Cheer and Charity event, which also featured plenty of food, games and carnival entertainment. Lanier says Cyrus performed at a reduced fee, because it was a charitable fundraiser, but he says he can't say how much the firm paid her. But he notes that she was booked for a 45-minute show and actually sang for 90 minutes, which he says is the longest nonstop show she's ever performed. Next year's party will likely double as another fundraiser for Guatemala SANA, Lanier says. Who can top Cyrus? Lanier declines to confirm or deny the rumor that Elton John will take the stage at the 2009 holiday party, but he says it is true that he and Becky had dinner with John at the British singer's house two or three months ago. "He's a very nice gentleman," Lanier says.
Running Man
Larry Macon knows all about life on the run. When the San Antonio litigator crossed the finish line of the Dallas White Rock Marathon on Dec. 14, he marked his 105th marathon this year and qualified for the Guinness Book of World Records. "I am clearly a maniac," jokes Macon, who will turn 64 this month. Friends celebrated his milestone with balloons and hugs at the home stretch, and he's now in the process of putting together his packet of documentation, including affidavits signed by race directors, to submit to Guinness to prove he really did hit 105. Macon says packing that many races into a 12-month period wasn't so much a physical test as it was a logistical feat, especially when airlines canceled flights he relied on to take him to faraway races in smaller cities. "It was challenging to see how to get to Nowhere, Wyoming," he notes, "but the stars were perfectly lined up this year." Then he had to go the distance, literally. "Six times this year there have been triples where I have been able to do three in a weekend — those were like Labor Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving — and there's one day where I did two in 24 hours," he says. While that's a fast pace for sure, Macon is used to packing his calendar with destination races. He's a member of the 50 States Marathon Club, meaning he has run a marathon in all 50 states — actually, he says it's more like seven times in all states, and he just needs one more race in Rhode Island to be able to boost his overall honor to eight per state. Yet Macon says balancing his need for speed with a busy practice — he's a partner in Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld — isn't as hard as it may seem. "I leave Friday afternoon, fly someplace, run and then either fly or drive or fly-drive-and-bike to whenever the next adventure is on Sunday, then I am back here late Sunday night," he says. Sometimes he can even mix business and pleasure. "I have three clients who, on occasion, I run with. We run Boston every year together," he says. Although Macon is now on the road to world record status, he says he's not planning to stop and unlace anytime soon. In fact, he'll be back on track on Jan. 3, 2009, for the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson. Catch him if you can.
Diversity in Dallas
Only one firm received a passing score of 70 or better on the Dallas Diversity Task Force's third annual report, which measures the racial and ethnic diversity of lawyers at the 20 largest firms in Big D. Weil, Gotshal & Manges received the highest composite score, 76.1, according to the Dec. 15 report. As noted in the report, the composite score is based on the firm's number of minority attorneys, number of minority equity partners and the number of different minority groups represented. The task force measured each firm's numbers against Texas demographics and Texas lawyer demographics. Glenn D. West , managing partner of Weil, Gotshal's Dallas office, says many firms limit their quest for minority attorneys to the nation's top law school but his firm goes to many more schools, such as the University of Kentucky College of Law and the University of Tennessee College of Law . "When you're fishing, you go where the fish are," West says. But he says Weil, Gotshal also attracts minority attorneys from Harvard Law School and Yale Law School , because of the firm's efforts to promote diversity. In August, when the task force requested information from the 20 firms surveyed, Weil, Gotshal's Dallas office had 14 minorities among its 78 attorneys and two minorities among its 19 equity partners, according to the report. The report shows Gardere Wynne Sewell 's Dallas office had the lowest composite score, 29.3, with only seven minorities among its 171 attorneys and one minority among its 46 equity partners. Stephen Good , Gardere's managing partner, says, "We're disappointed in the numbers." Good says Gardere left off the report three multi-ethnic attorneys, because it was not clear how to classify them. Good says he participates in the diversity forum that West says he started in October for managing partners at the largest firms in Dallas. All the firms could stand to improve their numbers with regard to diversity, Good says. The task force's report is a collaborative effort undertaken by the Dallas Asian American Bar Association , the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association and the J.L. Turner Legal Association . E. Steve Bolden II , president of the J.L. Turner Legal Association and a partner in Mahomes Bolden Warren Sigmon , says the task force's objective is to increase the number of minority attorneys and minority partners at large firms in Dallas. Bolden says the report reflects a "slight uptick" in the number of minorities in the associate ranks but no increase in the number of minority partners. "I don't think the results we're looking for have been achieved."
