Great news! A January 21, 2025 Executive Order has declared that we’re going to be a meritocracy! The President’s E.O., titled Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, blames governmental and private sector DEI programs for “undermin[ing] our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and
Belonging at Work
Law Firm DEI through the lens of Belonging
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Belonging and America
This blog is about professional Belonging in law firms. Yet Belonging at work doesn’t operate in a vacuum. And it’s hard to ignore the vigorous demolition project now underway all around us, as our new President rapidly seeks to transform what belonging means for America.
First is our understanding of what belongs to America. Greenland?…
TX Comptroller Takes Aggressive New Stance in Refusing to Certify TABC Applications

Before a prospective applicant can submit their application to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) for any type of TABC permit, the applicant must get the comptroller to sign the TABC’s L-Cert form. By signing a TABC application, the comptroller certifies that the applicant has complied with the following provisions of the Texas Alcoholic…
TABC Promotional Permit (PR)

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (“TABC”) issues promotional permits to allow a person or company to enter into an agreement or contract with a manufacturing tier member such as a distillery, winery or brewery to promote their product to the ultimate consumer at retail level establishments such as restaurants or bars, convenience or…
Texas Lawmakers propose amendments to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code

In the Texas 89th Legislative Session, Texas Lawmakers have proposed to amend the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code by introducing the following bills:
Would allow carrier permit holders to transport beer, give consumer delivery permit holders the ability to deliver beer on behalf of breweries or subordinate brewpub holders, enable brewer’s license holders to…
Adverse Wet or Dry Determinations by County Judge are Not Appealable through Tex. Alco. Bev. Code 11.67

AVO Shopping intended to apply for a package store permit with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for a premises located within the City Limits of Houston. They submitted a certification packet to the City, requesting determination “whether the location or address given in the request is in a wet area and whether the sale of…
Practicing Belonging: Be curious. Care enough to find out what your lawyers want to be, and help them get there.

I brought a carryout Roasterie coffee when I recently met with Diana Kander. Diana asked for no coffee, perhaps because her laser-focused energy could power half a continent without caffeine. Diana is a Millennial, and she and husband Jason are busy raising their two young children. And in case you didn’t already know, Diana…
How to connect in identity conversations
The last part of Charles Duhigg’s book Supercommunicators, after problem-solving conversations and emotion conversations, helps unpack what goes on in perhaps the most challenging and uncomfortable conversations of all – those that turn upon, or trigger, our identities.
As Duhigg reminds us:
All of us have a personal identity, how we think of ourselves…
Practicing Belonging: Be clear about your Firm’s standards and evenhanded in applying them.
Shomari Benton and I met up over morning coffee at Café Corazón. Shomari is a real estate and development lawyer and also an entrepreneurial property redeveloper focused on Kansas City’s urban core. He is a young Gen Xer, and he and his wife are newlyweds. And behind his resonant voice and engaging laugh,…
How to connect with emotion conversations
I was uncomfortable about this next part of Charles Duhigg’s book, Supercommunicators, which moves on from “what’s this about” (problem-solving) conversations to “how do I feel?” (emotion) conversations. Beats me if it’s a me-thing, or an old guy-thing, or a WASP-thing, but when a conversation turns to “how do I feel,” there’s…