OCBA Member Robert Im has been selected to participate in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)’s Pathfinders program, which aims to train high-performing, early-career attorneys in critical career development strategies including leadership and the building of professional networks.

Robert is an Associate in McGlinchey’s Irvine office, where his practice focuses on defending national and state banks, consumer finance companies, mortgage loan servicers and issuers, and other providers of consumer financial services in lawsuits brought by consumers in state and federal courts. He is McGlinchey’s third Pathfinders program participant.

“We congratulate Robert on being named to the prestigious Pathfinders program,” said Michael Ferachi, Managing Member of McGlinchey. “We know that any group is made stronger with input from a cross-representation of its public. Through our involvement with and support of LCLD, McGlinchey is proud to champion initiatives that foster the inclusive, equitable environment we strive for in the firm and across the legal field.”

“We are proud Robert will represent McGlinchey as an LCLD Pathfinder and we are delighted to select him for this year’s program,” said Eliska Plunkett, McGlinchey’s Chief Diversity Officer.

McGlinchey has been a member of the LCLD since its inception. Every year since 2018, McGlinchey has been honored as a Law Firm “Top Performer” by the LCLD, and the firm is a previous recipient of the LCLD’s highest recognition, the Compass Award. From the firm’s founding, McGlinchey has challenged the status quo and earned a reputation as a progressive, merit-based business that rewards individual achievement and potential. Since 2012, McGlinchey has also offered an annual 1L Fellowship through the LCLD Scholars program to a first-year law student, which includes a $5,000 scholarship, a paid Summer Associate position, and formal mentorship from McGlinchey attorneys throughout the student’s law school career.

According to LCLD President Robert J. Grey, Jr., the LCLD Pathfinder Program offers participants “intensive in-person training, online experiential learning, and opportunities to network with peers and esteemed LCLD Fellows and Alumni in small group gatherings.” The LCLD Pathfinder Program has trained more than 900 early-career attorneys since 2015, catering to junior lawyers in law firms and corporate legal departments who have demonstrated potential to become future leaders in the legal profession.

The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity is an organization of more than 350 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners working to promote inclusiveness in legal institutions, in circles of influence, and in society, with the ultimate goal of building a more open and diverse legal profession.