Fisher Phillips Names Chief Diversity Officer

SAN DIEGO & ATLANTA (June 8, 2018) – Fisher Phillips announces it has named its first Chief Diversity Officer. Firm Partner Regina A. Petty will provide leadership, vision and strategic direction to advance the diversity and inclusion values of the firm.

“In selecting our CDO, we wanted to tap a leader committed to the pursuit of diversity and inclusion at every level of the organization,” said Roger K. Quillen, Chairman & Managing Partner. “Regina embodies these ideals both in her personal and professional life, and we’re proud to have her leading our firm’s efforts to help shape substantive advances in implementing best practices, and fostering discussions of these important issues.”

As one of the firm’s California partners, Regina practices in state and federal courts throughout the country at the trial and appellate court levels, and advises private and public employers on workplace issues. Regina is a recognized bar leader and diversity champion in the legal profession. Before joining Fisher Phillips, Regina was a named partner in a women-owned business litigation firm. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. She was the first African-American president of the San Diego County Bar Association. Regina was a member of the Formation and Advisory Committees for the American Bar Association’s Conference of Minority Partners in Majority/Corporate Law Firms beginning in 1989. Regina was a member of the steering committee for the California Minority Corporate Counsel Program in the early 1990s. In the past she has also been a member of the ABA House of Delegates, a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, a co-chairperson of the ABA Litigation Section’s Task Force on Bias in the Courts, a member of the Board of Governors of California Women Lawyers, and a board member and program chair of Lawyers Club of San Diego. She has made substantial contributions to diversity initiatives and legal education programs for the National Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute and the International Association of Defense Counsel. Regina co-authored the book contribution “Lifting the Veil: Reflections on Facing Juror Bias,” The Woman Advocate, Prentice Hall Law & Business and ABA Section of Litigation.

Regina has devoted years of service to many charitable and civic boards of directors, including Sharp Healthcare, the San Diego County Federal Credit Union Holiday Bowl and the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce. Recently, she was honored by the California Association of Black Lawyers at the State Bar of California’s annual meeting, where she was recognized by President Camille Townsend as “an example of visionary leadership in her practice and the community.”

Regina has also been presented the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association’s “Thurgood Marshall Award” and received the San Diego County Bar Association’s Diversity Award. She is a recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business Award,” the YWCA’s “Tribute to Women in Industry Award” and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Council of Girl Scouts “Cool Woman Award.” Regina has been recognized as one of the Los Angeles Daily Journal's “Top 75 Women Litigators in California” and as one of the San Diego Daily Transcript’s “Top Ten Attorneys” in both the labor and employment and business litigation categories.

She is a regular speaker for seminars sponsored by national and regional professional organizations on employment, trial practice and diversity topics. After graduating from high school in the Los Angeles area, Regina earned both her J.D. (1982) and her A.B. Economics (1979) from Stanford University.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to play a key role in managing change within Fisher Phillips to enhance our firm’s efforts to achieve the highest standards for success with respect to diversity in the legal profession. I look forward to being a compelling voice for the cultivation of a work environment committed to the robust pursuit of diversity and inclusion in the entire organization,” said Regina.

Regina attributes the origin of her intense passion for diversity as a management imperative to her mother and her mother’s college sorority sister, The Honorable Barbara Jordan. Regina says that “these women instilled in me the conviction that there were no barriers that could not be conquered by Black women.”