Overview
(February 24, 2022, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that partner Elizabeth Cassady and of counsel Onika Williams have been named members of the 2022 class of Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows, while associates Li Guo and Christopher Suarez have been selected as 2022 LCLD Pathfinders.
Launched in 2011, the landmark LCLD Fellows program is an intensive, yearlong professional development program that mentors the legal industry's diverse leaders of tomorrow. Designed for lawyers with eight to 15 years of experience, the program connects high-potential attorneys with leading general counsel, managing partners, and their peers for mentoring and career guidance.
Cassady and Williams are among 426 Fellows named to the 2022 class. Selected from among LCLD member corporations and law firms, they will participate in virtual and in-person class meetings, with opportunities to interact with key legal and business leaders of large U.S. corporations, and leadership lunches hosted by LCLD Member organizations featuring a managing partner or general counsel.
As LCLD Pathfinders, Guo and Suarez will participate in a seven-month professional program designed to train high-performing, early-career attorneys on foundational leadership and relationship-building. The program provides participants with the opportunity to learn from top leaders in the legal profession along with experts in the fields of learning and development and executive coaching. This year's 433 Pathfinders were selected by leaders at LCLD member corporations and law firms. They have been identified as diverse, early-career emerging leaders who have distinguished—or have the potential to distinguish—themselves within their organizations.
Elizabeth Cassady's practice focuses on representing financial institutions and other major companies in a full slate of business-critical litigation. Cassady also provides pre-litigation counseling to clients in order to avoid costly disputes.
Onika Williams’ practice focuses on advising clients on compliance and enforcement issues under a variety of federal regulatory agencies and disputes before the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
Li Guo’s practice focuses on protecting and defending clients' intellectual property rights in federal district court, in Section 337 investigations before the US International Trade Commission, and in inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Christopher Suarez's practice focuses on on high-tech patent, copyright, and trade secret trials and appeals before every level of the US court system, including federal district courts, US courts of appeals, the US Supreme Court, the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and other administrative tribunals.
About the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity is an organization of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners—the leadership of the profession—who have pledged themselves, through our Leaders at the Front initiative and other means, to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. Our action programs are designed to attract, inspire, and nurture the talent in society and within our organizations, thereby helping a new and more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to positions of leadership. By producing tangible results in our institutions, we work to promote inclusiveness in our organizations, our circles of influence, and our society, with the ultimate goal of building a more equitable and diverse legal profession. https://www.lcldnet.org/
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
