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Diverse teams—those with people of different races, genders, sexual orientations, etc.—outperform homogenous teams. In addition, multiple indicators suggest that diverse litigation teams stand to outperform traditional litigation teams. The panelists, Sheryl L. Axelrod, the President & CEO of The Axelrod Firm, PC, and Jane N. Kespradit, a Partner in LimNexus LLP, are members of NAMWOLF, the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. Every NAMWOLF member law firm has actually reached diversity in equity. Each is majority-owned by women lawyers, attorneys of color, and/or LGBT attorneys. Sheryl and Jane will discuss the competitive advantages of companies retaining diverse litigation teams, and their experiences seeing diversity as a competitive advantage. Jeffrey D. Hutton serves as Assistant General Counsel at Exelon, which supports diversity in the legal profession including NAMWOLF member law firms.

NAPABA did not seek CLE for this program; however, this live webcast may be eligible for CLE credit in your jurisdiction. Please follow-up directly with your jurisdiction in order to self-apply for CLE credit.

Panelists

• Sheryl L. Axelrod , President and CEO, The Axelrod Firm, P.C. —  Sheryl L. Axelrod is the President and CEO of The Axelrod Firm, P.C., a certified woman-owned law firm. She provides strategic, results-driven advice and representation to companies regarding their commercial, employment, and products liability litigation matters in Pennsylvania state and federal courts, and practices ADR, serving as a Judge Pro Tempore (JPT) and Settlement Master and on the elite roster of AAA Panelists rated to decide Large, Complex Commercial Disputes. She is also an expert speaker and writer in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space and for her work in the space, has been awarded multiple awards including the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (aka NAMWOLF) Advocacy Award, The Diversity Law Institute Award, and The Temple Law Alumni Association Women’s Champion Award, and The Axelrod Firm is also itself the recipient of a Diversity Law Institute Award.
  
  Ms. Axelrod has been profiled by the American Bar Association (ABA), Profiles in Diversity Journal, INSIGHT into Diversity, Women to Watch, Ms. JD, by Law360 which featured her in its Female Powerbrokers series, and by Thomson Reuters which profiled her in its “Fearless Persona Campaign,” a nationwide series covering the attorneys who are changing the landscape of the legal industry for the better. She serves on both the Gender Wealth Institute and the Women Lawyers On Guard Conversations With Men Advisory Councils, on Women Owned Law’s Advisory Board, as Co-Chair of Women Owned Law’s Diversity & Inclusion Task Force, and as Co-Chair of both the NAMWOLF Advocacy Committee and Diversity Law Institute’s Advisory Board, and The Axelrod Firm is a member of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance. 

• Jeffrey D. Hutton, Assistant General Counsel, Exelon —  Jeffrey D. Hutton serves as Assistant General Counsel at Exelon, the nation’s largest utility company, serving more than 10 million customers through six fully-regulated transmission and distribution utility companies. He has been with Exelon as a civil litigator for over 15 years, based out of Philadelphia, PA. In that role, he has managed and participated in a myriad of complex commercial and tort litigation in numerous federal and state jurisdictions, as well as several arbitration bodies. He is a 2013 Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, and has served on various committees within Exelon Legal over the years including the Law Firm Subcommittee of Exelon Legal’s DE&I Committee. He currently serves as co-chair of the Legal Department’s Philadelphia Pro Bono program. 

• Jane N. Kespradit , Partner, LimNexus LLP —  Jane N. Kespradit is a Partner at LimNexus LLP, a certified minority-owned law firm, representing Fortune 500 companies and businesses. She is based out of the Los Angeles, California office. Ms. Kespradit’s practice focuses on representing and advising employers on employment matters, including discrimination, failure to accommodate, harassment, misclassification, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims. She also represents businesses in litigation involving breach of fiduciary duty, contract disputes, fraud, and other claims.
  
  Ms. Kespradit has served in various leadership and community-oriented roles, which have included: co-founding and serving as a founding officer, and President, of the Thai American Bar Association; serving as a board member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County; participating in the California Lawyers Association's Bar Leadership activities; volunteering for the Los Angeles County Bar Association Domestic Violence Project; serving on the planning committee of the California Minority Counsel Program’s Women of Color Conference; and organizing a multi-year series of panels focused on developing and recognizing career successes of women in the legal profession.