Gold Sponsor

Polsinelli

https://www.polsinelli.com/

Polsinelli is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 1,200 attorneys in over 25 offices nationwide. Recognized as one of the top firms for excellent client service and client relationships, Polsinelli is committed to meeting our clients’ expectations of what a law firm should be. Our attorneys provide value through practical legal counsel infused with business insight, offering comprehensive corporate, transactional, litigation and regulatory services with a focus on health care, real estate, finance, technology, private equity and life sciences.

Why did they decide to become an NBA-CLS sponsor? (50 – 100-word count)

The NBA-CLS provides an outstanding platform for networking and relationship building for in-house and outside counsel interested in promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.  It provides a space for Black attorneys to gather, connect, and support one another The legal talent that attends the NBA-CLS is of such a high caliber that it is almost impossible to replicate, while the connections made are organic and life-long. Since diversity and inclusion are long-standing core values of Polsinelli that lead to opportunities for aur lawyers and our firm, we are pleased to support the NBA-CLS annual conference.

Additional Information

Polsinelli’s goal is for every individual to feel supported regardless of what position they hold. We are committed to creating an environment where every employee retains their unique character and persona to contribute to the greater team. Our different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences heighten our ability to serve both our internal and external clients. Because we continuously challenge here-to-before accepted thinking and actions surrounding diversity, we are what a law firm should be.

October 2025 Attorney Spotlights

Gold Sponsor

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

https://www.dwt.com/

In many ways, we look a lot like most other AmLaw 100 firms. We have smart, well-trained lawyers. We care about our clients and want them to succeed. We can offer niche expertise or deep teams, depending on the nature of your legal needs. Indeed, we “represent clients from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies on the full range of…” (see pretty much every other AmLaw100 firm website). 

But you probably want to know what makes us different. The main thing is, we know that great clients have lots of options, and we want to be an easy and obvious choice for them. So we’re open to looking for ways to meet their needs, as opposed to finding reasons we can’t. We won’t take you for granted or forget who works for whom.  

What Our Clients Need, However They Need It 

We’re open to solving legal questions in ways that work for your particular business needs, or corporate culture, or organizational imperatives. We’re open to serving you in ways that meet your budget, or integrate best with your team, or just give you more peace of mind. 

We look for creative ways to add value beyond our legal work product. We’re on a straight retainer with one of our largest clients, with no billable hours, providing budget certainty and eliminating the huge administrative burden on our client of reviewing bills. We built our own staffing agency so we could offer the flexibility and cost savings of contract professionals but maintain control over quality, service standards, and client integration. We won national innovation awards three years running, based on developing new and better ways of serving clients. And then we quit competing for those awards, so we could just focus on our clients. 

Excellence First  

All that wouldn’t matter much if we weren’t also excellent. According to colleagues who have joined us from other firms, we collaborate better to serve clients and build successful practices. We’ve built a national First Amendment team that protects content generators and distributors from those who would stifle expression. A litigation team that is a top choice for leading tech companies, healthcare providers and those in the cross-hairs of an over-reaching government. Multidisciplinary, industry-focused teams doing some of the most interesting transactional, regulatory, and litigation work out there in technology, media, entertainment, communications, healthcare, financial services, food and beverage, restaurants, and energy. 

We combine the focus, flexibility and personal connections of a boutique, with the scope, scale and resources of an AmLaw 100 firm – but without the drawbacks of either. Finding that balance has put us in a good place. We have out-performed the vast majority of the AmLaw 100 over the past several years but we haven’t forgotten who we are: open, humble, user-friendly, committed to service. We’re pretty sure you’ll be happy you chose us. 

Visit us at http://www.dwt.com to learn more. 

Why did they decide to become an NBA-CLS sponsor? (50 – 100-word count)

DWT is committed to supporting the vision and mission of NBA-CLS, and have been longstanding supporters of NBA. We are intentional about partnering with minority bar organizations to provide opportunities, resources, and support for our black attorneys. We aim to create an industry where all talented individuals, including those from communities traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession, can have and can see paths to success. Our partnership with NBA-CLS does just that. Our attorneys have greatly benefited from their engagement and the connections they’ve made through the CLS Conference, and are excited to continue our support of NBA-CLS in the years to come.

Additional Information

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are part of the fabric of Davis Wright Tremaine—central to who we are and what we do. Our vision is to foster a culture where all talented individuals—including those from communities traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession—can have, and can see, paths to success. 

The Four Pillars 

Our DEI vision is built on four pillars, embedded across the management of our firm: 

• • Community: Fostering a culture that generates a sense of belonging, supports authenticity and intersectionality and embraces and appreciates our differences
  • Growth: Building and recruiting a diverse pipeline of talent and ensuring our professionals have equitable access to opportunities, information, and leadership
  • Education: Generating opportunities to learn about DEI in order to elevate our individual and collective consciousness. 
  • Engagement: Collaborating with external stakeholders, including our clients, affinity bar organizations, other external diversity organizations, to further our shared values around DEI.

Our commitment to DEI begins at the very top, with the active participation in our DEI efforts by the firmwide Managing Partner, the Executive Committee, and our Chief Talent & Inclusion Officer.  Our Diversity Executive Council (DEC) leads the firm’s DEI strategy and direction and includes our managing partner, several Executive Committee members, and key lawyer and business professional leaders from across the firm.   

DWT is also nationally recognized for supporting in-house legal departments’ pro bono and social impact efforts. We offer customized opportunities to do good, and assist with everything from creating and scaling in-house pro bono programs to hosting days-of-service based on the in-house teams’ community objectives.

October 2025 Attorney Spotlights

Partner Sponsor

About Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

https://www.nationwide.com/personal/about-us/

For more than 90 years, Nationwide has grown from a small mutual auto insurer owned by policyholders to one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world.

Early growth came from working together with Farm Bureaus that sponsored the company. Eight Farm Bureaus continue to promote Nationwide.

Today we still answer to our members, but we protect more than just cars and Ohio farmers. We’re a Fortune 100 company that offers a full range of insurance and financial services across the country. Our products include car, motorcycle, homeowners, pet, farm, life and commercial insurance. We also offer annuities, mutual funds, retirement plans and specialty health services.

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Silver Sponsor

About​ Arnold + Porter

www.arnoldporter.com

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Gold Sponsor

About​ Latham & Watkins

www.lw.com

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Gold Sponsor

About Kilpatrick

https://ktslaw.com/

Kilpatrick is trusted counsel to the world’s most innovative companies.

As one of a handful of law firms focused on serving the world’s most groundbreaking companies, we always strive to be at the forefront, from creating a best-in-class client experience to proactively addressing challenges and seizing opportunities on the cutting edge of law and technology. With recognized strength in the technology sector and a full range of service offerings, we do things differently from our peers because we put people first. Our highly skilled and intellectually curious team delivers practical, business-centric solutions built upon unusually strong and enduring connections with our clients and collaboration with each other.

With a foundation of over 160 years of success, we are steadfastly future-focused, driving innovation while cultivating genuine relationships. We’re optimistic about the future and invest in the success of our clients, our people, our firm, and our communities.

Why did they decide to become an NBA-CLS sponsor? (50 – 100-word count)

The NBA-CLS is a unique opportunity to interact with in-house counsel and General Counsel. Kilpatrick is proud to support the NBA-CLS and support the pipeline of African-Americans entering the legal profession.

Additional Information

At our firm, we believe that a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences enables our lawyers and professional staff to work together towards common goals, strengthens our workplace, and enhances our ability to serve clients. We are proud that our team reflects the rich variety found in the communities and industries we serve.

We foster a culture where people from all walks of life feel valued, respected, and able to thrive. Creating an environment of genuine belonging is essential—not only to who we are as colleagues, but to the way we approach our work.

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Bronze Sponsor

About Axinn

www.axinn.com/

Axinn combines the skills, experience and dedication of the world’s largest firms with the focus, responsiveness, efficiency and attention to client needs of the best boutiques. The firm was established in the late 1990s by lawyers from premier Wall Street firms with a common vision: provide the highest level of service and strategic acumen in antitrust, intellectual property and high-stakes litigation. Axinn’s lawyers have served as lead or co-lead counsel on nearly half a trillion dollars in transactions and, in the last 10 years alone, have handled more than 300 litigations.

• Global Competition Review named Axinn the “Firm of the Year – Americas” for acting as global lead counsel in its representation of Ball Corp. in its $6.8 billion acquisition of Rexam, creating the largest aluminum can beverage company in the world. It also acted as global lead counsel for Dell in its $67 billion acquisition of EMC, the largest technology deal in history. The firm was nominated by Global Competition Review for Litigator of the Year, Litigation of the Year (SawStop v Black & Decker), Litigation of the Year – Cartel Defense (Auto Parts MDL), Deal of the Year (Dell’s acquisition of EMC) and Dealmaker of the Year.

• Axinn has numerous seasoned IP trial lawyers and is a go-to firm for IP matters of strategic importance. The IP group typically has several dozen pending patent and trade secret cases, and tries multiple cases annually. Axinn has served as lead trial counsel in some of the most significant recent patent cases for the world’s leading pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, biologics and consumer products companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Unilever. On numerous occasions, the firm has been asked to take over cases during or after discovery and serve as lead counsel at trial, including the defense of a multi-billion dollar jury trial.

• Axinn litigators try cases and win. They have tried cases before juries, judges and arbitrators alleging breach of contract, business torts, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, antitrust violations, employment discriminations, fraud and theft of intellectual property. Axinn litigators also understand their clients, their businesses and products, their goals and governance issues, and what keeps their GCs up at night. Axinn has particular expertise in serving financial institutions with dozens of insurer hedge funds, mutual funds, and other financial industry clients. Axinn litigators are frequently involved in litigation on behalf of international clients and have successfully represented clients in forums from the Cayman Islands and Jersey to ICC arbitrations.

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Benefactor Sponsor

About JAMS

jamsadr.com

Local Solutions. Global Reach.

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Bronze Sponsor

About Winston & Strawn

www.winston.com

For more than 160 years, Winston & Strawn LLP has served as a trusted adviser and advocate for clients across virtually every industry. In that time, through careful growth and thoughtful fiscal management, we have built a law practice with tremendous breadth and a global reach. We are proud of the many accolades we have received over the years—a tribute to our lawyers’ creativity, flexibility, depth of experience, and commitment. The most meaningful accolade to us, though, is the continued trust and confidence of our clients.

WE ARE A FIRM WITH A MISSION

At Winston & Strawn, we strive to:

• Provide our clients with creative solutions to their business problems—on time and on budget
• Serve our communities and the public interest
• Promote diversity within our firm and throughout the legal profession
• Maintain a culture of teamwork and collegiality

WE GET DEALS DONE

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Silver Sponsor

About Duane Morris

www.duanemorris.com

Duane Morris LLP, a law firm with more than 900 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally, is asked by a broad array of clients to provide innovative solutions to today’s legal and business challenges.

Evolving from a partnership of prominent lawyers in Philadelphia a century ago, Duane Morris’ modern organization stretches from the U.S. to London and across Asia. Throughout this global expansion, Duane Morris has remained committed to preserving its collegial, collaborative culture that has attracted many talented attorneys. The firm’s leadership, and outside observers like the Harvard Business School, believe this culture is truly unique among large law firms, and helps account for the firm continuing to prosper throughout changing economic and industry conditions.

Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Mission Statement

Duane Morris is committed to being a law firm that includes people of diverse backgrounds and fully utilizes their talents to provide legal services of the highest quality. The firm will employ effective methods of recruitment of a diverse array of talent, and we will support their success and advancement within the firm.

Duane Morris is committed to fostering understanding, communication and respect among all people in the firm, including people of different races, religions, ages, genders, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, national origins, sexual preferences or orientations, medical conditions or disabilities, and marital, veteran or family statuses. The firm believes it should capitalize on the strength emanating from these differences. Drawing on the talents of all of the firm’s personnel helps to create an optimum workplace, one which can attract and retain diverse personnel and clients, allowing it to enter and serve varying markets and approach services to its clients more creatively. Duane Morris has the ability to meet these challenges and recognizes the beneficial impact a successful diversity program will have on firm morale, productivity, strategies and success.

The Executive Committee of Duane Morris has appointed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee to facilitate the implementation of this Mission Statement.

August 2025 Attorney Spotlights

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