Hogan Lovells bolsters commitment to diversity with trio of appointments to Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Programs

“Damon, Darnesha, and Jake have consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities and a steadfast commitment to advancing DEI,” said Carine Stoick, One Americas Professional Development and Diversity Partner; Deputy Office Managing Partner, Washington, D.C.; and Office Managing Partner, Northern Virginia. “With their wealth of experience, talent, and dedication to driving meaningful change, we have no doubt the LCLD Fellow and Pathfinders programs will provide them invaluable professional and personal growth opportunities.”

The LCLD Fellows Program identifies high-potential lawyers with commitments to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion and sets them on the path to leadership within their organizations. Over the course of a year, each Fellow embarks on a leadership program that includes in-person conferences, training in the fine points of legal practice, peer-group projects to foster collaboration and build relationships, and extensive contact with LCLD's top leadership, including managing partners and general counsel.

2024 LCLD Fellow and IPMT partner, Damon Lewis, focuses his practice on intellectual property law and technology, particularly in litigation and Federal Circuit appeals in the technology and consumer sectors. Damon has experience litigating patent and copyright matters before federal district courts in California, Michigan, Delaware, Texas and Virginia, and pursuant to Section 337 investigations before the International Trade Commission. Damon's work has involved software, power tools, electronics, e-commerce, distributed computing, communications and transportation technologies, and defending corporations against non-practicing entities.

Miami-based senior associate, Darnesha Carter Foli, named a 2024 LCLD Pathfinder, has a variety of experience within commercial litigation. She has been instrumental in getting clients favorable results in matters involving products liability, trade secret misappropriation, construction, employment, healthcare, insurance, and securities law. She also has complex litigation experience, defending corporations in class actions, in multi district litigation suits (MDLs), and in multi-jurisdictional matters in both state and federal courts. Prior to starting her practice, Darnesha served as a senior law clerk to the Honorable Mary S. Scriven of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Jake Shaner, the firm’s second 2024 LCLD Pathfinder, is a Corporate & Finance senior associate based in New York. Jake has represented clients across industries on a variety of transformational transactions. He focuses his practice on cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, joint ventures, and corporate restructurings. Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, Jake was based in the New York office of a leading international law firm. He graduated from Cornell Law School, where he served as an articles editor for the Cornell Law Review. He earned his B.A. in History from Columbia University.

LCLD is the premier legal diversity organization in the United States engaging general counsel and managing partners of law firms to promote diversity and inclusion in legal organizations. Founded in 2009, LCLD works to improve and promote diversity at law firms. LCLD Members create diversity programs and take action, challenging the legal profession to prepare future generations of underrepresented talent for the highest positions of leadership. More about the organization can be found here.