MARCH 27, 2024 – Nicole Phillis, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, has been named to the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association's 2024 class of Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40.
"Nicole's outstanding dedication and commitment to ensuring that diverse attorneys receive professional development, support, and a platform for success in private practice has made her a change agent in her field," said Julie Capell, Davis Wright's Los Angeles partner-in-charge. "We are thrilled to have her receive this much-deserved recognition."
Since joining the firm in 2017, Nicole has integrated herself into a variety of multi-disciplinary practices. She defends businesses and individuals in federal and state litigation, with experience in disputes over trade secrets and employee mobility, shareholder disputes, governmental and internal investigations, consumer class actions, and contractual claims in the media and entertainment industries. She also defends food and beverage companies in consumer class actions alleging unfair competition and false advertising.
Supporting DEI values has been a central part of Nicole's career at the firm. She serves on the hiring committee for Davis Wright's LA office, where she is a forceful advocate for candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those historically underrepresented in the legal profession. She is also on the selection committee for the firm's 1L Diversity Scholar program and the Associate Evaluation Committee. As DEI Committee chair for the LA office, she has presented programming on the subject of body diversity within the legal profession, including the issue of dress code requirements and how it impacts self-expression and gender identity.
Outside of Davis Wright, Nicole serves as the Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the North American Regional Forum of the International Bar Association. As a former Ninth Circuit clerk, Nicole also serves on the board of advisors for Law Clerks for Diversity.
Nicole has also been a strong advocate for social equity in the cannabis industry, a cause she advances through her client work on cannabis-related advertising, media, and speech matters, as well as her service as board vice president for the California Cannabis Industry Association and co-chair of Davis Wright's cannabis practice group.
"Through innovative legal work, dedication to re-envisioning cannabis law to be more inclusive, commitment to empowering LGBTQ+ and body-diverse attorneys, and advocacy for approaching with an intersectional lens, Nicole is an established leader at our firm and in the legal community as a whole," said Scott Commerson, co-chair of the LGBTQ+ attorney affinity group at Davis Wright. "We could not be more proud to see her achievements honored with placement on this competitive list."
Nicole and the other awardees will be recognized in August at the 2024 Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair in Washington, D.C.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. Learn more at www.dwt.com.