Three Baker Donelson attorneys have been selected to participate in the 2021 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) programs. Marcus M. Maples has been selected to the Fellows Program, and Janelle E. Alleyne and Tanya M. Santillan have been selected to the Pathfinders Program.
The LCLD is a national organization made up of the legal profession's top general counsels and managing partners. Mr. Maples joins a class of 418 attorneys from around the country selected to the 2021 class of Fellows. The LCLD Fellows Program was created to identify, train, and advance the next generation of leaders in the legal profession. Ms. Alleyne and Ms. Santillan are among 404 attorneys selected to the 2021 Pathfinders Program, which trains high-performing, early-career attorneys in critical career development strategies including leadership and the building of professional networks.
A shareholder in Baker Donelson's Birmingham office, Mr. Maples tries cases and leads defense teams in a wide range of high-stakes cases including complex commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, and construction litigation. He is a member of Baker Donelson's Diversity Committee and serves as chair of the Firm's Diversity & Inclusion Compact Advisory Board. He has been recognized as a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers and was recently recognized among the Birmingham Business Journal's "Leaders in Diversity." A graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, Mr. Maples is a member of the Magic City and American Bar Associations, and past president of the Alabama Lawyers Association. He previously served as co-chair of the Alabama State Bar Association Diversity Committee and, in recognition of his work in this role, was a recipient of the President's Award in 2020. He currently serves as secretary-treasurer of the Birmingham Bar Association.
Ms. Alleyne, an associate in the Firm's Atlanta office, concentrates her practice in complex tort litigation and health care regulation and compliance. Her previous experience includes working with the Health Law Partnership as a children's advocate. She is listed in Georgia Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star" in Business Litigation and was a member of the Georgia Young Gamechanger Class of 2018. Ms. Alleyne is a member of the American Bar Association, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, is a Barrister with the Logan E. Bleckley Inn of Court, and sits on the Jackson Heart Study Ethics Advisory Board. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law, and holds a Certificate in Health Law, as well as a Master of Public Health degree.
Ms. Santillan is an associate in Baker Donelson's Houston office, where she concentrates her practice in complex commercial disputes. She is fully fluent in Spanish and English and is skilled in construction and energy disputes and domestic and international arbitration. A graduate of the American University Washington College of Law, Ms. Santillan has been named a Best Lawyers in America® "Ones to Watch" in Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the Hispanic Bar Association.
Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 350 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession.