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Partner Judy Suwatanapongched Selected as 2025 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow

Suwatanapongched is Sheppard Mullin’s 12th LCLD Fellow
01.29.2025

Sheppard Mullin is pleased to announce that Los Angeles-based Business Trial partner Judy Suwatanapongched has been selected as the firm’s 2025 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow. She is Sheppard Mullin’s 12th LCLD Fellow and currently serves as  co-leader of Sheppard Mullin’s Diversity and Inclusion Attorney Network (DIAN) and co-leader of the Los Angeles Office Working Group. LCLD’s landmark program identifies, trains and advances the next generation of leaders in the legal profession.

Suwatanapongched is a seasoned litigator, who represents clients in complex business and healthcare litigation. She handles all stages of litigation, from case filing to dispositive motions to mediation, arbitration, trial and judgment enforcement. She leads teams of associates and legal staff in handling complex discovery, e-discovery and trial preparation. She is a member of the firm’s E-Discovery team and Technology Advisory Council.

An active member of the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community, Suwatanapongched helped found and launch the Thai American Bar Association (TABA), the first organization to support Thai and Thai-American legal professionals in the United States. She is a current board member of the TABA and previously served as the organization’s Founding President. Suwatanapongched also assisted in forming the Thai American Samakkee Coalition (Samakkee), a national organization that promotes the unity and interests of Thais and Thai Americans in the U.S.

Suwatanapongched is a member of the Advisory Board of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles (APABA), where she has served on the Board of Governors since 2007. She served as APABA Scholarship Fund Chair for more than 10 years, coordinating the Law School Fellowship Committee, which awards an annual $5,000 scholarship to a law student who spends a summer working at a Los Angeles County nonprofit organization in a unit that serves the AANHPI community.

“We are incredibly proud to have Judy represent the firm as our 2025 LCLD Fellow,” said Luca Salvi, chair of Sheppard Mullin. “Judy’s leadership within the firm and also within the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community exemplifies the values we hold dear at Sheppard Mullin. We are thrilled to support her as she continues to cultivate a thriving practice and make a lasting impact in the legal profession.”

“I am deeply honored to represent Sheppard Mullin in this capacity and look forward to collaborating with my fellowship class to exchange insights and implement initiatives that will advance our professional growth and development as leaders of our profession,” commented Suwatanapongched. “I’m truly grateful for the continued support of firm leadership and the encouragement of my colleagues.”

About Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)
Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. The LCLD Fellows Program connects high-potential attorneys at LCLD Member organizations, providing a year-long professional development program focused on leadership and relationship building. The program gives participants the opportunity to learn from top leaders in the legal profession as well as experts in the fields of learning and development and executive coaching.

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