Donte Mills & Lennon Edwards, two of the countries top young personal injury lawyers, have been successfully building their firm Mills & Edwards, LLP to be recognized as one of the top litigation firms. As a result of hard work, perseverance, and a fierce determination to succeed Mills & Edwards have reached settlements and verdicts totaling millions of dollars for their clients. But beyond the million dollar cases that have been featured in New York Law Journal, and other publications these two trial lawyers are focused on delivering results with integrity.
Now with two offices located in New York City, and in Philadelphia the duo is positioning themselves as representation of choice in their jurisdictions. I got the chance to catch up with these two outstanding young Lawyers to discuss personal injury law, the barriers facing young African- American lawyers and advice for current and up and coming lawyers.
Tell us about your introduction into law.
Mills: My background in law began with a judicial clerkship for Judge George Overton in the court of common pleas in Philadelphia, PA. He was in the criminal division, and here I was exposed to the system, and the inequalities that the system can lead to if you are unfamiliar with it and how the courts work. This clerkship led me to the public defenders office and eventually a recruitment by the largest personal injury firm in New York. During the recruitment process I looked at the effect I could have on helping people whose lives have been negatively affected by incidents out of their control. The slip and falls, medical malpractice, or accidents. I saw that I could benefit these people lives directly and stayed with the firm for 7 years before opening up Mills & Edwards.
Edwards: I grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and my first introduction to the law was at the age of 14 years old when I was working in Manhattan family Court as a general clerk on the first floor. I would see how judges and lawyers intervene to help people resolve conflicts, and I decided then that I wanted to become a lawyer. I eventually became the first African American partner, and youngest to ascend to partnership at a large defense firm in New York. After eight years I made the switch to the plaintiff side and now here we are at Mills & Edwards.
What led you to personal injury law?
Edwards: The firm that I practiced at on wall Street advertised themselves as having practice areas in entertainment as well as personal injury. I have a music background so I was interested in entertainment too. During my time with this firm I ended up driving the litigation for the firm where litigation concentrated on plaintiff and defense personal injury.
Mills: I always knew I wanted to be a trial attorney. It was important for me to be an attorney that could speak on behalf of someone, so that ruled out contract and transactional law because I didn’t feel that played to my strengths, and what I wanted to do for people. That really left two avenues for me which were criminal and personal injury. I soon realized that within personal injury you can be that advocate for someone who has been hurt or injured.
What are some of the major barriers for African-American lawyers getting representation at top law firms around the country?
Check out more insights from Mills and Edwards on the next page …
Mills & Edwards:
1. Access. Many of the top firms believe that they can do business with our communities without us. They don’t feel that they necessarily need to have black attorney’s working for them to have access to our community. As long as we as a community allow that to continue firms will feel that they do not need to hire black attorneys. Every firm that I have every worked at it was over a period of years that I was there before I saw another black attorney, which leads me to the second major barrier.
2. Elevation. Most people fall into one of two categories when they come into a firm. Either you are a worker bee, or someone who they see as a rising star. The challenge is that we don’t always have enough people that are elevated to positions that have decision making power. To be able to choose who is hired next. There are lots of young gifted, energetic, and bright young black attorneys out there and a lot of times we just need the chance.
You have successfully launched your own Firm Mills & Edwards. What led you to the creation of your own Firm?
Mills & Edwards: Freedom. The freedom to make our own choices as far as who we want to represent, how we want to represent them and how we conduct ourselves as attorneys. One thing that happens when you are at a firm or working for someone
else is that if there is a conflict in ideas or the belief system you lose. You are working for them so you have to follow their lead. We have both had experiences where someone came in and needed help, but because a business decision was made that we were not a part of we could not help these people. You get to a point where you simply refuse to allow this to happen. If we believe in someone we help them.How important are building relationships with city & government officials, other lawyers, and members of the communities in which you serve?
It is not only important but necessary. The knowledge you gain from surrounding yourself with different people allows you to walk away from a conversation brighter and more knowledgeable than you were before. Our strength is relating to a jury, and that comes from us being comfortable in any situation and having a vast amount of experience from dealing with all different types of people. How can I really speak to a member of the community if I don’t understand the community they have come from. It broadens our understanding of people and that is why it’s necessary for anyone to build relationships with as many diverse relationships.
I believe when we deal with other people whether they be government officials, or other types of lawyers we become the windows to the soul of who we are as a people. We expose them to us and to the community because of the backgrounds that we have.
What Three Pieces of Advice Do You Have For Existing Lawyers and Those Pursuing a Career in Law?
- Push Past Your Limit – Identify where you are and have a vision of where you want to go. Be willing to go beyond that stopping point. Wherever that stopping point may be push yourself further so you can accomplish whatever your goal may be.
- Hustle – You got to have a motor on the inside. Determination, perseverance and be willing to get up when you get knocked down. As long as you aren’t knocked out you can still get back up and fight.
- Be Authentic – Don’t develop this false understanding of what a lawyer is supposed to say, how they are supposed to dress, or who they are supposed to be. If you take on this persona of who a lawyer is you will wake up unhappy because you are going against things that you feel are important. You have to work too hard to become a lawyer to put yourself in a situation where you don’t want to do it anymore because you don’t think you’re helping as much as you can, or that you can’t be yourself. Be yourself, and remain true to who you are.
Daron Pressley (@daronpressley) is an entrepreneur and former Fortune 500 sales and marketing executive who has been featured on outlets including Fox45 News, Black Enterprise magazine, and The Washington Post. Knowledgeable in marketing and branding, Pressley works with professional athletes, organizations, and individuals to develop strategies to create, build, and grow brands. As a speaker Pressley has reached over 20,000 students. He provides dynamic insights on leadership and branding via his Website, DaronPressley.com.