Live GoToWebinar presented by Linda Klein, Kelly Overstreet Johnson and Sia Baker-Barnes. Moderated by Ana Cristina Maldonado. Course number 5832 credits: 1 General, 1 Marital & Family Law and 1 Mental Illness Awareness. Section members register for only $50. REGISTER
The practice of Law and ADR is less diverse than other professions. How do we actually achieve creating a profession that is diffuse in backgrounds, cultures, ages and experiences? Join our distinguished panelists Linda A. Klein, the first female president of The Georgia Bar, who later became president of the American Bar Association; Kelly Overstreet Johnson, the third female president of The Florida Bar; and Sia Baker-Barnes, the first African-American female to serve as President of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, as they provide an overview of ABA Resolution 105 and other national and local initiatives to promote diversity in ADR.
PRESENTERS:
Linda Klein is a senior managing shareholder at Baker Donelson. She is a mediator and arbitrator, frequently serving as a neutral as well as a client advocate. Ms. Klein was the first woman to serve as president of The Georgia Bar and is past president of the American Bar Association. During her time as ABA President, the ABA House of Delegates passed Resolution 105 on Diversity in ADR.
Kelly Overstreet Johnson: After 40 years of extensive litigation experience in business and commercial litigation, a wide variety of employment-related matters, probate and trust, premises liability, nursing home and health care-related disputes, and general civil matters, Ms. Johnson left the private practice of law and formed Overstreet Johnson Mediation & Arbitration, LLC on February 1, 2022. Prior to her transition to a full-time neutral practice, in 2014 Ms. Johnson opened and was the Office Managing Shareholder for the Tallahassee office of Baker Donelson, and had been a long time shareholder with Broad & Cassel (now Nelson Mullins) for 24 years prior to opening the Baker Donelson office. Ms. Johnson has been a highly sought-after mediator and arbitrator for almost two decades, known for her litigation experience and abilities to relate well to parties and counsel alike in successfully resolving cases. She serves as a AAA panelist on commercial, employment and consumer panels. Ms. Johnson was the third woman elected to serve as president of The Florida Bar (2004-2005), was a past president of the Tallahassee Bar Association, the Tallahassee Women Lawyers, and participated in the ABA by serving in the House of Delegates and in the Section of Litigation, serving on its Executive Council. She is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has received numerous other professional recognitions throughout her career.
Sia Baker-Barnes is a Partner at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., in West Palm Beach, FL. She Chairs the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and has served on its Executive Committee. In her over 20-year career, she has successfully pursued justice for victims in plaintiff’s catastrophic injury, medical negligence and product liability cases. She is a Florida Bar Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer who has achieved numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, including her landmark $20 million verdict against tobacco giant RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, which was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court. She is included in US News & World Report’s “Best Lawyers In America,” Law Dragon’s Leading 500 lawyers, Florida Super Lawyers magazine, Florida Trend magazine’s Legal Elite, and many more.
Ms. Baker-Barnes serves on The Florida Bar Board of Governors, on the Executive Council of Florida Bar’s Trial Lawyers Section, and is a past President of the Palm Beach County Bar Association. She was recently installed as the President & Co-Founder of the Palm Beach County Sheree Davis Cunningham Black Women Lawyers Association, the first of its kind in Palm Beach County.
A Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the recipient of many honors and awards, she resides in West Palm Beach with her husband and their three children.