2023
DIVERSE
Partner, Chair, Anti-Discrimination Practice, WilmerHale
LAWYERS Making a Difference INTERNATIONAL
AWARD
Debo P. Adegbile
Education: NYU School Law, JD; Connecticut College, BA Company Name: Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Industry: Law Company Headquarters Location: Washington, DC Number of Employees: 1,800 Your Location: New York, NY Words you live by: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” – N. Mandela Who is your personal hero? Thurgood Marshall What book are you reading? How to Be a Friend: An Ancient Guide to True Friendship by Marcus Tullius Cicero What was your first job? Sesame Street child actor Favorite charity: Manhattan Country School Interests/Hobbies: Soccer, interior design, NGO service Family: Susan Haskell, wife; Sela and Devan Adegbile, daughters
With the right mentors, junior lawyers can learn how to give good counsel that makes significant contributions to the world My career has been guided and enriched by mentors. Each expressed a belief in my potential that exceeded my reasonable expectations of what I thought possible, while also imparting lessons that I continue to carry and share. The most transformational for me was Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., who mentored me initially as a professor at NYU School of Law, and again when I worked with him as an associate following graduation. He never hesitated to seek the views of his junior colleagues. He taught us that we were paid to think hard about the factual and legal questions of our clients, and that we must be prepared to do so at all times. The judge had an ability to distill a controversy to its essence, and to force us to begin to develop that skill. Even at the outset of a case he would look around the table and ask: “How would you close?” Pushing past our astonish-
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ment at a question which was wholly unexpected, he would catapult us toward the summation. We took our best shot. It was a modest effort. He then would offer his version, and in listening to his passionate and persuasive baritone voice, a compelling clarity was introduced as our new guidepost. Of course, we knew he was a superior advocate and oralist— that was not in doubt—but this was really a lesson that at every stage in a case you need a vision of your end goal. He sent a powerful message to young lawyers that our thinking, views, and voice matter. He knew we were novices, but he treated us like colleagues—his belief in us helped to create confidence that we may not have ever had but for his commitment to our growth and possibilities. Judge Higginbotham forced us to find our legal voice by valuing it. In a dramatic example of his grace and investment in young law-
yers, he invited me and a colleague to the movie premiere of Cry, the Beloved Country. Nelson Mandela was in attendance and came to greet his friend, Judge Higginbotham, who had worked to support postapartheid South Africa. When Mandela saw Higginbotham, he smiled and asked: “How is the Big Chief?” his term of endearment for the judge who stood 6’5”. Higginbotham responded that he had “no major complaints,” laughed and then turned to introduce us, noting that we were working on an important voting rights case for the people of Louisiana. Mandela then looked at me and said, “Continue to give the judge good advice.” Since my days with the judge, I aspire to always give “good counsel” and to remember that each one of my junior colleagues may make extraordinary contributions to the law and world if we teach them to value their views and voice. www.diversityjournal.com