Women and the Law Division Honors Joan Blackwell with 2021 WLD Mentorship Award

Each year, the Women and the Law Division presents its Mentorship Award, which seeks to honor a female legal professional who's exhibited exceptional efforts to be a mentor to other women in the profession. This year, the division has selected Joan Blackwell of Latitude Legal as the honorable recipient.

Joan serves as Director of Legal Recruiting and Placement in Latitude’s Indianapolis, Indiana office. Before joining Latitude, she served as General Counsel, Ethics Officer and Chief of Staff for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. Prior to her work at the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, Joan was an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg LLP where she was a member of the Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring Department. She previously served as staff attorney to the Honorable Frank J. Otte of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Joan began her legal career as an associate with the firm of Kroger Gardis & Regas where she practiced in the areas of commercial bankruptcy law and business litigation.

Her nominator, Sarah Shields, states, "At the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, Joan was an advocate for the well-being of attorneys and staff, and her work greatly benefited us. In an effort to recruit and retain top talent and improve morale, she created an employee engagement committee, increased the number of training opportunities within the office (including personally presenting an ethics CLE) and ensured that employee compensation was fair and competitive. She is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Indianapolis and an active member of her community."

Congratulations, Joan! Honor her and other outstanding female legal professionals at the WLD Mentoring Program Reception on July 14. Register online here!