Jerina D. Phillips receives 2025 Diversity Champion Award
Jerina D. Phillips will receive this year’s Missouri Bar Diversity Champion Award for her commitment to inclusion and gains toward increasing the retention, advancement, and promotion of diversity in the legal profession.
The annual Diversity Champion Award recognizes a lawyer who demonstrates a true commitment to an inclusive legal profession which reflects the diverse constituencies that Missouri lawyers serve, and achieves gains toward increasing the retention, advancement, and promotion of lawyers across multiple dimensions of diversity. The Missouri Bar Board of Governors established the Diversity Champion Award in 2022 to encourage lawyers, legal employers, and broader communities to be inspired by their example.
Phillips is the practice group leader for the Labor & Employment Practice Group at Lewis Rice, focusing on labor and employment practice, as well as commercial, pharmaceutical, and media disputes. A graduate of the Saint Louis University School of Law, Phillips serves as vice chair of Lewis Rice’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and is a member of the firm’s Recruiting Committee.
“Championing diversity and inclusion isn’t just about representation — it’s about equity, dignity, and a recognition that we all have to do our part to ensure an inclusive profession,” Phillips said.
While on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, Phillips has helped implement a fellowship program to provide an opportunity for law students who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion to gain hands-on law firm experience and mentorship. The committee also implemented a college internship program designed for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities interested in the legal profession.
“I’ve always been driven by a deep desire to do good — to use the tools and skills I have as an attorney not just to serve clients well, but to serve justice in a broader sense,” she said. “And, for me, this means doing my part to help eliminate historic barriers to entry into our profession through mentorship, intentionality, and advocacy.”
Phillips will accept the Diversity Champion Award in Branson during the Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar and Judicial Conference, Sept. 17-19.
Click here to learn more about annual awards presented by The Missouri Bar, The Missouri Bar Foundation, and other entities. Read about other 2025 award winners here.