Sherrie Farrell Elected Co-Chair of African American Partners Collaborative

Dykema, a leading national law firm, has announced that Sherrie Farrell was elected to serve as Co-Chair of the African American Partners Collaborative (AAPC).

The AAPC was established after a series of informal discussions among African American partners at major metropolitan Detroit law firms who perceived a significant decline in the number of black lawyers at these firms. The AAPC is contributing to the conversation about improving diversity and inclusion in the legal industry and sponsors programs to achieve that goal.

A trusted business advisor with 25 years of experience providing counseling and litigation advice to a wide array of businesses and organizations, Farrell is focused on providing business and legal advice aligned with clients’ goals. She was recently appointed as Dykema’s Chief Diversity Officer and has held several key leadership positions, including serving as Chair of the firm’s DE&I Committee for more than a decade. She also Co-Chairs the firm’s Mansfield Task Force, which guided the firm to achieving Mansfield 5.0 Certification Plus status.

Farrell has worked on issues related to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, from being appointed to the firm’s first diversity committee in 1999, to writing the firm’s first strategic plan for diversity and inclusion. Over the years, she has participated in numerous national panels focused on diversity and inclusion issues, and has been a member of various committees devoted to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Farrell is heavily involved in several bar associations and legal professional societies, including serving as President of both the Women’s Lawyers Association of Michigan and the Wolverine Bar Association, a former member of the Board of Directors for the Legal Aid and Defender Association, and as a Member of the State Bar of Michigan’s inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. She also is involved in the African American Partners’ Collaborative and the African-American Managing Partners and General Counsel Network.

Outside of her practice and leadership responsibilities with Dykema, Farrell’s community involvement includes being a board member for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, Gift of Life-Michigan, Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program, and the Citizens Research Council. She is also a mentor for the Just The Beginnings Foundation and the Street Law Program.

Throughout her distinguished career, Farrell has received numerous professional accolades. Earlier this year, she was named to Savoy magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers list. She’s also received the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association Trailblazer Award, was named to Lawyers of Color’s “Nation’s Best List,” earned the Wolverine Bar Association President’s Award for the promotion of diversity in the legal profession, was awarded the Robert Millender Visionary Award from the Black Law Students’ Association at Michigan State College of Law, was named as one of Michigan Chronicle’s Women of Excellence, and named Managing Partner of the Year by the African-American Managing Partners and General Counsel Network.

Farrell earned a J.D., cum laude, from the Detroit College of Law and a B.A. from Wayne State University.