Benesch is pleased to announce that Partner Marisa T. Darden has been selected for the 2024 Class of Fellows of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and Associate Sydney Allen has been chosen for the 2024 LCLD Pathfinders Program. The landmark programs were created by LCLD to identify, train and advance the next generation of leaders in the legal profession.
Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. The LCLD Fellows program, which has trained more than a thousand mid-career attorneys since 2011, is one of LCLD’s most important initiatives.
Marisa, a partner and chair of Benesch’s White Collar, Government Investigations & Regulatory Compliance Practice Group, is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and an accomplished trial lawyer. She provides guidance to companies and individuals facing investigations and criminal matters initiated by law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including allegations of wire and mail fraud and potential violations of state and federal law, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Outside of her practice, Marisa serves on the Board of Directors for Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation, College Now and the Northern District of Ohio Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and she is a previous recipient of the Crain’s Cleveland Women of Note Award.
Sydney focuses her practice on intellectual property, technology transactions, data security and privacy. She regularly represents clients in sophisticated IP and technology transactions, including SaaS, cloud, software development, licenses, technology services, professional services and manufacturing. Sydney is a former civil defense litigator and has represented and counseled clients in contract, business and commercial disputes. Sydney received the Outstanding Diversity Advocate Award from the Bar Association of San Francisco in 2023 and was honored with the Outstanding Member Award by Black Women Lawyers of Northern California in 2022. She was also the recipient of the Minority Bar Coalition’s Unity Award in 2021.