Jones Day's Shirlethia Franklin Named a Washington Business Journal 2026 Diversity in Business Honoree

Jones Day partner Shirlethia Franklin has been named a 2026 Diversity in Business Awards honoree by the Washington Business Journal. Now in its 19th year, this signature program celebrates Greater Washington's diverse leaders for their outstanding achievements and contributions to their organizations and local communities.

Ms. Franklin litigates complex, high-stakes product liability, pharmaceutical, mass/toxic tort, and consumer class-action cases across a broad range of industries, and counsels clients on federal regulatory and policy matters. Prior to joining Jones Day, she served as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. In these roles, Ms. Franklin counseled two Attorneys General on significant law enforcement issues, high-profile environmental matters, and key policy initiatives. She is also a former White House Fellow and currently serves on the boards for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Tougaloo College.

Ms. Franklin leads Jones Day's New Lawyers Group, a flagship Firm practice group that not only delivers intensive training and hands-on mentoring to new lawyers across all 40 of the Firm's offices worldwide, but also provides new lawyers in U.S. offices a full year to explore their practice options, while those in the Firm's offices outside the U.S. receive up to two years. She also served as co-chair of Jones Day's Black Lawyers Affinity Group.