Reed Smith is pleased to announce that partner Julia López has been named by Executive Women of New Jersey (EWNJ) as one of the 55 most influential and accomplished women leaders in the areas of business, government, and academia in the state.
Founded in 1980, EWNJ aims to increase the number of women serving on corporate boards and in top leadership positions at New Jersey corporations. As part of that mission, the organization publishes a biennial report on the number of women on boards and in the senior governance of Garden State-based public companies.
López’s practice focuses on products liability litigation and commercial litigation. She primarily defends pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. Her experience includes working on single plaintiff matters, coordinated cases and multidistrict litigation in both federal and state courts nationwide.
In addition to maintaining a thriving practice, López is a diversity and inclusion leader both within Reed Smith, where she serves as the firm’s nationwide partner chair for the Hispanic/Latinx business inclusion group known as UNIDOS, and outside of the firm. She served as the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey’s 39th President and founded the first scholarship endowment for the organization. López also currently serves as the vice president of programs for the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), and also chairs a general counsel talent pipeline program for Hispanic/Latinx seasoned in-house attorneys known as PODER25™. The program seeks to place 20 Hispanic/Latinx general counsels by 2025. She also sits on the Merit Selection Committee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Additionally, López is an active member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and has served on various committees. She has also served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Minority Concerns, as well as the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Civil Practice.
For her leadership, sponsorship of others and legal acumen, López has received numerous awards and recognitions. She has been recognized by NJBIZ as one of the top 50 influential attorneys in NJ and on ROI's Influencers List of the most impactful People of Color in New Jersey. The HNBA has also recognized her work in the legal profession as a Top Lawyer Under 40, as well as her leadership at the HBA-NJ with the Affiliate of the Year award.
López commented, “Justice Sonia Sotomayor said: ‘You can’t imagine what you cannot see.’ As a Latina partner in Big Law, I hope that other young Latinas see the possibilities even when Latinas still represent less than 1% of all partners in big law. It is our time to claim our power and thrive in a world that once felt impossible.”
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