Chevon Andre Brooks, Esq.
Partner
Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP
Hawthorne, NY
Age: 36
?
?
As a child, Chevon Brooks says, he was ?athletic, curious and playful.? It took the terrorist bombings in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, to imbue him with a sense of service and purpose, setting him on the path to becoming not simply an attorney but the first Black partner in the 20-year history of the law firm Traub, Lieberman, Straus, & Shrewsberry LLP. His sister and basketball legend Earvin ?Magic? Johnson Jr. were role models along the way. ?My sister, as the first attorney in my family, showed me my path was possible,? Brooks says; and he looked up to Magic Johnson, who has been living with AIDS for more than 20 years, ??as both a businessman and survivor.?
?
Born in Jamaica, West Indies, Brooks earned his bachelor?s degree in business management at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Juris Doctor at George Washington University School of Law. At Traub, Lieberman, he specializes in complex litigation and appellate practice, managing a diverse range of cases. He also negotiates complex settlements and contract and insurance coverage disputes during private mediation and mandatory arbitrations.?
?
Brooks is outspoken about his commitment to diversity and to the development of African-American talent. He is a founding member of the his firm?s Diversity Committee and serves as treasurer of the National African-American Insurance Association, which was organized to create a network among minorities employed by insurance companies. Acknowledging the importance of role models during childhood, if he had the time and money he would establish an elementary school that focused on hiring and retaining African-American male teachers, Brooks says. ?We don?t see as many African-American male teachers as African-American female teachers because of salary, negative stigma, and, most importantly, a lack of role models within the industry,? he asserts.
