Lonita Baker
Attorney At Law
Personal Experience
Lonita K. Baker serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and Managing Partner of the Baker Westbrook Louisville office. Previously, she has served as in-house counsel for a software technology company, attorney at a well-known personal injury firm in Kentucky, and an Assistant Jefferson County Attorney in the Legislative Services Branch of the Civil Division and as a Supervising Prosecutor in the Criminal Division. Attorney Baker began her legal career at the Louisville Metro Public Defender Corporation.
In 2020, Attorney Baker gained national attention in her representation of the family of Breonna Taylor. This case was a significant moment in Attorney Baker’s career resulting in a ground- breaking settlement with the City of Louisville which included terms of police reform in addition to one of the largest financial awards for an individual civil rights case to date.
Attorney Baker graduated from the University of Louisville in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and minors in Sociology and Pan-African Studies. She continued her studies at the University of Louisville at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law obtaining her Juris Doctor in 2006. In 2017, she obtained a Master of Business Administration with Distinction from the University of Louisville College of Business.
Attorney Baker has shown her commitment to the legal community consistently throughout her career. She served as the 80th President of the National Bar Association ("NBA"), after previously serving as a Vice-President, Member at Large, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Communications. Attorney Baker also served multiple terms as President of the Charles W. Anderson, Jr. Bar Association an NBA Affiliate Chapter. Attorney Baker has also served the Louisville legal community by serving on the Board of Directors for the Louisville Bar Association. She also served as the lead attorney for the Louisville Urban League Reily Re- entry Expungement Program.
Attorney Baker has received several awards for her service to the community and legal profession including being named a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney by the National Bar Association (2015) and The National Black Trial Lawyers (2017), receiving six Presidential Awards from the National Bar Association (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022), and being named the 2019 Justice Award recipient from the Louisville Urban League. In 2020, Attorney Baker earned recognition as a Top 40 Under 40 by Louisville Business First, a Wiley Branton Awardee by the National Bar Association, and the Daniel M. Alvarez Champion for Justice Award by the Louisville Bar Association. In 2021, Attorney Baker was awarded the Equal Justice Award by the National Bar Association and the R. Eugene Pincham award by Cook County Bar Association. Most recently, she was recognized by the Charles Houston Bar Association as the Kamala Harris Woman of Excellence honoree, a Muhammad Ali Center Daughter of Greatness, and the 2023 Kentucky Bar Association’s Distinguished Lawyer. Attorney Baker is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Area Of Practice
Admitted To Practice
- Kentucky, 2006
- Georgia
Education
- University of Louisville College of Business
- Master of Buisness Admin
- Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville
- JD - Juris Doctor
- University of Louisville
- BA - Bachelor of Arts
Professional Memberships
- Louisville Bar Association
- Board of Directors
- National Bar Association
- Past President
- Board of Governors
- American Association of Justice
- Kentucky Justice Association
- Former Board of Governors
Honors
- Top 40 Under 40 Attorney, The National Black Lawyers – Top 100
- Top 40 Under 40 Attorney, National Bar Association
- Presidential Award winner, National Bar Association