Lawyers in Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s Washington office participate in a wide range of pro bono initiatives and are active members of bar organizations that seek to enhance the profession and improve the delivery and quality of legal services.

Hunton Andrews Kurth is pleased to announce that two lawyers in the firm’s Insurance Coverage Practice recently were elected to positions of significant leadership in the profession. Partner Lorie Masters last week was elected as a D.C. Bar delegate to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates for a two-year term, commencing in August 2020. Associate Latosha Ellis earlier this month began a one-year term as Secretary of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, an association founded more than 100 years before women had the right to vote.

Masters is a nationally recognized insurance coverage litigator, who advises clients on a wide range of coverages. She has served on the ABA’s Board of Governors and on the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, chairing its Women of Color Research Initiative. In addition, Masters served on the D.C. Bar Board of Governors and chaired the Bar’s Litigation Section and the Section’s Youth Law Fair. Masters served as President of the D.C. Women’s Bar Association and chairs the Board of the Human Trafficking Legal Center. Masters also has served on the Boards of D.C. Vote and D.C. Appleseed, fighting for full democracy for the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home.

As the official policy-making body of the ABA, the House of Delegates is composed of nearly 600 members from across the United States and is charged with the control and administration of the nation’s largest professional organization of lawyers. The House meets twice each year, at the ABA Annual and Midyear Meetings, to consider resolutions on a broad range of issues impacting the legal profession. Masters will play a pivotal role in determining whether or not to adopt those resolutions.

Ellis, an associate in Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Insurance Coverage Group, regularly counsels and represents clients on all major forms of commercial insurance coverage. She is an accomplished author and lecturer on topics related to insurance coverage and risk management and has presented at numerous seminars throughout the country. Ellis is the Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee’s 2021 CLE Seminar, member of the Section of Litigation’s Professional Development Committee, and a graduate of the Section of Litigation’s Young Lawyer Leadership Program. She is a 2019 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinder, was recognized by The National Black Lawyers as a 2019 Top 40 Under 40 Lawyer in Washington, D.C., and is an American Bar Foundation Fellow.

In her capacity as Secretary, Ellis will lend her leadership, vision, and experience to the WBA-DC’s mission of maintaining the honor and integrity of the profession; promoting the administration of justice; advancing and protecting the interests of women lawyers; promoting their mutual improvement; and encouraging a spirit of friendship among its members.

“Lorie and Latosha exemplify professionalism and are committed to making the practice of law more accessible and just,” said Walter Andrews, head of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s insurance coverage practice. “Congratulations to them both for winning election to these important leadership positions. I am immensely proud of them and very much appreciate their contributions to the practice of law and to our insurance coverage practice.”