Terrence Franklin Recognized with Los Angeles Business Journal’s Inaugural Top 100 Lawyers and Champion of Mentorship Awards

In acknowledgement of his exceptional legal skill and achievements across the full spectrum of responsibility, exemplary leadership, and contributions to the Los Angeles community, Partner Terrence Franklin has been recognized among the 2022 Top 100 Lawyers by Los Angeles Business Journal. Publisher and CEO Josh Schimmels commented on the class of winners, saying: “Considering the Los Angeles region has long been known for its status as a hub for thought leaders and record-setting attorneys, being a standout in the field is particularly impressive.”

In addition, Los Angeles Business Journal presented specialty awards to those who continue to excel in the profession in unique and impactful ways, and Franklin was the sole recipient of the Champion of Mentorship Award. One of the greatest impacts in Franklin’s career has been his role as an influential mentor and he has been renowned in the legal industry for his commitment to furthering the advancement of minority lawyers.

When presented with the Top 100 and Champion of Mentorship Awards at Los Angeles Business Journal’s May 12th reception, Franklin said:

“I had been practicing trust and estates litigation, handling court fights about wills and trusts for over 25 years when I discovered that my fourth great-grandfather, John Sutton, a Jacksonville farmer, owned my fourth great-grandmother, whom he referred to in his 1846 will as his ‘mulatto slave Lucy.’ The will went on to set Lucy free along with their eight children and six grandchildren. However, I also learned that John’s brother, Shadrack filed a contest challenging the will in court, arguing that John had been unduly influenced and too old, too drunk and too crazy to set them free.

The discovery of the case, Lucy’s struggle to make a better way for family and her descendants like me, helped me see how we all have a role in shaping history, and helped me understand my mission, ‘To Bend the Arc of History Towards Justice’ by sharing Lucy’s story.

My faith and experience tell me that we, like Lucy, all have the capacity to triumph over any obstacle, to surmount any suffering, transforming it into a source of growth and strength. A mentor makes the protege aware of that profound potential, reminding them of their own unrealized possibilities. And the benefits flow both ways.

While the mentor points toward an ideal and the most effective means of achieving it, the protégé strives to realize the ideal on an even greater scale than the mentor can achieve. The shared ideal, the shared struggle to realize it, creates profound closeness in the lives of the mentor and the protégé – the oneness of the mentor and the disciple.

We all stand in a place between the past and the future – between everything that has ever been and all that can be, in the here and now. Mentorship is the relationship that helps us all grow together. I am honored to receive this award and I thank all those who have served as mentors to me, and all the people I have mentored who have so greatly enriched my life.”

View Franklin’s full acceptance speech here.