Speakers
ADRIAN D. THOMPSON provides counsel for private sector clients on issues including equal employment opportunity litigation, wage-hour problems, employment of the disabled, federal housing, and other labor matters. Adrian alsoserves as Taft’s Chief Diversity Officer and helps to drive the firm’s commitmentand strategy regarding diversity and inclusion across our offices and in thecommunities that we serve.
Adrian also represents school districts in contract negotiations, grievance arbitration, litigation, education of the disabled and employment discrimination matters. He served as Chief Legal Counsel for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District for eight years.
Adrian is President Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. He helped to oversee the activities of Legal Aid’s 55 staff attorneys, 90 staff members and 1,400 volunteer lawyers across four offices that serve lowincome clients in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. Adrianis also the co-chair of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Diversity & Inclusion Strategies Committee.
He formerly served on the Commission on the Rules of Super intendence for Ohio Courts, having been appointed by the Supreme Court of Ohio. In this role, he isone of nineteen members who represent various judges, associations, attorneys, magistrates, clerks of court, and court administrators. Adrian is also a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio's Task Force on Commercial Dockets.
Adrian was elected to the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Area Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association in June 2011. He is an active member of the firm's Diversity Committee. Adrian has been honored as a Leading Lawyer and is included in Best Lawyer in America and is listed in Ohio Super Lawyers.