Ellen M. Jakovic Elected as D.C. Bar President-Elect

May 28, 2021

Ellen M. Jakovic, of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has been elected president-elect of the D.C. Bar for the 2021–2022 term. She will assume office at the beginning of the 2021–22 Bar year and serve in that post for one year before becoming president; she will continue in office a third year as immediate past president. With Jakovic’s installation, incumbent President-Elect Chad T. Sarchio will become the Bar’s 50th president.

“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve as D.C. Bar president-elect. I look forward to working with our next president and our other dedicated and talented Bar leaders to support our membership and expand access to justice in the wake of the pandemic,” said Jakovic. “I also am excited to continue the important work of fostering a diverse and inclusive Bar and helping our voluntary bar associations and D.C. Bar Communities grow and thrive.”

For over two decades, Jakovic has held leadership roles locally and nationally. In addition to serving two terms on the D.C. Bar Board of Governors, she was president of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Women’s Bar Association Foundation, and the Barristers. Jakovic also served on the governing boards of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (BADC) and the Washington Foreign Law Society. She currently sits on the boards of the Council for Court Excellence and the American Bar Foundation.

Jakovic has worked tirelessly to increase funding for civil legal aid. She has held various leadership roles at the DC Bar Foundation, the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services, and the National Association of Women Judges. As president of the Women’s Bar Association Foundation, Jakovic established an annual fellowship for law students to work with local legal services providers to address the needs of women and girls in the community.

Jakovic is a recipient of numerous awards, including the BADC’s Lawyer of the Year and Honorable Annice M. Wagner Pioneer Awards and the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation’s Outstanding State Chair Award.

Currently, Jakovic is of counsel in the antitrust group at Kirkland & Ellis. Prior to 2021, she was a partner and headed the firm’s Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act filing practice. Jakovic is a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, magna cum laude, and Harvard Law School.

Also elected to one-year terms were, as secretary, Roger Lu Phillips of the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, and, as treasurer, Andrea Mangones of Kids in Need of Defense.

Elected to the Bar’s Board of Governors for three-year terms were Elizabeth “Sally” Gere, retired from the D.C. Office of the Attorney General; Brian K. Flowers of the D.C. Office of the Attorney General; Janene D. Jackson of Holland & Knight LLP; Fatema K. Merchant of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP; and Diane Seltzer Torre of the Seltzer Law Firm.

Elected for two-year terms on the ABA House of Delegates were Pauline Schneider (retired), D. Jean Veta of Covington & Burling LLP, and Josephine M. Bahn of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (under 36 seat).
    
Of the 83,201 D.C. Bar members who were eligible to vote, 5,729 members cast ballots for a 6.89 percent overall turnout. A complete breakdown of the election results follows.

2021 General Election Tally Sheet

The new D.C. Bar Communities leaders are as follows:

All newly elected officers, board members, and delegates will be honored during the D.C. Bar’s virtual 2021 Celebration of Leadership on June 24.