Baker Donelson attorney Rodney Dillard II has been selected to participate in the 2022 Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) Sources of Success™ Program. Mr. Dillard is one of only 30 attorneys from across the country to be chosen for this 12-month professional development program, which is tailored for junior and mid-level attorneys from corporate legal departments and law firms. Sources of Success™ focuses on identifying successful career strategies and allowing attorneys to develop leadership and management skills, as well as an opportunity for attorneys to find the right mentor to guide their career advancement.
Mr. Dillard, an associate in Baker Donelson's Birmingham office, concentrates his practice in high exposure commercial and business litigation, complex transportation, construction, insurance defense and complex tort litigation. He represents regional and national clients across a variety of industries in all Alabama and Georgia state and federal courts.
Before joining Baker Donelson, Mr. Dillard worked as in-house counsel for a large national insurance company, representing the company and its insureds in a variety of disputes including first- and third-party litigation and subrogation matters and providing opinions on coverage issues. Further, Mr. Dillard recovered thousands of dollars for the company by filing and trying numerous subrogation claims on its behalf. He has obtained several defense verdicts throughout his practice in the areas of complex tort defense and construction litigation.
Prior to practicing law, Mr. Dillard worked for several years in the field of grants and contract administration for the City of Birmingham and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While working for the City's finance department as a grant administrator, Mr. Dillard collaborated with the Grants Management Division of the Mayor's Office on grant policies for municipal employees, monitored the City's state and federal grants to ensure compliance and provided grant management training. While at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he negotiated and redlined state and federal contracts and agreements between the University and federal government, other academic institutions, and health institutions.
The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) is the preeminent voice on diversity, equity, and inclusion from the counsel's office to the C-suite and across corporate America. For 25 years, MCCA has championed diversity in the legal profession and beyond by publishing research and providing professional development opportunities to offering advisory services. Today, MCCA empowers members with the tools needed to know, do, and lead better – and to blaze a path forward for their company, industry, and corporate America to change for the better.