Director Lestin Kenton Recognized With 2023 Profiles in Diversity Journal® Award

Washington, D.C. (January 4, 2024) – Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is pleased to announce that Director Lestin L. Kenton, Jr. has been recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal® in the most recently published Black Leadership Awards. The award celebrates the outstanding achievements of 45 black professional leaders who have excelled in their chosen fields.

A director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group, Lestin is noted for his leadership at the firm overall and in particular for the contributions he makes to supporting the professional development of peers and up and coming lawyers. Specifically, Lestin has led the firm’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Roundtables since 2014. The in-house program is focused on training attorneys at all levels about updated laws, policies, procedures, and recent decisions at the agency.  He has been an adjunct professor at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School since August 2021, where he teaches PTO litigation. Additionally, Lestin has served as an advisor to associates participating in the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP), which provides associates with training and development opportunities in PTAB proceedings, including delivering oral arguments.

Lestin’s Black Leadership Award profile features a personal essay on the significance of mentorship and why he has chosen to dedicate a part of his career to giving back through mentorship. Lestin shares “I do not exaggerate when I say that a major ingredient to my success has been mentorship, and it comes in a variety of forms. Professors, supervisors, peers, friends, family, and colleagues have all served as mentors in direct and indirect ways at different times of my life.” Read Lestin’s complete profile in the Profiles in Diversity Journal® Q4 2023 digital issue here.

Profiles in Diversity Journal® is a quarterly magazine dedicated to promoting and advancing diversity and inclusion in the corporate, government, nonprofit, higher education, and military sectors. The publication recognizes individuals who have blazed new trails, led the way, mentored others, advanced diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the community, and excelled in their chosen fields. Learn more about Profiles in Diversity Journal® on their website here.

About Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Based in Washington, D.C. and renowned for more than four decades for dedication to the protection, transfer, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is one of the most highly regarded intellectual property specialty law firms in the world. Its team of attorneys, registered patent agents, students, and technical specialists include some of the country’s most respected practitioners of IP law tackling innovations across a broad spectrum of industries. The firm’s practitioners hold over 50 masters and over 60 doctorate degrees in science or engineering and represent Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, inventors, venture capital firms, and universities in a client service driven environment that is welcoming, inclusive, and intellectually stimulating. Visit the firm online at sternekessler.com.