Vernita E. Cockrell

Vernita is an attorney in Taft’s Columbus office and focuses her practice on energy law. Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate attorney at a boutique law firm, where her practice focused on electric, natural gas, water, and wastewater public utilities’ regulation; and was an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Civil Actions Bureau, where she negotiated and litigated a high volume of complex workers’ compensation cases and developed mitigation plans and defense strategies.

Vernita earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Roosevelt University. During law school, Vernita served as a 711 licensed law clerk for the Cook County Office of the Public Guardian (Juvenile Division), was a finalist in the American Bar Association Regional Negotiations Competition, served as president in both the Black Law Students Association and Christian Legal Society, and mediated cases in the Cook County Circuit Court after certification by the Center of Conflict Resolution.

In addition, she interned at a distinguished intellectual property law firm in Beijing, China and frequently volunteered with the law school’s Restorative Justice Program.