Ava E. Lias-Booker, Esq.

Ms. Lias-Booker has been a Partner at McGuireWoods LLP since 2004, where she currently leads the Baltimore litigation practice with three decades of experience representing businesses in complex commercial and civil litigation. She has served in a number of leadership roles at her firm, including as a member and former Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and a member of the firm’s Contingency Fee Committee and ESG Task Force. She is a former member of the firm’s Diversity Action Council and Associates Committee. Ms. Lias-Booker previously served as a Partner at Saul Ewing LLP, from 2001 to 2004, a Partner at Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander LLP, from 1995 to 2001, and a Partner at Saul Ewing LLP (formerly Weinberg & Green LLC), from 1994 to 1995. She is a gubernatorial appointee to the University of Maryland Medical System, serves as a member of the board of directors of the University of Maryland Saint Joseph’s Medical Center and sits on the boards of visitors of Duke University School of Law (honorary) and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (emeritus). Ms. Lias-Booker is a former member of the boards of directors for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Open Society Institute. She also serves as chair of the Magistrate Judges’ Merit Selection Panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and was a gubernatorial appointee to the Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Committee. Ms. Lias-Booker was a Trustee at Physicians Realty Trust (formerly NYSE: DOC), from 2018 until its merger with Healthpeak in 2024.