Roetzel Consulting Solutions President Lewis W. Adkins, Jr. served as the commencement speaker at the 97th commencement of The University of Akron School of Law on Sunday, May 15. Adkins is Vice-Chair of The University of Akron Board of Trustees and was a 1992 graduate of the University of Akron School of Law.
Adkins leads a large and diverse team of attorneys and lobbyists in the public law arena as President of Roetzel Consulting Solutions and as Practice Group Manager at Roetzel & Andress. He represents clients’ interests before state legislatures, administrative agencies, and executive branches of state governments in providing legal and political solutions to important issues. Adkins also oversees Roetzel’s Public finance team.
Adkins is a member of the Board of Directors of S&T Bancorp, Inc. and the Finance Committee for Summa Health, and his community affiliations include the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Akron Urban League, Cleveland City Club and the Summit County Consumer Affairs Board.
He has served as a prosecutor for the City of Akron; as general counsel for the Summit County Executive; as the Chair of Senator Brown’s U.S. Marshall and U.S. Attorney Selection Committee for the Southern District of Ohio.
Adkins has received many awards and recognition for his service; among those are the University of Akron School of Law’s J. Dean Carro Professionalism award from the Black Law Student Association, and the City of Akron’s Livability Award.
He has created scholarships, including the University of Akron School of Law’s Judge James R. Williams endowed scholarship; and the University of Akron’s Dr. Sylvester Small, Superintendent, Akron Public Schools endowed scholarship.