09/01/2026
Our Section takes great pride in introducing our Chair, Daiquiri Steele, J.D., Ph.D.
Daiquiri is a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, where she teaches and researches in the areas of Employment Discrimination, Employment Law, Labor Law, Education Law, Torts, Civil Rights, and Legislation & Regulation. She is an expert in anti-retaliation and whistleblower law, and her scholarship has been published in Michigan Law Review, Northwestern Law Review, UC Irvine Law Review, Washington Law Review, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, Georgia Law Review, and Boston University Law Review. She is also a co-author on the 2nd edition of the casebook LEARNING EMPLOYMENT LAW.
Prior to her tenure at the University of Alabama School of Law, Daiquiri served as a Civil Rights Attorney with the U.S. Department of Education, where she provided legal counsel on federal investigations of discrimination involving the nation’s school districts, colleges, universities, and state educational agencies. She previously worked for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, where she assessed federal contractors’ compliance with employment discrimination laws.
She brings a breadth of leadership experience, having served as Chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, Chair of the AALS Section on Employment Discrimination Law, Chair of the ABA Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee, a Commissioner on the ABA Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, Diversity Director for the ABA Young Lawyers Division (YLD), Assembly Speaker for the ABA YLD, and Director of ABA Involvement for the State Bar of Georgia YLD.
Daiquiri is also the recipient of many awards, attesting to her strong leadership, valuable research, and service to the legal profession. Daiquiri earned the Michael J. Zimmer Award, a national award recognizing a rising scholar who values workplace justice and community and who has made significant contributions to the field of labor and employment law scholarship. She is an American Bar Foundation Fellow, a recipient of the National Bar Association 40 Under 40 Best Advocates Award and the Award of Achievement for Outstanding Service to the Profession by the State Bar of Georgia YLD, among others.
Beyond her academic and professional endeavors, Daiquiri is actively engaged in multiple charitable and civic organizations, including Girls Inc. of Central Alabama, Heart Gallery Alabama, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Central Alabama Chapter, and Kids Play Alabama. In 2024, she was named Volunteer of the Year by the Birmingham Business Journal.
We look forward to the year ahead under Daiquiri’s leadership, as she brings her vision for our Section to life, part of which is ensuring the legal profession knows what we as a Section already know: that this Section is a Section for every lawyer.
