They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 - Xakema Henderson of Akerman

Please describe two of your most substantial, recent wins in practice.

One substantial win came when I was a part of a team representing a global insurance company in a complex environmental insurance coverage dispute involving the disposal of contaminated railroad crossties in 2019.

After a formerly insured company filed for bankruptcy, two railroad companies sought reimbursement under the company’s policy because they had been left to bear the cost of remediating the company’s contaminated property. The railroads sought more than $1.5 million in remediation costs and alleged bad faith.

The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, but the trial court denied both motions. On appeal, the court held our client’s motion for summary judgment should have been granted and the railroad companies’ motion dismissed.

I was the primary drafter of the appellate briefing and relied on my experience as a former Colorado Supreme Court clerk to simplify the complex insurance coverage issues. The win saved the client millions of dollars in costs it simply didn’t owe.

Another win came in December 2021, when I defended a national airport service vendor as second chair in a multimillion-dollar negligence jury trial that resulted in only a six-figure award to the plaintiff. The client was pleased the jury agreed it (the client) didn’t owe the multimillion-dollar figure the plaintiff sought.

What is the most important lesson you learned as a first-year attorney and how does it inform your practice today?

One of my earliest mentors saw how much and how hard I was working as a first-year attorney at a big law firm. While she praised and encouraged me to keep a strong work ethic, she said told me, “Practicing law is a marathon, not a sprint.” She did not want me to seek work/life balance but encouraged me to be seek out “what feeds my spirit.”

I understood her to mean that the work we do as litigators is serious and requires our time and dedication, but we do the work the best when are lives our full outside of it. This advice is why I have remained committed to giving despite a busy practice, and why I have found balance and happiness despite the high-stakes nature of my work. I give new attorneys the same advice.

How do you define success in your practice?

I define success based on the client’s goals. My goal is to understand what the clients wants and help them to get there in a way that aligns with their needs. In my experience, I see a lot of lawyers get caught up in just winning, and sometimes the more obvious “win” is not really that for your client.

I also define success as making good choices in the short-term that align with the client’s long-term goals. This is another area where I see some lawyers make regrettable missteps in trying to get a win in the short-term that ultimately doesn’t help the client. Being thoughtful and measured are key components to a successful practice.

What are you most proud of as a lawyer?

I’m most proud of the things that make my clients’ jobs easier or makes them happy. Sometimes, it’s just the small things we can do that give them a sense of relief or makes them feel like they’re winning at their jobs. I see myself as a problem solver, and I love that, for better or worse, we are known as people who solve problems.

Who is your greatest mentor in the law and what have they taught you?

My greatest mentors, Akerman litigation partners Matt Schroeder and Elliot Strader, have taught me a lot substantively but also as it relates to being a good lawyer. One, they’ve taught me to value my instinct for nuance because nuance can win cases, and two, they’ve taught me to trust my professional judgment (or my gut) when making hard decisions in cases.

Tell us your two favorite songs on your summer music playlist.

Two songs on my summer playlist that I can’t get enough of right now are “Can I Have This Groove” by Kenyon Dixon and “II Most Wanted” by Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus. Both just capture the joy of summer for me.

Xakema Henderson of Akerman in front of the restaurant Nido at the Viceroy Resort in San José del Cabo, Mexico.

Credit: Xakema Henderson and Jonathan Hurtarte/Bloomberg Law