Jasmine Horton, Judge Andre Birotte, Demetria Graves, and Judge Lauren Lofton are LACBA's 2023 Black History Month honorees.

Read the bios of these outstanding members and follow along on social media this month as we profile each.

'23 HONOREE BIOS

Jasmine Horton

LACBA member Jasmine Horton is the current president of Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. She has more than ten years of experience handling complex employment and commercial litigation in California state and federal courts and agencies. Horton has represented employers in the retail, hospitality, technology, health care, and transportation industries, in actions involving workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, wrongful termination, wage and hour issues, and claims under the California Private Attorney General Act.  

Jasmine provides advice and counsel to California employers on leave and accommodations issues, social media, harassment and other policies, employee discipline and terminations, employee classification issues, and separation agreements. She also handles internal investigations and workplace training for businesses in a wide range of industries. 

Before joining her current firm, Jasmine was an associate with the international law firms of Reed Smith and Littler Mendelson. She has been a member of BWLA since 2016, serving in multiple roles plus more than two years as Associate General Counsel of MVP Sports Group, a leading sports agency representing players of Major League Baseball. Horton has also been a mentor for the Girls Republic organization.  

 

Judge Andre Birotte 

In 2014, Judge Birotte was sworn in as a federal district judge for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. He was nominated by President Barack Obama, confirmed unanimously by the Senate, and received his commission on August 8, 2014. Birotte presides over matters in Los Angeles in the Court’s Western Division in Courtroom 4 of the United States Courthouse. 

Birotte had served as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California since his appointment in 2010 by President Obama. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing approximately 265 attorneys and 200 staff members located in Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Ana offices. During that time, he also served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, co-chairing its Terrorism/National Security Subcommittee and serving on its Border and Immigration Law Enforcement, Civil Rights, Cyber/Intellectual Property, Violent and Organized Crime, and White Collar/Fraud Subcommittees. He was also a Co-Chair of the multi-agency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s Consumer Protection Working Group. 

Birotte holds an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law. 

 

Demetria Graves

LACBA member Demetria L. Graves handles all aspects of family law, including divorce, child custody, child support, modifications, paternity, visitation rights, and other related legal issues in California. 

As a California native, Graves was born and raised in Pasadena. After receiving an undergraduate degree in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley, she went on to receive her Juris Doctor Degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. After practicing family law with a small law firm in Arcadia, Graves opened her own Graves Law Firm in Pasadena and Beverly Hills. 

Graves is a Professor at West Los Angeles Community College and a recipient of the "Teacher of the Year" award. She is also the former legal chair of the YWCA of Glendale and involved with several area organizations, including past president of the Black Women's Lawyers Los Angeles and the Loyola Law School African American Alumni Association. 

 

Judge Lauren Lofton

Hon. Lauren Lofton was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2022.  She currently sits in Department F44 of the Chatsworth Courthouse, handling Small Claims and Unlawful Detainer matters.   

Lofton is active with various legal organizations, including the American Board of Trial Advocates, Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles, Langston Bar Association, LACBA’s President’s Advisory Committee on Women in the Legal Profession, and National Association of Women Judges.  Prior to her appointment, she was a Partner at Yoka | Smith LLP, where she defended businesses and individuals in personal injury matters at the trial and appellate court levels.  Judge Lofton is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.   

Past Honorees