AVP
NF Litigation
Nationwide Insurance

As the AVP of NF Litigation, Lavell O. Payne Brown leads Nationwide’s in-house financial services litigation center of excellence. Her leadership is marked by a focus on strategic planning, business acumen, and innovative problem-solving, all geared towards providing outstanding legal services. Lavell previously served as Managing Counsel of the Corporate Litigation Discovery Management Unit, directing an exceptional team of attorneys, paralegals, and litigation technology professionals dedicated to providing enterprise-wide corporate litigation support. Lavell has also served in multiple roles in Nationwide’s Trial Division, beginning her career as a trial lawyer and appellate specialist, before progressing into roles in quality assurance, ethics, training, and process management. She keeps her courtroom skills sharp by serving as an Arbitrator with the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, an Adjunct Professor at Case Western University School of Law, and participating in pro bono opportunities. 

An alumna of the University of Virginia and the University of Akron School of Law, Lavell holds bachelor’s degrees in English Language and Literature, African American and African Studies, and a Juris Doctorate. A lifelong learner, she has also earned certificates in Business Acumen from the Wharton School, in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the USF Muma College of Business, and has been certified by the Association of E-Discovery Specialists as an eDiscovery Executive and eDiscovery Specialist. 

Committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the profession and in her community, Lavell has previously served as the inaugural Chair of the City of Twinsburg, Ohio’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and a member of the Twinsburg City School District’s Equity Steering Committee. She is actively involved in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s Alumni programming (2017 Pathfinder and 2022 Fellow), is a former board member and current Fellow of the of the Akron Bar Association, and is the Vice-President of the Ohio Women’s Bar Association. Lavell is also a member of the Scanlon-Bell Inn of  Court, the Akron Canton Barristers, and volunteers with the Cleveland Legal Aid Society where she is a member of the “Time Well Spent” Honor Society. 

When she’s not practicing law, Lavell and her husband Richard are cheering on their four amazing children, DJ, Tyanna, Tavien, and Tyler in their most recent endeavors, and doting on their two fur babies, Honey the cockapoo and Arya the black lab.