Cherrell is a litigator at Liskow & Lewis who assists commercial clients, non-profit organizations, and major oil and gas companies in all areas of litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Cherrell worked as a partner in private practice, served as judge pro tempore in state court, and served as the Senior Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of New Orleans. After graduating from Loyola University School of Law in 2002, Cherrell began her career as a litigator where she primarily represented the Orleans Parish School Board in all aspects of defense litigation, as well as novel issues specific to education.

Later, she became the first African-American woman partner at a major law firm in New Orleans. There, she represented insurance companies, businesses, and corporate clients in both Federal and State Courts throughout Louisiana. She litigated hundreds of cases and was able to expand her litigation experience to include all insurance law (property and casualty, liability and coverage, and bad-faith claims), maritime law, commercial litigation, general liability, construction defects, environmental/toxic tort liability, subrogation, and workers’ compensation matters. The cases that she handled often included complex and high-exposure litigation. During this time, she also gained extensive experience in mediation and resolved  hundreds of cases for a major insurance client following Hurricane Katrina.

In 2013, Cherrell was appointed Senior Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of New Orleans. Her role was as second-in-command to the City Attorney and included the position – Chief of Litigation. As Chief of Litigation for the City of New Orleans, Cherrell managed over 1000 cases that involved litigation in state, federal, and municipal and traffic courts. The matters that she handled were varied and included: personal injury, contract, construction, land use, public bid,  employment, code enforcement, public records, administrative appeals, and civil rights litigation. She also represented the City of New Orleans in several high-profile cases.

In April 2017, the Louisiana Supreme Court saw fit to appoint Cherrell to serve as Judge Pro Tempore in Division J of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. Cherrell served as judge from May 1, 2017 to December 15, 2017 and presided over judge and jury trials, summary proceedings, and hundreds of motions.

As a member of Liskow & Lewis’ diversity and recruiting committees, Cherrell is devoted to increasing diversity & inclusion in the legal profession. She is also the diversity partner for one of the firm’s national oil and gas clients, and in this role, she identifies opportunities for the firm to partner with its clients on diversity and inclusion initiatives.