Diversity in Law

Sonia Chen Arnold is Associate Vice-President, Assistant General Counsel- Customer/Consumer Operations for Eli Lilly and Company. In her role, Sonia leads a team of legal professionals supporting Lilly’s commercial operations and consumer capabilities function, including the support of medical, legal and regulatory (MLR) review and approval processes across the portfolio. In addition, she is responsible for providing strategic legal counsel to the lead teams and subfunctions of Global Commercial Services and the Consumer Experience Hub. Prior to her current role, Sonia served as General Counsel of Lilly Oncology, leading a team of general legal attorneys in providing strategic counsel to the global product teams for Lilly Oncology. Sonia has had the opportunity to work across the enterprise, including a role supporting alliance assets in Lilly Diabetes and five years in the Litigation and Legal Compliance team from 2012 to 2017, managing non-IP litigation matters for the Company.

Sonia attended Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate degree, where she double majored in Violin Musical Arts and Human and Organizational Development. Sonia earned her law degree from Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana. Before joining Lilly, Sonia was an attorney at Dentons Bingham Greenebaum, LLP, focusing her practice on complex business litigation.

Jimmie McMillian proudly serves as Chief Diversity Officer and Senior Corporate Counsel for Penske Entertainment Corp. The company is comprised of INDYCAR, IMS Productions and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.  

As Chief Diversity Officer, Jimmie leads diversity and inclusion efforts across Penske Entertainment Corp. He’s also charged with implementing key pillars of Race for Equality & Change, an initiative to provide opportunities for underrepresented women and men in the motorsports industry and open wheel racing. 

As Senior Corporate Counsel, Jimmie’s work comprises a variety of legal matters including managing litigation and legal risks, drafting new event and facility contracts, vendor and sponsorship agreements. 

Jimmie is a graduate of Indiana University - Bloomington and the Robert McKinney Indiana University School of Law.Jimmie proudly serves as a board member for Marion County Public Defender’s Agency, the United Way of Central Indiana, the Indianapolis Urban League and the Miracle Ride.More than a simple hobby, Jimmie also serves as President of 317 Ryders Motorcycle Club.He has served as a leader in local, state and national bar associations and has served as the Chair of The Racing Attorneys Conference.

Jimmie has shown a tireless commitment to improve the lives of young people and motivate them to succeed despite life’s various obstacles through his outstanding leadership and mentorship of others.As a passionate motorcycle, sports car and racing enthusiast, Jimmie truly enjoys the ability to live his dream of working at the “World’s Greatest Racetrack.” 

Jimmie lives in Indianapolis with his wife Lisa, their four children and five grandchildren.

Anthony (“Tony”) Prather became Indiana University’s Vice President and General Counsel on February 22, 2002.He serves as the University’s Chief Legal Officer, leading and directing representation of IU in all legal matters. He is legal advisor to the President, The Board of Trustees, and senior university administrators, as well as primary resource person on legal matters of institutional procedure and governance.

He directs the University’s in-house counsels and outside counsel retained to represent the university’s interests.He also oversees the offices of Institutional Equity, University Compliance, Internal Audit, and has joint oversight of the University Chief Privacy Officer in coordination with the Vice President for IT & CIO.

Prior to coming to Indiana University, he was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP and advised clients across the nation and was often called on for his knowledge of federal and state employment and affirmative action laws. He has significant trial experience representing employers in both individual and class action litigation.Additionally, while at Barnes & Thornburg, he was appointed twice by Indiana Supreme Court to serve five-year terms as a Member of the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.  

Before joining Barnes & Thornburg, he served as Division General Counsel for Firestone Building Products Company, Firestone Industrial Products Company and Firestone Polymers.Prior to his tenure with Bridgestone/Firestone, he served as in-house counsel for Indiana Bell and Ameritech Corporation.

He is a member of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Alumni Advisory Board, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, of which he is a founding member.He is a civically engaged attorney and provides Pro Bono Services to several not-for-profit organizations.

His most recent honors include induction into the IU Maurer School of Law Academy of Law

Alumni Fellows, recipient of an IU Bicentennial Medal, recipient of the Indiana Lawyer Leadership in Law Distinguished Barristers Award, Best Lawyers in America distinction annually since 2016 and recipient of the IU Maurer School of Law Distinguished Service and BLSA Samuel S. Dargan awards.

He received his law degree from the IU Maurer School of Law and his undergraduate degree from IU.

Pete Yonkman is president of Cook Group and Cook Medical in Bloomington, Indiana. He has been with the company for 21 years, starting in 2001 as in-house counsel. Pete has served in a variety of roles for Cook, including leading one of the local manufacturing sites and as executive vice president for 10 business units. Pete was named president of Cook Medical in 2014 and in 2015 added the role of president of Cook Group.

Pete is a born and bred Hoosier originally from Crown Point, Indiana. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University with degrees in psychology and philosophy and graduated with his law degree from the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University in 1998.

Pete is passionate about finding unique opportunities to help Hoosiers reach their full potential.

In 2017, he convened stakeholders working on substance use disorder to help align, coordinate, and foster collaboration in the community. The group launched Indiana’s first 24/7/365 crisis center, providing first responders with an option other than jail or the emergency room for those in mental health or substance use crisis.

In 2020, Pete and Cook Medical began a unique collaboration with the community surrounding 38^th Street and Sheridan Avenue in Indianapolis that resulted in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and a community-owned grocery store in an area considered a food desert. Through this partnership, over 100 new jobs were created, and residents will have access to a fresh food source.

As a graduate of Indiana University, Pete is a proud supporter of IU student athletics and is the creator of Hoosiers for Good and Hoosiers Connect. Both organizations are now considered leading models of how universities can successfully navigate the new world of NIL in college sports.

Pete also served as executive producer on So Cold the River, a feature film based on the book by New York Times best-selling author and Indiana native, Michael Koryta. The film was created by Pigasus Pictures who have filmed and produced five movies in Indiana and are seeking to create a vibrant filmmaking ecosystem in the state.

His leadership philosophy is that businesses are the missing engine needed to drive meaningful and lasting change. He believes that companies have the responsibility to use their core business operations, expertise, and resources to improve the communities where they operate.

Pete lives in Bloomington with his wife, Janell, their two boys, Leo and Vic, and at last count two dogs, three barn cats, one horse, four chickens, and two peacocks.