Masayoshi “Yoshi” Haynie is a fifth-year transactional corporate associate at Faegre Drinker in Chicago, focusing most of his work in the M&A/PE space. He began his career at a top-10 firm where he worked on various corporate teams to help close approximately $30 billion in deals. He received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Radio and Television Sports Broadcast from the University of Missouri in 2016 before deciding to pursue a career in law. He went on to receive his juris doctorate degree from UIC law school in May 2020, where he graduated cum laude and landed on the Dean’s list every semester.

During law school, Yoshi was very involved taking roles as Student Bar Association president, a member of law review, Moot Court Honors Council, and executive roles within the Black Law Student Association, Entertainment Sports Law Society, Black Entertainment Sports Law Association (“BESLA”) and Black Men Lawyers’ Association (“BMLA”). He now serves on the board of directors of BMLA and as President of the Junior Board of Building Brighter Futures, a non-profit on the west side of Chicago. He’s the founder and CEO of The Mentor, Inc. where he started two programs: The Law School Mentor and The Med School Mentor. Both programs exist to provide the resources, access and assistance to those in the legal and medical field through mentorship.