E. Christopher Johnson Jr. ’81, General Motors Executive, to Be Honored by New York Law School’s Black Law Students Association
Contact: Edith Sachs, Office of Public Affairs, 212.431.2187 or esachs@nyls.edu
NEW YORK, April 6, 2006 – E. Christopher Johnson Jr. ’81, vice president and general counsel, General Motors North America, will be honored by New York Law School’s chapter of the Black Law Students Association at its annual alumni banquet on Friday, April 7, 2006. Johnson will also be the keynote speaker at the dinner, which will take place at New York Law School.
Johnson oversees legal operations for General Motors in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He leads a 250-member legal staff and manages strategic relations with more than 500 external law firms.
Johnson was appointed General Motors North America vice president and general counsel in 2001, after serving briefly as GM’s assistant general counsel for global policy and planning. From 1994 to March 2001, he served as corporate law and transactions practice area manager at GM. He is a 1973 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1978, attaining the rank of captain and receiving the Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service. He graduated with honors from New York Law School in 1981, receiving an American Jurisprudence Award for constitutional law and serving as student body president.
Johnson received the 2005 Urban Wheel Award as the auto industry’s African American Executive of the Year. The Urban Wheel Awards recognize the auto industry’s top achievements in reaching diverse markets and advancing diversity within the industry. Johnson was honored for his work to increase racial and cultural diversity within GM’s legal operations and the entire legal profession. In 2003, he challenged GM’s legal department to dramatically increase business done with minority and women-owned firms. As a result of this challenge, GM’s payments to women-owned firms and female lawyers have increased 21 percent, and payments to minority law firms and minority lawyers have increased 44 percent.
Event Details:
DATE:
Friday, April 7, 2005
TIME:
7–8 p .m. Cocktail Hour and Silent Auction
8 p.m. Dinner
ADDRESS/LOCATION:
Wellington Conference Center
New York Law School
47 Worth Street
New York, New York 10013
NAME OF ORGANIZATION:
New York Law School’s Black Law Students Association
ATTIRE:
Business
About New York Law School:
Founded in 1891, New York Law School is the second oldest independent law school in the United States. Drawing on its location near the centers of law, government, and finance in New York City, its faculty of noted and prolific scholars has built the school’s curricular strength in the areas of tax law, labor and employment law, civil and human rights law, media and information law, urban legal studies, international and comparative law, and interdisciplinary fields such as legal history and legal ethics. New York Law School has more than 11,000 graduates and enrolls some 1500 students in its full- and part-time J.D. program. It is one of only two law schools in the metropolitan area to offer the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Tax Law.
