NEW YORK, NY, January 9, 2004—Dennis Wayne Archer, president of the American Bar Association, will be speaking on “Diversity in the Legal Profession” on Tuesday, January 13, at 12:30 p.m. in the Wellington Conference Center at New York Law School, 57 Worth Street. Media coverage is encouraged for this invitation-only event. Please direct all press inquiries to Jim Hellegaard, Director of Communications, 212.431.2191 or jhellegaard@nyls.edu.

The ABA hosted a summit in Washington, D.C. in October 2003, “Opening the Pipeline,” on bringing more people of color into legal practice, into the judiciary, into the offices of corporate general counsels, and into the halls of leadership in the legal profession. In his speech at New York law School on Tuesday, Archer will address the need for more aggressive minority recruiting in law schools, and increasing faculty diversity so that minority students do not feel isolated.

"We need more aggressive minority recruiting in law schools, and then we need to address the reasons why 10 percent of those minority students who are accepted into law school never matriculate, and 20 percent of those who do enroll drop out without finishing," Archer says. "We need to address issues like increasing faculty diversity, so that minority students do not feel isolated, and so that law school culture fosters understanding and experiences that promote growth for everyone.  We can't afford to lose the broad range of talent, perspective and experience that people of diverse backgrounds can bring to the legal profession."

Archer, former Detroit mayor and Michigan Supreme Court Justice, became president of the ABA at its annual meeting in San Francisco in August 2003. Archer, an African American, is the first person of color elected to the highest office of the association. Archer served two four-year terms as mayor of the city of Detroit (1994-2001), and was president of the National League of Cities in 2001. After leaving the mayor’s office, Archer was elected chairman of Dickinson Wright PLLC, a 200-person, Detroit-based law firm with offices in Michigan and in Washington, D.C. Archer earned his Juris Doctor from Detroit College of Law in 1970. He began practicing law thereafter, working as a trial lawyer and a partner in several Detroit firms, and serving as associate professor of the Detroit College of Law and adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School.

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Contact: Jim Hellegaard, Director of Communications, Office of Public Affairs212.431.2191, jhellegaard@nyls.edu 

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