On the heels of recent tragedies, including the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks, our nation is experiencing unprecedented civil unrest and has reached an inflection point. Protesters, advocates, and lawyers have united to demand meaningful change; are calling for an end to systemic racism, police brutality in communities of color; and encouraging personal and institutional reflection to further anti-racism. These protests remind us that Black Lives Matter, and that justice and fairness for all are fundamental cornerstones of our nation.
Young lawyers have a critical responsibility as officers of the legal system, and as public citizens, to pursue and ensure quality of justice in America. To help drive the conversation, the ABA Young Lawyers Division is launching a five-part program series in support of racial equity, meaningful change, and justice. This series will open with a fireside chat on July 8, 2020.
The fireside chat will be a candid conversation with thought-leaders Robert Grey and Lonita Baker, who will provide a unique perspective for today’s young lawyer based on their respective experiences. During the in-depth conversation, Grey and Baker will evaluate the state of our society, evaluate how we arrived at this current inflection point, and address the impact of both these tragedies and broader systemic racism on communities of color. In closing, Grey and Baker will address the query, “where do we go from here?”
Robert Grey is senior counsel with Hunton Andrews Kurth in Washington D.C. In 2004-2005, Grey served as president of the ABA, being only the second African American to do so. In 2010, Grey was named executive director of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. The same year, Grey was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a board member of the Legal Services Corporation.
Lonita Baker is an attorney at the Sam Aguilar firm in Louisville, Kentucky. Baker has been recognized numerous times for her service to the community and profession by the National Bar Association, including being named a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney in 2015. Baker has received recent notoriety via her representation of the family of Breonna Taylor who was killed by the Louisville Metro Police Department in her home in March 2020.