FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The newly elected president of the American Bar Association, Paulette Brown, will appear as the keynote speaker during the University of Arkansas School of Law orientation to welcome the incoming class of 2018.

Brown, a partner with the law firm Locke Lord LLP, is the first woman of color to serve as ABA president.

“The legal profession proactively welcomes students into the fold from the very first day of law school,” said Dean Stacy Leeds. “We are honored beyond measure to host President Brown as she generously shares her message with our next generation of lawyers and leaders.”

Brown has held a variety of leadership positions within the ABA. She has been a member of the ABA House of Delegates since 1997 and is a former member of the ABA Board of Governors and its Executive Committee as well as the Governance Commission. While serving on the Board of Governors, Brown chaired the Program, Planning and Evaluation Committee. Brown has served on the Commission on Women in the Profession and was a co-author of "Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms.” Brown also chaired the ABA Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice (now Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice) and is a past co-chair of the Commission on Civic Education in our Nation's Schools. Brown served on the Section of Legal Education’s Council on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and its Executive Committee. Brown joined the ABA Young Lawyers Division in 1976. She became active in the Section of Litigation in 1995, which has continued to be her section “home” ever since. She is a former member of The Fund for Justice and Education, the FJE President's Club and a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Brown has held many positions throughout her career, including in-house counsel to a number of Fortune 500 companies and municipal court judge. In private practice, she has focused on all facets of labor and employment and commercial litigation.

Brown has been recognized by the National Law Journal as one of "The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America” and by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of the “prominent women and minority attorneys in the State of New Jersey." She has received the New Jersey Medal from the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and currently serves on its Board of Trustees.

Brown has repeatedly been named as a New Jersey Super Lawyer and by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Best Lawyers in America in the area of commercial litigation. In 2009, Brown was a recipient of the Spirit of Excellence Award from the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. In 2011, she was honored with the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession. Brown, who served as president of the National Bar Association from 1993-1994, received the association’s highest honor, the C. Francis Stradford Award, in 2015. 

About The University of Arkansas School of Law: The University of Arkansas School of Law, ranked first in the U.S. in National Jurist magazine’s Top 20 Values in legal education and among U.S. News & World Report’s top 41 public law schools, prepares students for success. Located in the heart of the beautiful University of Arkansas campus, the law school offers challenging courses taught by nationally recognized faculty, unique service opportunities, and a close-knit community that puts law students first.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.