Paulette Brown

Paulette Brown served as the 2015–2016 President of the American Bar Association, the first woman of color to hold that office. During her presidency she created the ABA's Diversity and Inclusion 360 Commission, championed Resolution 113 and the ABA Model Diversity Survey, and developed implicit bias training for judges, prosecutors, and public defenders. She is also a past president of the National Bar Association. A labor and employment lawyer for more than four decades, she is a retired senior partner and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of Locke Lord LLP (now Troutman Pepper Locke). She previously served as a municipal court judge in Plainfield, New Jersey, and held in-house counsel positions at major corporations. Her honors include the ABA's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. She is a graduate of Howard University and Seton Hall University School of Law.