2019 Shepard Broad College of Law Commencement Ceremony

8 D istinguished H onoree C ommencement S peaker Paulette Brown, J.D., is a labor and employment lawyer and a past president of the National Bar Association and the American Bar Association (ABA), where she was the first African American woman to serve in that role. During her tenure as ABA president, Brown worked to promote diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and justice system. In a career spanningmore than 35 years, Brown has served as amunicipal court judge and in-house counsel to several Fortune 500 companies. She is currently a senior partner at the firm of Locke Lord LLP in New Jersey. With a focus in labor and employment law and commercial litigation, Brown has represented employers in cases involving discrimination based on age, sex, marital status, sexual harassment, disability, race, and national origin. She provides diversity and inclusion/implicit bias training to employees at companies, law firms, and industry organizations. A litigator in federal and state courts, as well as arbitration forums for unionized and nonunionized employees, Brown is a certified mediator for the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, and a member of the Employment AAA Panel. Serving as president of the ABA from 2015 to 2016, Brown received its Spirit of Excellence and Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement awards. She has received numerous law honors, including recognition as one of the Top Women in Law by the New Jersey Law Journal and one of the Top 25 Women Lawyers in New Jersey. The National Law Journal named Brown one of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America, and U.S. News & World Report has named her one of the Best Lawyers in America. Brown also was the recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Gertrude Rush Award from the National Bar Association, and the Excellence in Diversity Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association.