Six ABF Fellows were announced as part of this year’s class of inductees to the NBA’s Fred D. Gray Hall of Fame. They will be celebrated at the National Bar Association’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, July 31st. The inductees have all practiced law for 40 years or more and exemplify a lifetime of excellence in advocacy, service, and the pursuit of justice. The six Fellows are: Clyde E. Bailey, Sr., Vanita Banks, Marcella Holland, Nathaniel Lee, Denise Langford Morris, and Harold Pope.
Clyde E. Bailey, Sr. will be honored posthumously. He was a Fellow of the ABF and spent time as the patent counsel for Eastman Kodak and had previously served as a practicing attorney with NASA in the areas of intellectual property, space commercialization and equal employment.
Vanita M. Banks, Fellow, is a past National Bar Association President and served as corporate counsel for Allstate Insurance for many years. While at Allstate, she specialized in complex insurance, employment and class action law and litigation. When she was president of the NBA, she was the second female attorney from corporate America and the ninth female elected NBA president.
Hon. Marcella Holland, Life Fellow, most recently served as a senior judge for the Circuit Court of Baltimore City. When she was admitted to the bar, she was sworn in as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City and eventually was appointed as an Associate Judge on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. On November 8, 2003, Judge Holland began her appointment as Administrative Judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the first African American woman to hold that position in the state of Maryland.
Nathaniel Lee, Fellow, is currently a senior partner of Lee Cossell & Feagley, where he manages the firm’s operations and his practice encompasses virtually all of the substantive areas of litigation that involve the firm. Additionally, he concentrates his practice area in cases involving major personal injury or death claims, medical negligence, defective products and police misconduct. He is a three-time recipient of the National Bar Association’s President’s Award.
Hon. Denise Langford Morris, Fellow, is currently a mediator, arbitrator and special master/referee through JAMS, though she most recently served as a Judge on the Oakland County Circuit Court for 30 years. She was the first African American and the first female dean of the Oakland County and at her retirement was the first African American chief judge pro tempore to serve on the court.
Harold Pope, ABF Board Treasurer and Patron Fellow, was most recently with Dykema Gossett as senior counsel and handled cases at the state and federal level. He served as President of the National bar Association and has spent many years on the ABA’s Board of Governors, House of Delegates, Audit Committee and Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice.
Read more about the Fred Gray Hall of Fame here.