Photos: Paulette Brown, 63, makes history in the legal world, becomes the first black female president of The American Bar Association

Another glass ceiling has been broken for women color, this time in the legal world as the American Bar Association is set to welcome its first Black female president. Paulette Brown, 63, became president-elect of the professional membership organization, which consists of nearly 400,000. Brown is set to take office in August 2015 and will serve in the position for a year. Currently the association is headed by William C. Hubbard.Brown’s election is significant not only because she’s a historical first, but also because in 1943 African-Americans weren’t even allowed to join the over two century-old organization. Not to mention, in the legal profession only 7 percent of lawyers are of color and the number of women in the field has fallen in the last five years, according to the Boston Globe. Brown told the publication to that she plans to use her platform to raise awareness on implicit bias in law offices, the legal system, and American society as a whole.

“Once you recognize that it’s a possibility that you could have some unconscious bias, then it hopefully will adjust your behavior. You will take a second to say, ‘Wait a minute, am I reacting this way because I could have some sort of bias in this situation?’ ” Brown said. “As a result, I think that you will be more fair in any kind of deliberation that you are engaged in.”Currently Brown is a labor and employment law partner and chief diversity officer at a New Jersey firm. Previously she counseled a number of Fortune 500 companies and as a municipal court judge.She earned her J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law and her B.A. at Howard University.Brown has been named as a New Jersey Super Lawyer and by US News as one of the Best Lawyers in America in commercial litigation, and in 2009, she was a recipient of the Spirit of Excellence Award from the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity. In 2011, she was honored with the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.
Congratulations my sister, sis Paulette!!