News Archives

Congratulations to Dr. Walter L. Sutton Jr., Chair of the National Bar Institute, Past President of the National Bar Association, and long-standing champion of diversity and equity in the legal profession. Dr. Sutton received the Cora T. Walker Award given to an NBA member with a longstanding history of supporting the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section. In addition, Dr. Sutton is a mentor to black law students and lawyers across the country and serves as Chairman of the Wiley College Board of Trustees.

Cora T. Walker was a legal pioneer admitted to the New York State Bar in 1947 at a time when very few women and very few Blacks were practicing attorneys. On top of an inspiring legal career spanning over 50+ years, Dr. Sutton serves the community and supports diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.

In August 2022, the National Bar Institute Board of Directors selected six (6) students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as the latest Cohorts. The NBI Law Scholars Program was designed to assist a student at the beginning of his or her second year of law school. When a student completes his or her third year, the NBI will provide support as the student prepares to take the bar exam. Each student will receive a grant that will help cover the cost of a bar review course and the bar application fees.

This year’s Law Scholars represent schools located in Florida, California, Texas, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C. These Scholars have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to pursuing the legal profession and a desire to serve their communities. They will complete their studies in 2024.

The Board extends its heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for a successful law school year!

The remaining six students received a one-time scholarship in the amount of $1,000. They are as follows:

• Amber Dean
  Thurgood Marshal School of Law
• Darryl Harris
  Florida A &M University College of Law
• Destiny Montemayor
  Southern University Law Center
• Favour Okhuevbie
  Howard University School of Law
• Grace Dunnehoff
  University of the District of Columbia
  David A. Clarke School of Law
• Janee’ Baldwin
  North Carolina Central University School of Law

Over the years, the NBI has awarded more than $360,000 to 76 outstanding law students with impressive grade point averages and service to their communities. This is the last class of the Fellowship Program which will be replaced by a newly created program that will focus on scholarship awards to a select group of students and assistance with bar review preparations to a larger group of students. An announcement about the new program will be forthcoming within the next few weeks.

Sponsored by Amazon, this national survey, will be the largest of its kind to gain a national scope on the future of the legal profession and how to address making the workplace more equitable. If you are interested in participating, please click on the link below. Please share this survey with your legal network in order to reach as many lawyers and law students as possible. The survey takes about 15 minutes. Responses are completely anonymous.

It was a beautiful day for golf when National Bar members boarded the bus at the Sheraton hotel to take the thirty-minute ride down to the Tunica Nation Golf and Tennis facility. There they were met with a hot breakfast and bag handlers to get them started on the way. The NBA members played alongside local golfers on a well maintained and laid out golf course.

The NBI Championship flight winners were the team of Will Dorse, Fred Dorse, NBA past president Mike Rosier and Richard Gaines. The Open Championship Flight winners were the team of Penny Hardaway, celebrity golfer and basketball coach at University of Memphis, Don Holmes, Charles Ewing and Thurman Glass.

Although the Memphis heat kept some golfers away this year, we are anticipating a great turnout next year in Minneapolis.

​In April, NBI Board Director Alfreda Robinson was honored by the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) with the establishment of “The Dean Alfreda Robinson Oral Advocacy Award.” Dean Robinson is Associate Dean for Trial Advocacy at George Washington University Law School.  A BLSA member excelling in oral advocacy competitions will be selected to receive the award at BLSA’s annual Patricia Roberts Harris Awards Dinner. The graduation dinner was founded by Dean Robinson in 1978, when she was a third-year law student at George Washington.

The inaugural award recipient is Chidima Osuchukwu, who will be joining Morgan Lewis law firm upon her graduation.  Among several honors, she is a scholar of the Morgan Lewis Foundation and Notes Editor for the George Washington International Law Review.

Congratulations to Dean Robinson and Ms. Osuchukwu!

Over the years, the National Bar Institute (NBI) has awarded more than $290,000 to approximately 67 outstanding students with impressive grade rankings and service to their communities. The fellowships range from $1,000 to $10,000. During the 2021 Annual Meeting, the NBI Board of Directors approved the award of fellowships to eight students representing several law schools. In August 2021, each student received a fellowship to assist with law school expenses during the final academic year of 2021-2022. The Board determined the students had demonstrated an impressive commitment to complete their studies and it is anticipated they will have a positive impact on improving their communities.

In September 2021, the National Bar Institute (NBI) Board of Directors selected the first law student cohort to participate in the newly launched NBI Law Scholars Program. Twelve students, who completed their first year of law school in May 2021, were nominated by the Deans of six historically black law schools. The following six students were selected by the Board’s Grants Committee, with each Scholar to receive monetary awards each year during their three-year law school tenure.

• Tamsin Wooley,
  Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law
• Songo Wawa,
  University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law
• Jori Opara,
  Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law
• Lucinda Iheaso,
  Southern University Law Center
• Adia Craig,
  North Carolina Central University School of Law
• Terrance Brown,
  Howard University School of Law

The remaining six students received a one-time scholarship in the amount of $1,000. They are as follows:

• Edrius Stagg,
  Southern University Law Center
• Amari Roberts,
  Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law
• Lorraine Olutu,
  Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law
• Shante Mays,
  North Carolina Central University School of Law
• Keria Hicks,
  University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law
• Erica Herrera,
  Howard University School of Law

The ENDOWMENT 2000 campaign was established during the 1994 – 1995 bar year to provide: 1) resources for capital expenditures and special needs related to the objectives of the National Bar Institute (NBI) and 2) support for facilities and support for programs of the NBI, National Bar Association and other related organizations. The goal of raising $1,000,000 was reached in 2021.

A management committee has been appointed by the NBI Chair to develop the guidelines for grantmaking.

In 1994, under the leadership of National Bar Institute (NBI) Chair Ernestine Sapp, the NBI launched the Jacob Lawrence Art Project working with renowned artist Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence produced “Lawyers and Clients”, a limited-edition work that generated proceeds from the sale of serigraphs, prints, posters and note cards until 2020. Proceeds benefit the NBI’s programs.

Since Lawrence’s death in 2000, his art, including “Lawyers and Clients”, has increased significantly in value. He is recognized as a major figure in American art. He was a talented artist who believed that the “Negro struggle is a symbol of the struggle of all mankind.” Lawrence often drew American experience in his boldly colored works to invoke the human experience in a way which transcends race and gender. Lawrence gained national recognition in 1941 when he became the first black artist to exhibit in a major New York gallery and consequently, was the first to receive national press coverage (including a profile in ART news in 1944).

From his early training as an artist in Central Harlem to his retirement from teaching at the University of Washington in Seattle, Jacob Lawrence approached the creative process the way he approached his life — with honesty and emotional integrity matched by few artists of his generation. He believed firmly that art can affect change without being pedantic; and that beauty resides equally in forms as in content. For him harmony was both an aesthetic and a social concept.