In 1844, Macon Bolling Allen passed the bar exam, making him the first African American licensed to practice law in the U.S. Allen then went on to become the first African American to hold a judicial position as Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1848.
While equal representation in the legal field still has a long way to go, many barrier-breaking Black lawyers have paved the way for increased diversity in the profession as we continue to work toward true equity. Here are just a few of them and their accomplishments.
His parents divorced soon after his birth and his mother remarried in 1951 to a British automotive executive who moved the family to Connecticut and then to Jamaica. Black earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Miami in 1967 and a Juris Doctor at the University of Miami School of Law.
Roy Black (attorney) Jump to navigation Jump to search. Roy Black (born February 17, 1945) is an American civil and criminal defense trial attorney.
The first North American Black woman to publish a newspaper, USA-born Mary Ann Shadd was the founder of the Canadian newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. Concurrently serving as its anonymous editor and contributor, she also became one of the first women to pursue journalism in Canada. She was also one of the first Black women to earn a degree in law.
Civil rights leader and Baptist minister Benjamin Hooks was also a jurist and had served the NAACP as its executive director. He had studied law at the Chicago-based DePaul University College of Law since no law school in Tennessee, his home state, allowed Blacks back then.
Christopher Darden is a man who dons many hats. He is a lawyer, author, actor, and lecturer with 15 years of experience in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. He was a co-prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case.
The United Democratic Movement member and former mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay was also a father of five. He died of COVID-19 after putting up a brave fight with the disease for 3 weeks.
Died: March 29, 2005. Johnnie Cochran was an American civil activist and lawyer. Cochran played an important role in the acquittal of former football player O. J. Simpson in connection with the murder of the latter's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. Cochran had also represented other celebrities like Michael Jackson, Sean Combs, Tupac Shakur, ...
Black was born in New York City in 1945. His parents divorced soon after his birth and his mother remarried in 1951 to a British automotive executive who moved the family to Connecticut and then to Jamaica. Black earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Miami in 1967 and a Juris Doctor at the University of Miami School of Law.
In addition to his legal work, Black provides legal commentary for various NBC news shows and played the "managing partner" of The Law Firm, a short-lived reality-based TV show pitting lawyers against each other week-to-week in a legal version of The Apprentice .
Lea Black. Children. 2. Roy Black (born February 17, 1945) is an American civil and criminal defense trial attorney. He is known for his gaining an acquittal, in 1991, of William Kennedy Smith on charges of rape and for his representation of conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh.
Black has been married three times. In 1984, he married his second wife, Naomi Morris Black, with whom he has a daughter, Nora Black (psychotherapist, San Francisco). In 1994, Roy Black married Lea Black, who was a juror in the William Kennedy Smith trial and was a castmate on The Real Housewives of Miami. They began dating several months ...