Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Stacie Miller
202-662-8317
202-445-6101 (cell)
smiller@lawyerscommittee.org

May 9, 2008

John Brittain, Chief Counsel and Senior Deputy Director of the Lawyers' Committee, Selected to Deliver Howard University School of Law’s 2008 Commencement Address
Brittain Expected to Encourage Graduates to Look Beyond Challenges and Use Opportunities and Tools to Make a Difference in Leading the Nation Toward Greater Parity for All Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 9, 2008 – John C. Brittain, chief counsel and senior deputy director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Howard University alumnus will address nearly 150 graduates receiving Juris Doctorate degrees from Howard University on Saturday, May 10, 2008.  The hooding and degree presentation ceremony will be held from 2-4:30 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, D.C., following the University’s main commencement convocation on the main campus with American Express CEO and Chairman Kenneth I. Chenault as orator. Brittain, who earned B.A. and J.D degrees from Howard University in 1966 and 1969, respectively, said, “I am privileged to have continued a relationship with my alma mater spanning several decades.  It is truly an honor to serve not only as the keynote speaker for this auspicious occasion, but to serve as an example to the next generation of lawyers charged with carrying the torch of justice and equality and continuing to blaze the trail of excellence and integrity for which Howard University School of Law graduates are known.”

A native of Norwalk, Connecticut, Brittain specializes in civil rights litigation theories in education, voting rights, affirmative action, affordable housing and police misconduct.  Prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee in March 2005 as chief counsel and senior deputy director of its national office in Washington, D.C. where he is responsible for determining civil rights litigation strategies and public policy issues, he established a law firm with a partner in San Francisco where he practiced for eight years and has worked nearly three decades in legal education.  He taught on the faculty of the University of Connecticut Law School and served as both dean and tenured faculty member at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.

“Since its founding in 1869, Howard University’s School of Law has been at the forefront of legal education and has graduated more African-American lawyers and judges than any other law school in
the United States,” said Dean Kurt Schmoke.  “We remain true to our mission of training lawyers to be excellent practitioners and social engineers and it is with great excitement that I look forward to having John Brittain, a true son of Howard and legal pioneer, to inspire our graduates firsthand.”

Brittain has devoted much of his time to public service in numerous leadership roles; his most notable, being that of president of the National Lawyers Guild from 1991 to 1993. Currently, he is a member of the National Bar Association and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a senior fellow in the American Leadership Forum and a member of the Teach for America – Houston Advisory Board. His past volunteer leadership positions include legal counsel to the Connecticut Conference of the NAACP; chairperson of the Hartford Charter Revision Commission; chairperson of the Hartford Human Rights Commission; chairperson of the ACLU Academic Freedom Committee, and a longtime member of the National Conference of Black Lawyers. Further, Brittain was member of the Board of Directors of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

Shortly after the coup d’état in Haiti in 1991, Brittain accompanied former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark on a visit to the island nation to investigate human rights conditions. He continues to frequently speak about human rights and democracy throughout the world. In fact, Brittain has investigated conditions in Northern Ireland, Israel and the Palestine Territories, Nicaragua, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Spain.

His awards include the coveted NAACP William Robert Ming Advocacy Award 1n 1993 for legal service to the NAACP without a fee (the Ming award was named in honor of a former African American law professor at the University of Chicago and a brilliant civil rights lawyer) and the Texas Bar Association’s 2004 Gavel Award for outstanding service to the community.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of housing, community development, employment, voting, education and environmental justice.  For more information about the LCCRUL, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.

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