Presented by the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group in association with Temple University & The Philadelphia Bar Association.

This symposium told the story of how a courageous and talented group of African-American lawyers formed what is considered by many to be Philadelphia’s first African-American law firm –Norris Schmidt Green Harris Higginbotham& Brown. The firm’s in-court victories as well as its out of court influence created access for countless persons across the region and nation. A number of the firm’s lawyers partnered with others in the Philadelphia legal community in an effort to increase the number of African-American lawyers in the Commonwealth by reforming Pennsylvania’s bar examination procedures. Responding to these efforts, the Philadelphia Bar Association appointed a Special Committee chaired by Peter Liacouras to determine whether those procedures were in fact biased against African-American candidates. The Committee ‘s report, published in December 1970, led to changes in the Commonwealth’s procedures that substantially increased the number of African-American lawyers practicing in Philadelphia and statewide, forever altering the face of Philadelphia’s legal community.

The story was told primarily through the recollections of a panel of witnesses to and participants in these events. By retelling the story, PDLG celebrated the achievements of the Norris Law Firm, the Liacouras Committee and the other diversity pioneers who contributed to making a legal career accessible to a more diverse group of lawyers, providing an example of professional courage and commitment to principle that continues to inspire.

The participants in the symposium were William H. Brown, III, Esq., Peter J. Liacouras, Esq., Robert L. Archie, Jr. Esq., The Honorable Paul A. Dandridge, The Honorable Ricardo C. Jackson, W. Bourne Ruthrauff, Esq. and Professor Robert Reinstein. The panel was moderated by Temple Law School Dean JoAnne A Epps.

The Philadelphia Diversity Law Group is a not-for-profit corporation organized in 2001 to promote diversity in the practice of law, particularly in the Greater Philadelphia area.