- John Payton
John A. Payton (born
December 27 ,1946 ) is a prominentAfrican American civil rights attorney . He was an attorney withWilmer Hale for twenty years. In2008 , Payton was appointed the sixth president and director-counsel of theNAACP Legal Defense Fund . [http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2427/Payton-John.html] , JRank.com, John Payton Biography. Accessed 28 July 2008.]Education
Payton grew up in Los Angeles, Ca where he graduated from high school. He attended
Pomona College inClaremont, Ca where he became heavily involved in 1960s civil rights and anti-war protests. Payton was one of the founders of Pomona'sBlack Student Association and helped to establish the Claremont Colleges' black admissions office. [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008]For three years after his graduation, Payton served as an admissions officer in the position he helped to create. He left the position after receiving a scholarship which allowed him to study literature in West Africa for a year. While abroad, he applied to law school and was ultimately accepted to
Harvard Law School . [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008]While at Harvard Law, Payton worked on several prominent civil rights lawsuits. [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008] He was a member of the editorial board for the [http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/crcl/ Harvard Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review] .
Early Career
Following law school, he spent a year clerking for then-
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California judge Cecil Poole . [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008] He then traveled toWashington, D.C. where he was recruited to Wilmer Hale byJames Robertson . While at the firm, Payton worked on several prominent civil rights cases - successfully defending theNAACP against ananti-trust lawsuit brought by white merchants inMississippi who had loss business in the wake of a1966 desegregation boycott . [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008]In
City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. , Payton unsuccessfully defended the city's set-asideaffirmative action plan established to assist minority businesses in receiving city construction contracts. The case went up to theSupreme Court of the United States where the Court narrowly ruled against the city and determined, for the first time, that all government uses of race - including affirmative action programs - would be subject tostrict scrutiny . [http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/June16_03/07_payton.shtml] , Katie Gazella, The legal team: John Payton, The University Record Online, June 24, 2003. Accessed 28 July 2008.]D.C. Corporation Counsel and Failed Clinton Appointment
When
Sharon Pratt Dixon was electedmayor of Washington, D.C. in 1991,Vernon Jordan tapped Payton to become the district's corporation counsel. As corporation counsel, he reorganized, centralized and streamlined the corporation counsel offices. Early in his term he dealt with the fallout from theMount Pleasant riots and worked to improve Latino and police relations in the city. He also participated in balancing the city's budget in the face of a major crisis. [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008]In
1993 , PresidentBill Clinton nominated Payton to head the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. However, following vocal objections from theCongressional Black Caucus and despite some prominent African American support for Payton, Payton withdrew his name for consideration onDecember 17 . [http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2427/Payton-John.html] , JRank.com, John Payton Biography. Accessed 28 July 2008.]He left the D.C. Corporation Counsel office in
1994 to join his wife, Gay McDougall, inSouth Africa . Ms. McDougall was in South Africa working as a member of the Independent Electoral Commission, which ran South Africa's first democratic elections that year - leading to Nelson Mandela's election as president. At the same time, Payton served on an international observer team that included lawyers from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The couple remained in South Africa for several months before going back to D.C. [http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/june_2001/payton.cfm] , DCBar.org, A Conversation With D.C. Bar President John Payton. Accessed 28 July 2008]Back in Private Practice and the Michigan Cases
Returning to Wilmer Hale, Payton's civil practice involved representing corporations in employment matters, the
American Legacy Foundation in its efforts to prevent youths from smoking, andFannie Mae in a majorclass action challenge. [http://www.wilmerhale.com/john_payton/] , Wilmerhale.com, Attorney Profile: John Payton. Access 28 July 2008]While still at the firm, Payton was tapped to be the lead counsel for the
University of Michigan in defending its law andundergraduate schools' use of race in their admissions processes. For more than six years, Payton handled the two high-profile cases in the trial court, in the court of appeals and arguedGratz v. Bollinger before the Supreme Court. He organized a broad coalition from higher education, the military and top businesses in support of diversity initiatives. In another narrow decision,Grutter v. Bollinger , the Supreme Court upheld the use of race in college admissions. [http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/June16_03/07_payton.shtml] , Katie Gazella, The legal team: John Payton, The University Record Online, June 24, 2003. Accessed 28 July 2008.]Payton served as president of the
District of Columbia Bar for one year in2001 . He has also recently served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, theGeorgetown University Law Center andHoward University Law School. He has been repeatedly recognized by his peers and news outlets as one of the nation's top lawyers. [http://www.wilmerhale.com/john_payton/] , Wilmerhale.com, Attorney Profile: John Payton. Access 28 July 2008]Director Counsel of LDF
In
2008 , Payton was appointed the sixth director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. He is following in the footsteps of such prominent civil rights attorneys asThurgood Marshall andJack Greenberg . [http://www.naacpldf.org/content.aspx?article=1225] , NAACPLDF.org, LDF Appoints Leading Civil Rights Attorney John Payton as Director-Counsel and President. Access 28 July 2008.]References
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