Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on the selection of Paulette Brown as President of the American Bar Association, the first African-American woman to hold the position understood as the primary representative of the legal profession in the United States, with more than 400,000 active members.

Currently a partner at Wildman Edwards, a law firm in New Jersey, Paulette Brown will as President of the American Bar Association direct the supervision of lawyers under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and law schools in the accreditation process.

“A proud graduate of Howard University and Seton University School of Law, Paulette Brown’s career in law has been distinguished by her expertise in employment law, her effort to support diversity in law firms, and her commitment to social justice. She has the respect of her colleagues in the legal profession and the public,” said Congresswoman Clarke. “Historically, membership in the professions, particularly law, was closed to women and people of color. It is my hope that the American Bar Association will continue to address the inequities that persist in the legal profession, in which women, African-Americans, and Latinos are still substantially underrepresented in the partnerships of corporate law firms and in the judiciary.”

Paulette Brown will assume the presidency in May 2015.

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.