Robert J. Grey (above) took over as ABA President in August, carrying on a proud Hunton & Williams heritage. Grey received his legal education at Washington & Lee University (left) in Lexington, Va., the same law school attended by his 1960s predecessor, Lewis Powell (lower left), who fought for legal services as ABA chief on his way to becoming a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

Familiar Footsteps
New ABA President Robert J. Grey fills big shoes

When Robert J. Grey became the new President of the American Bar Association (ABA) in August, he walked a path parallel to another notable Richmond, Va., barrister who once practiced in the same city at the same law firm after graduating from the same law school.

Forty years ago, Lewis Powell rose from relative obscurity as a corporate attorney in southern Virginia to assume the ABA Presidency on his way to becoming a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

Both Grey and Powell received their law degrees from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. Prior to ascending to the nation’s highest Court, Powell worked at the firm that would later become Hunton & Williams, where Grey practices today. Grey serves on a number of local boards and community groups in Richmond, including the Greater Richmond Partnership, Youth Matters, and Richmond Crusade for Voters. Powell, too, had strong ties to his community, balancing the competitive demands of corporate law and community advocacy.

The men also share a strong belief in the importance of a robust commitment to broadening access to civil justice. Powell was a major proponent of federally funded legal services as ABA chief in the 1960s. Today, Grey calls private attorneys “foot soldiers” in the fight for equal justice and says it is incumbent upon members of the private bar to supplement federal efforts. “The culture [of service] that we’ve created in this country needs to be nurtured, and we need to continue to remind ourselves of the importance of pro bono work in providing access to justice,” Grey says. “The more sophisticated and complex our society becomes, the more we need to be sensitive to the fact that there are those who are unable to afford legal services and that it’s our responsibility to make sure that they have access.

“America ought to always try to set the highest standard it can in maintaining access to our legal system.”

Justice Powell couldn’t have said it better.

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