Education: J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1987, B.A., Wayne State University, 1982.

Career in Brief: Reginald "Reggie" Turner is a highly respected litigator, government affairs advisor, and labor and employment law practitioner. Reggie is the current President of the American Bar Association (ABA). For more on the ABA's mission, see Box: About the American Bar Association. During his one-year term as ABA President, Reggie is continuing to practice law at the law firm Clark Hill PLC, where he has worked for over 21 years and where he serves on the firm's Executive Committee. Reggie is a member of the Board of Directors of Comerica, Inc, one of America's largest financial institutions, and Masco Corporation, a leading manufacturer of products for home improvement and home construction.

Reggie has previously served as:

Reggie has also served in various capacities for numerous non-profit organizations, including:

Reggie is listed in "Best Lawyers in America" and "SuperLawyers," and he is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, reserved to less than 1% of lawyers in each state. Reggie was named one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly's Lawyer of the Year for 2005, and has twice been named a Michigan Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. He has also been recognized in Crain's Detroit Business Magazine's "Power Lawyers" and "Most Connected."

The ABA is the ultimate gathering place for lawyers who want to work together to address:

As ABA President, I collaborate with the other members of the Executive Committee to:

Some of my specific duties and responsibilities as ABA President include:

Although I have cut back my hours due to my ABA responsibilities, I continue to practice with Clark Hill PLC in Detroit where I:

Both of my parents were public servants. My father was a police officer, and my mother was a library aid. My father also volunteered in our community. So, in addition to being heavily disciplined and reading a lot, a commitment to public service was part of the fabric of our family.

I can trace my interest in Bar Association work back to a luncheon meeting that I attended when I was a young law student. Then-President of the State Bar of Michigan, Dennis Archer, met with several students and patiently answered our questions with quiet, thoughtful tones of professionalism. When I expressed my bewilderment regarding the path to success in the practice of law, he said that the single biggest influence on my career would be my adherence to the values set out in the lawyer's oath, in which we swear to:

While in law school I served as President of the Student Senate. And as a young lawyer I served as President of the Wolverine Bar Association, which was established by a number of African American attorneys during the 1930s to coordinate the energies and talents of the increasing number of African Americans admitted to practice throughout Michigan. The Wolverine Bar Association takes on a leadership role in community and political activities, including access to justice initiatives, so that role was a meaningful step towards where I am today. I also joined the ABA as a young lawyer and previously served as President of the State Bar of Michigan. I have also had many mentors within these and other organizations who helped me to understand the important principles of our profession and the importance of Bar Association work.

When there is strife or lack of inclusion in a workplace, it creates great anxiety, and hinders performance. It takes significant effort to create a workplace for lawyers that is free from bias, unwanted advances, and other barriers to lawyers providing the best services they can unimpeded. Our goal at the ABA is to create resources and develop programs that:

I was extremely fortunate to be serving as Dennis Archer's Michigan Supreme Court law clerk in 1987, fresh out of Michigan Law School, when he and Rachel Patrick were creating the ABA's first diversity, equity, and inclusion program. Together, Dennis and Rachel built the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Legal Profession. This effort blossomed into what is now known as the ABA's Diversity and Inclusion Center (the D&I Center), which promotes collaboration, coordination, and communication to advance the ABA's goal of eliminating bias and enhancing diversity and inclusion throughout the ABA, the legal profession, and the justice system.

The D&I Center is comprised of the following ABA entities:

The D&I Center also includes programs and training and other resources on various D&I topics.

This robust resource center grew out of the seed that Dennis Archer planted in the 1980s. In 2003, Dennis became the first person of color to be elected ABA President, but his groundbreaking D&I work started long before he assumed that title. It is very special for me to be leading the ABA, and following in the footsteps of my mentor, as we continue to build on the work that Dennis started so many years ago.

In order for lawyers to be as sharp and effective as possible, they must be mentally healthy and well. A wide swath of professions, including the legal profession, have increasingly recognized that mental health and substance abuse issues are a real concern. And in many cases, these issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2017, the ABA established the Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession and launched a campaign asking law firms, judges, state bar associations, law schools, and others to pledge their support and adopt the following seven-point framework (Well-Being Pledge):

At last count, 199 legal employers have pledged their support for this initiative and taken concrete steps demonstrating their commitment. Pledge signatories have implemented strategies to:

Today, with remote and hybrid work arrangements further blurring the lines between home and work, and attorney burnout becoming an even bigger problem, it is critical for legal organizations to be more intentional in their approach to mental health and well-being.

For more on attorney well-being and the initiatives of the ABA's Working Group to Advance Well-Being in the Legal Profession, see Article, Attorney Well-Being: Q&A with (Former) ABA President Judy Perry Martinez.

Many legal organizations have created their own internal programs that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and wellness. In many (but not all) cases they start with the ABA framework and customize it to meet the unique needs of their organization. But things also work in reverse, that is, people experiment and create innovative new programs, bring them to the attention of the ABA, and we incorporate these ideas into our programming. We can all get so much valuable information and improve our programs by sharing and listening to each other.

Legal organizations must decide what their values are and live by them. Clark Hill, for example, has identified a core set of values that guide its interactions both with clients and within the firm. They call it the firm's DNA. These values, which include the encouragement of diverse perspectives and a commitment to the community, are infused into everything the firm does, including hiring. Based on my conversations with colleagues, many major law firms appear to be paying more attention to articulating and living their values.

To create a nourishing culture, it is also imperative that we treat each other with respect. Basic principles that we learn when we are children matter. Work well with others. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Say please and thank you. It is not that complicated.

Mentorship is another way to foster a sense of belonging. I have been privileged to have many wonderful mentors who have helped me to understand the principles of our profession and also given me the tools to help me help others. "Each one, reach one" is an expression I like to use to highlight the importance of mentoring others.

Like so many lawyers, I struggle with time management. There is no perfect answer to balancing career and family or other outside interests. And I don't always get enough sleep. When I was a young lawyer starting a family, I lived in Detroit, which was struggling. The automobile industry was shrinking, causing mass unemployment. And the homicide rate was so high that the press referred to it as the murder capital of the US. There was a lot of work to do, and I wanted to help improve the quality of my community.

At one point I was serving on 16 non-profit boards of directors. That was too many. I vividly recall attending my oldest daughter's graduation from high school, where she was giving a speech. When the person introducing her read off her accomplishments, I realized that I had missed many of them. I subsequently reduced the number of non-profit boards I served on to about five, which was more manageable.

My saving grace with respect to maintaining some semblance of balance is that I married well. When it comes to our family, my wife Marcia and I are a unified team. We share responsibilities and have spent a lot of time instilling our daughters with the values that we share through communication and, more importantly, how we conduct ourselves. Our daughters are now both in graduate school on academic scholarships, and we know that they carry those values with them, even when we are not physically present.

I still struggle with time management today, and I still probably do not get as much sleep as I should. I try to keep up my stamina with regular exercise.

As a kid I wanted to be a police officer, like my father. It was actually my father who steered me in a different direction. A longtime friend of his, Elliott S. Hall, was a lawyer, and had an extraordinary, groundbreaking career. Among other impressive credentials, Elliott Hall:

Elliott Hall epitomized many of the values of the profession. My father respected him a great deal, so much so that he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Elliott Hall ultimately became a valuable mentor to me. Like Dennis Archer, he helped me to understand the principles of the legal profession, and the magnitude of being endowed with the public trust. Maybe I would have excelled as a police officer. But I think I ended up where I was supposed to be.

It is important for attorneys and other legal professionals to give back to the profession. There are a host of ways to do that, such as:

Attorneys must not lose sight of the fact that this is a helping profession. Earlier I mentioned the oath that attorneys take when they are admitted to the Bar – the oath that Dennis Archer cited to me when I asked about the path to success in law. In addition to swearing to support the US Constitution and the Constitution of their State, and maintaining the respect due to the courts of justice and judicial officers, attorneys also affirm that they will not reject, from any consideration personal to themselves, the cause of the impoverished, the defenseless, or the oppressed, or delay any person's cause for lucre or malice.

I would encourage all attorneys, whether just starting their careers, or working in senior roles, to always keep that oath top of mind.