America's leading black law firms - Cover Story

Black Enterprise, August, 1993

Representing both plaintiffs and defendants, 16-lawyer Leftwich & Douglas moves deftly around the complex borders of commercial, real estate, civil rights and employment law. The firm is versatile, serving as bond counsel and suing makers of faufty breast implants while handling pro bono and community service work, including cases for the homeless.

"We represent not just the larger institutions but also indi-viduals," Leftwich stresses. Adds 37-year-old Michael M. Hicks, a partner who also earned his J.D. from GWU, "History has shown us that anyone captured in any one area of the law has no chance to survive."

Maintaining a diverse - and integrated - practice is something all of their clients have come to expect, including corporate customers, such as banks, leasing companies and insurance firms.

D.C. residents are as likely to find these attorneys giving talks at a local high school, as making speeches in the courtroom - or on a radio show discussing women's rights. And the firm encourages its associates to take on at least two pro bono cases per year. Says Hicks: "We pride ourselves on not turning our backs on folks."

LEWIS, WHITE & CLAY, Detroit

From its inception in 1972, Lewis, White & Clay and its founders set out to do more than peek through the corporate veil - they wanted to build a barrier-breaking institution. Today, with 36 lawyers and clients such as Chrysler, MCI and Avon they have done just that.

"If we don't build our own legal institutions, we're going to be stuck with the same limfted options," says managing partner Richard T. White, 48. The firm's rise began in 1974, when Coleman Young became Detroifs first black mayor and hired the new law practice founded by David B. Lewis, now 48. Lewis earned an M.B.A. at the University of Chicago and a law degree from the University of Michigan; his partner, White, was a recent Harvard Law School grad. Eric L. Clay, now 43, a Yale Law School alum, joined the firm that year. With Mayor Young's support, the budding firm was inducted into the lucrative public finance arena and, in 1977, became the first minority firm to be listed in the Directory of Municipal Bond Dealers.

It built its name handling innumerable matters for city and state agencies as well as for Fortune 500 companies. For Lewis, White, now affiliated with eight other black-owned law firms across the country, joint ventures proved to be the first step toward establishing a national presence.

Critics say Lewis, White's affiliate arrangement is a slick marketing tack aimed at giving the firm a deceptively large, cohesive image. Others applaud it as a savvy business maneuver and a clever way to get work outside of Detroit's depressed market. Certainly, it has allowed the firm to cash in on connections beyond its local borders. In 1992, the firm was selected over 30 competitors as Washington D.C.'s lead bond counsel. The potential transactions for Lewis, White which (will be working with its D.C. affiliate, Roxborough & Tillerson) could top $1 billion. And for that, its principals make no apologies.