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22 ¦ JANUARY 4, 2021 NEWS

Sherrilyn Ifill’s Advocacy for Racial Justice
Was More Urgent Than Ever in 2020

By Patrick Smith

E Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Courtesy photo
ditor’s note: The American Lawyer’s Attorney Now the president and director-counsel of the
of the Year will be announced at The American NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Ifill
Lawyer Industry Awards virtual event on Janu- has ascended to the top role at the country’s most
ary 14. Register here to attend. influential racial justice organization. She got there,
Michael Pinard’s in-laws were in town, and he those who know her say, by being a tireless advo-
wanted them to get a flavor for the Baltimore cate for the causes she believes in, inspiring others to
area. Sherrilyn Ifill, his colleague at the Univer- reach their potential and bringing a human element
sity of Maryland Francis King Carey School of to her practice of the law.
Law, suggested he bring them to her church in Over the past year, Ifill and the LDF have filed mul-
Towson, Maryland. tiple suits aiming to ferret out corruption and bias af-
“We get to the church, and there is Sherrilyn fecting voting rights and and criminal justice issues,
leading the children’s choir,” says Pinard, co-di- including against the city of Louisville, Kentucky, over
rector of the law school’s Clinical Law Program. its “militaristic” response to peaceful protests, as well
“All this energy and commitment to the church, as against the Trump administration for attempting
to the children and to her faith. It struck me, the to disenfranchise Black voters in Michigan.
well-roundedness of her. This person truly is ev- Through it all, Ifill has been active in the
erything to everybody.” media, joining programs like “60 Minutes” to

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