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President's Message Clyde E.Bailey, Sr. National Bar Association's Diversity Pledge Gets Top Endorsement National Bar Association President Clyde Bailey urges corporations and law firms to endorse the NBA Diversity Pledge, calling for increased opportunities for minority and women lawyers, during the opening session of the 17th Annual Commercial Law Section Corporate Counsel Conference in San Antonio, Tex., February 26, 2004. In making the case for his NBA Goal One, President Bailey commented that "participation of minorities and women-owned law firms and minorities in majority law firms in corporate and institutional outside counsel spending programs is unquestionably low. While some corporations, such as Dupont, Ford, General Motors and Kodak, have very aggressive programs for ensuring that minorities and women-owned law firms are equitably engaged in the outsourcing process, there remains a real opportunity for increasing the retention level of this population across a wider spectrum of corporations and institutions." . In appealing for more in-house opportunities for minorities, President Bailey remarked that "Department of Labor statistics indicate that minorities and females continue to be woefully underrepresented in corporate and institutional law departments. Some companies, like DuPont and General Motors, have effective management driven recruitment plans that utilize a broad array of resources, including the National Bar Association. Therefore, there exists a real opportunity for increasing the equitable representation of minority and women in in-house counsel positions across a broad spectrum of corporations and institutions." E. Christopher Johnson, Jr., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, General Motors North America, in his keynote luncheon address remarked that General Motors would support the NBA's Diversity Pledge. Bailey commented that General Motors has been a long term and consistent supporter of the National Bar Association and he hoped that other corporations would follow its example . The National Bar Association, founded in 1925, is the nation's oldest and largest association of attorneys of color, representing a professional network of over 20,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law students. Other news related to the Commercial Law Section and the 17th Annual Corporate Counsel Conference as well as other information concerning the National Bar Association is available at www.nationalbar.org.