May 24, 2019
Hill Tucker Bar Association Named 2019 Bar Association of the Year
The Virginia State Bar Conference of Local and Specialty Bar Associations has named the Hill Tucker Bar Association Bar Association of the Year.
Formerly known as the Richmond Chapter of the Old Dominion Bar Association, the Hill Tucker Bar Association (HTBA) is one of the oldest, historically African-American bar associations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It consists of legal practitioners, judges, law professors, in‐house counsel, politicians, and law school students of all experience levels and representing various practice areas and legal interests, as well as the private and public sectors.
The HTBA leadership includes: Veronica D. Brown-Moseley of Boleman Law Firm, president; Stephen Moncrieffe of Marathon Resource Management Group, vice president; Jontille D. Ray of McGuireWoods, secretary; Makiba Jackson of UnitedLex, treasurer; Avnel Coates, chief magistrate of the 16th District, member at large; Christina Parrish of the Office of the Attorney General, immediate past president; and, Jasmine McKinney of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, member at large.
The HTBA was nominated by President Brown‐Moseley who highlighted the bar’s 2018-2019 platform of “Educating & Empowering” – a multi-level thematic approach to improving the legal profession and helping the community. A series of programs called “Pathway to the Next Level” sought to create awareness about opportunities in various areas of practice and service, equipping members with inside information regarding a variety of career paths.
Pathways to education, the federal bar, judicial service, and public service featured panels of lawyers and judges that connected attorneys and aspiring attorneys to leaders in the field. And other programs provided case law updates and built bridges with other local and specialty bars.
“Pathway to the Next Level” also won an award of merit from the Conference of Local and Specialty Bar Associations (CLSBA).
“This programming has benefitted the legal profession at large by promoting the increase of diversity in academia, the federal court system, the judiciary, and public service,” writes Brown-Moseley.
In addition to the Pathway series, the HTBA held a variety of programs that served, educated and empowered the community at large. A bowling event brought together diverse law students at University of Richmond with the HTBA; a holiday fundraiser helped fund a fellowship program for a law student to work in public service or civil rights law; and, charitable drives collected money for Thanksgiving dinners, suits for professional needs, and school supplies.
The HTBA also provided pro bono services, partnering with NBC’s Channel 12 to provide free answers to viewers’ legal questions and holding a Free Legal Answers Day where members logged onto to the ABA site to answer questions.
“The HTBA far exceeded the goals of its mission,” Brown-Moseley writes.
The Conference of Local and Specialty Bar Associations’ recognition of a Bar Association of the Year identifies a bar association that demonstrates the impact it has made upon the legal community and community at large, regardless of the size of that bar association.
The CLSBA will present the Bar Association of the Year Award during its annual meeting and awards breakfast on Friday, June 14, 2019, in Virginia Beach – part of the VSB’s Annual Meeting.
Updated: May 24, 2019