PRESS RELEASE: The George W. Crawford Black Bar Association Appoints Erick A. Russell to Serve on its Board of Directors

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., September 3, 2014:   Attorney Erick A. Russell of Pullman & Comley, LLC has been appointed to serve on the board of directors of The George W. Crawford Black Bar Association (“Crawford”), a volunteer state-wide organization that has represented the collective body of black attorneys in Connecticut since 1977.

Serving on the board will enable Mr. Russell, who has been a member of Crawford for the past five years, to continue the association’s mission of “enhancing the role of black people in the legal profession and focus attention on legal issues with affect the black community.”  Crawford is an active affiliate of the National Bar Association (NBA), the oldest and largest national organization for attorneys of color.  With 84 affiliates, the NBA represents a professional network of more than 20,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law students.

Mr. Russell also was recently appointed to serve as co-chair of the 2014 Connecticut Cares event.  Sponsored by Lambda Legal, the nation’s first legal organization dedicated to achieving full equality for lesbian and gay people, the annual event is Lambda Legal’s premier fashion-forward fundraiser for LGBT and HIV equality in the state of Connecticut.  This year’s event will highlight the Next Frontier of LGBT rights following the wave of victories for marriage equality across the country and will be held on October 26 in Westport, Connecticut.

An associate in the Litigation Department of the Firm’s Bridgeport office, Mr. Russell practices in the area of complex commercial and business litigation, white collar criminal defense and health care.  He is a member of the Litigation and Young Lawyers Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and a member of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association.  An advocate for fostering understanding, acceptance and inclusiveness for diversity, Mr. Russell also serves as the treasurer for the LGBT Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and is a member of the Lawyer’s Collaborative for Diversity. He serves on the firm’s Diversity Committee, which promotes and ensures the firm’s commitment to providing equal opportunities in employment, promotion and retention to all qualified persons on the basis of job-related skills, ability and merit.

Prior to joining Pullman & Comley in 2012, Mr. Russell interned for the General Counsel to Governor Dannel P. Malloy and also served as a legal intern for the Connecticut Legal Rights Project in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of New Haven and the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Pullman & Comley is celebrating its 95th anniversary in 2014.  With nearly 90 attorneys, it is one of Connecticut’s largest firms and provides a wide range of legal services to clients in the New England region, as well as throughout the United States and internationally.  Pullman & Comley’s major practice areas include business organizations and finance; environmental and land use; government finance; health care; labor, employment law and employee benefits; litigation; property valuation; real estate; regulatory, energy and telecommunications; and trusts and estates.  The firm has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury and White Plains.  The firm is an active member of the Law Firm Alliance, an international affiliation of law firms. 

For additional information on The George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, please visit http://www.georgecrawfordblackbar.org/.  For additional information on the Connecticut Cares event, please visit http://www.lambdalegal.org/ctcares.

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