Office of the President
Photo Credit: ABA/Elaine Odell
ROBERT J. GREY, JR.IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
Robert J. Grey Jr., a partner in the Richmond, Va., office of Hunton & Williams, is immediate past president of the American Bar Association.
Grey devoted his yearlong term to creating better justice through better juries via the American Jury Initiative. The Jury Initiative was composed of the Commission on the American Jury and the American Jury Project. The Commission was dedicated to educating the public on and reinvigorating the nation's commitment to jury service. The American Jury Project modernized and consolidated varying sets of juror standards into a single model document that reflects the demands of contemporary trials. This work will continue under the auspices of the new American Jury Project.
Additionally, Grey worked to review, unify and update ABA programs to increase diversity in the legal profession, to advance the ABA's international rule of law efforts, and to safeguard the profession's independence.
Grey has long been active in the ABA, as chair of the policy-making House of Delegates in 1998-2000, the association's second-highest office, and as a member of the Board of Governors. Grey's service as House of Delegates chair made him the first person of color to serve in a top ABA office. He is the second consecutive person of color to serve as president, the association's highest office.
Throughout his ABA career, Grey has been active in strategic planning and increasing diversity in the profession. In 2000-02 he chaired the Committee on Research about the Future of the Legal Profession, which analyzed trends affecting the practice of law and identified steps the profession should take to preserve and advance its fundamental values. From 1992-1995 Grey chaired the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession. He also chaired the Virginia delegation in the ABA House of Delegates from 1994-1998.
Grey's law practice is focused on administrative matters before state and federal agencies, mediation and dispute resolution, and legislative representation of clients.
Grey earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University in Virginia in 1976, and his B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1973. Grey came to Hunton & Williams from the law firm LeClair Ryan, where he was a partner. Prior to that he had co-founded the firm of Grey & Wesley, and then joined Mays & Valentine. He also received several gubernatorial appointments, including chair of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, and vice chair of the Virginia Public Building Authority and member of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Board of Visitors.
In addition to his volunteer leadership within the ABA, Grey has chaired the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Richmond Partnership and Youth Matters, and was president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters.
Grey has various other honors, including the UNCF/The College Fund's Flame Bearer Award, Dominion Power's "Strong Men and Women in the Community" award, the "Distinguished Leadership Award" from the National Association for Community Leadership, the "Alumni Star" from VCU School of Business, and the Gertrude E. Rush and Wiley A. Branton Awards from the National Bar Association.
