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Law School Hosts Fred Gray, Former Attorney to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fred Gray

Pepperdine's Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics will host Fred Gray, the former attorney to Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Friday, May 8, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Gunder Conference Room at the School of Law. Gray's lecture will explore "How the Civil Rights Movement Led to the Election of Our President."

Gray's legal career began in the midst of America's civil rights movement. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and is a graduate of the Nashville Christian Institute, Alabama State University, and Case Western Reserve University. After completing law school, Gray committed to fight against segregation in the state of Alabama. At age 24, he represented Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus, the action that initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gray was also Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s first civil rights lawyer.

Currently, Gray is senior partner at the law firm of Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray & Nathanson. The firm has law offices in Tuskegee and Montgomery, Alabama. He is the current president of the Alabama State Bar Association and is the first African-American to hold the position.

Gray will also teach a two-part class "Bus Ride to Justice," as part of Pepperdine's Annual Bible Lectures.

The cost for the luncheon is $15 per ticket. For more information, contact Audrey Owens at (310) 506-7635.