Roberts was first African-American woman president of SBM
By Steve Thorpe
Legal News
Judge Victoria Roberts, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, was awarded the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association’s Dennis W. Archer Award in a ceremony at the Detroit Yacht Club Tuesday night.
The DMBA Foundation presents the Dennis W. Archer Award each year to recognize outstanding public service by a member of the legal profession in metropolitan Detroit. It is given to “individuals who have established a career dedicated to the betterment of both our profession and our community.”
Archer served as a justice on the Michigan Supreme Court from 1986 to 1990. He served as mayor of Detroit from 1993 to 2001 and also served as president of the American Bar Association, becoming the first African American to lead the organization.
When it came time for Roberts to accept the award, she shed some tears and paused to wipe her face, joking, “Let’s get that out of the way.”
“This is such a moving tribute,” she said. “I’m touched that the organization chose me to join the ranks of past recipients of this award.”
The setting for the event was the historic Detroit Yacht Club clubhouse, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Roberts was born in Detroit and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.
Starting as a research attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1976, she then taught at Detroit College of Law before entering private practice. In 1985 she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan.
In 1988, Roberts joined the law firm of Goodman, Eden, Millender & Bedrosian where she eventually became managing partner. She then served as General Counsel for Detroit Mayor-Elect Dennis Archer’s transition team in 1993.
Event speaker Leo A. Nouhan, trustee of the DMBA Foundation, said that Roberts, as with everything else in her life, took her bar membership very seriously
“In 1989, she was appointed to the State Bar of Michigan Board of Commissioners by the Michigan Supreme Court and the rest, as they say, is history,” he said. “She became involved in the issues of access to justice and diversity in the profession and, after nearly a decade of service to the State Bar of Michigan, Victoria Roberts was elected as the first African-American woman president of the organization in 1997.”
Roberts was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by President Bill Clinton on July 31, 1997, and confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1998.
During her remarks while introducing Roberts, longtime friend Judge Linda V. Parker, Third Circuit Court, Criminal Division, referred to the honoree’s passion for fun, seemingly in contrast with the stern and serious demeanor required of a federal judge. Whether climbing mountains, running marathons or — especially — dancing, she described Roberts as a joyful friend and colleague.
“That laugh of hers … it is infectious,” Parker said. “She approaches life with a spirit of gleeful anticipation.”
Her extensive volunteer work has included service as a trial advocacy faculty member of Lawyers Without Borders in Kenya and training legal staff in Serbia for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Roberts also has provided legal services on a pro bono basis to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization and has served on the organization’s board.
In her acceptance speech, Roberts praised her parents and the teachers who made her feel that anything was possible.
“My parents came from very humble beginnings,” she said. “They migrated from the South in the 1940s along with many other blacks in search of a better life. Neither finished high school, but they had a very strong work ethic. That work ethic was imparted to the children and has gotten me to where I am today.”
She stressed the importance of humility in her life, despite her many accomplishments and the recognition she, at that moment, was receiving.
“I’ve tried not to forget where I started,” she said.
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