Kim Michelle Keenan

KIM KEENAN, is a Past President (2001-2003) of the Washington Bar Association (WBA), one of the oldest and largest affiliates of the National Bar Association (NBA). She is only the third woman president in the history of the WBA. She currently serves as a director on the boards of both the WBA and the NBA. In addition, Ms. Keenan serves as a director of the District of Columbia Bar and as a Regional Vice Chair of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Leadership is an important part of Ms. Keenanís schedule. In August 2005, she completed her term as the 62nd President of the National Bar Association (NBA), the oldest and largest bar association of lawyers of color. She is the first woman from the District of Columbia to be elected to this post and only the 8th woman in the organizationís 81 year history to serve as the chief executive officer. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Maryland Bar Foundationís Professional Legal Excellence Award for the Advancement of Public Understanding of the Law. Most recently, in 2006, Ms. Keenan was recognized as a Distinguished Black Woman by Black Women in Sisterhood for Action, Inc. (BISA).

Additionally, she has served as Treasurer of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the largest voluntary bar in the District of Columbia and is the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is a member of the Leadership Metropolitan Washington Class of 2000 and was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in 2001 in recognition of her professional attainment and distinguished service. In June 2004, Ms. Keenan chaired the District of Columbia Barís Landlord -Tenant Committee which received the Frederick B. Abramson Award for superior service to the legal profession. Ms. Keenan has received numerous other awards for her bar projects and community activities including recognition from the Maryland State Bar Foundation, Washington Bar Association, The District of Columbia Bar, the National Association of Black Women Attorneys, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the Louisiana and Virginia State Conferences of the NAACP. She received the Washington Metropolitan Top Forty Under Forty Award in 2000. In December 2002, the Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia presented her with the Hon. Annice M. Wagner Pioneers Award. She is the inaugural recipient of this award.

Ms. Keenan is committed to teaching and mentoring students. Currently she serves on the Senior Adjunct Faculty of George Washington University Law Center where she co-teaches Pretrial Advocacy. Additionally, for the past ten years, she has served as the Civil Procedure Lecturer for the Charles Hamilton Houston Law Preparatory Course at Georgetown University Law Center. She is also a volunteer mediator for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Ms. Keenan is a nationally recognized lecturer on various legal topics. Her recent speaking engagements include the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Maryland State Bar, Conference of Bar Presidents, the Old Dominion Bar Association, the NAACP and the Odyssey Network Conference, to name a few.

Community activism is at the heart of Ms. Keenan's schedule. She was the first African-American elected to serve as President of the District of Columbia Rape Crisis Center, the largest resource center for survivors of sexual assault. She currently serves on the boards of the Equal Rights Center (First Vice President) and the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Lung Association (Secretary). Additionally, she serves on the board of directors of Posh Communications, a private marketing and communications company where she is a contributing editor for Poshís magazine Odyssey Couleur.

Ms. Keenan served as a regular on the first season of Fox's "Power of Attorney" television show. She has been a commentator for Fox News and has appeared on Fox's legal program, "Dayside." In July 2003, she served as a Guest Host on CNN's Sunday Morning Legal Show, "Attorney-At-Law." She has also appeared on C-SPAN, Court TV, and numerous radio shows.

Ms. Keenan, is a native of Buffalo, New York. She is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and the University of Virginia School of Law, where she has served on the University of Virginia Law Alumni Council. After law school, she served as the law clerk to the Honorable John Garrett Penn in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She is currently a Senior Trial Attorney at the Law Firm of Jack H. Olender & Associates in Washington, D.C. where she has settled or tried cases in the seven figure range for almost fifteen years.