Thomas Harvey, executive director and co-founder of ArchCity Defenders, told The St. Louis American that he will leave the St. Louis-based civil rights law firm at the end of the year, with Blake Strode to succeed him in leadership.
Thomas Harvey, executive director and co-founder of ArchCity Defenders, will leave the St. Louis-based civil rights law firm at the end of the year, with Blake Strode to succeed him in leadership.
Harvey, 45, and Strode, 30, made the announcement to The St. Louis American on November 2. Harvey credited the paper’s previous coverage of the firm’s fundraising efforts to attract and retain black attorneys for its ability to retain Strode after his Skadden Fellowship from Harvard University, which brought the Pattonville High School graduate home to St. Louis, expired….
ArchCity was Strode’s first job coming out of law school, and he said the firm’s “multi-faceted advocacy” practice is truly unique. Unlike many civil rights firms that find a policy they want to change and then search for the right clients to front their suit, ArchCity does direct legal service to poor clients and moves from solving their individual problems to finding opportunities to strike for systemic reforms.
Filed in: Alumni Profiles
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