GC Profile: Kim M. Keenan of the NAACP 

Posted: 8:46 am Thu, March 31, 2011
By Wayne Countryman
Daily Record Assistant Editor

Kim M. Keenan was appointed general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in February. She is the youngest attorney and second woman to hold this position in NAACP history.

Keenan has served as president of the National Bar Association, the oldest and largest bar association of lawyers of color in the world; she was the first woman from the District of Columbia to be elected to this position. During her presidency, the NBA deployed thousands of lawyers throughout the nation to educate voters regarding new voting laws.

Voter education is a core activity of the NAACP, Keenan said, and she looks forward to working on its issues, specifically working with voters regarding redistricting around the nation.

In addition, Keenan said, the NAACP legal department will focus on predatory lending, unlawful discriminatory employment practices, and criminal justice issues including disenfranchisement of ex-offenders, among other issues.

Before accepting the position with the NAACP, Keenan was the principal of the Keenan Firm, in Washington, which focused on complex medical malpractice litigation, mediation and arbitration, litigation consulting, and public speaking. She has closed the firm because being “NAACP General Counsel is more than enough work for two people!” The position is her first as a general counsel.

Keenan is the immediate past president of the District of Columbia Bar. In 2007 the Women’s Bar Association named her “Woman Lawyer of the Year” for her contributions to the profession. In June, she will receive the Wiley A. Branton Award for Civil Rights Under Law from the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Keenan serves on the senior adjunct faculty of George Washington University Law Center, where she co-teaches pretrial advocacy and trial advocacy. She was featured regularly on the first season of Fox’s “Power of Attorney” television show, has been a commentator for Fox News, and appeared on Fox’s legal program “Dayside.” Keenan has also appeared on C-SPAN, Court TV, and many radio programs.

“Service in your community is a great way to enhance your professional skills,” she said. “Lawyers can truly make a difference in our society — the goal is to make that difference positive.”

Kim M. Keenan

Education: Bachelor of science degree in foreign service from Georgetown University; a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Resides in: Washington, D.C.
Daily commute: 50 miles against traffic to Baltimore.
Most recent vacation: Amelia Island, Fla.
Favorite books: “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, and “Souls of Black Folks” by W.E.B. Dubois.
Most recently read: “Disintegration” by Eugene Robinson.
Favorite columnist: Michael Wilbon
Favorite food: chocolate cake
Hobbies: travel
Most memorable professional experience: Creating a newspaper to educate the public regarding their legal rights and months later having my cab driver pull the paper out to tell me how much he learned.
Favorite quotation: “Conscience asks, ‘Is it right?’” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
What I like best about my current position: Every day is different.
Most rewarding extracurricular activity: Chairing the committee that created the Landlord Tenant Self-Help Center at the Superior Court.
Local heroes: My parents.