Robert A. Marchman - Comments after receiving the National Bar Association's Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award 2019

Robert A. Marchman,

Senior Executive

Championing Customer Protection, Regulatory Compliance and Diversity & Inclusion at FINRA, NYSE & SEC

Comments after receiving the National Bar Association's Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award.  The National Bar Association is the oldest and largest national association of predominantly African American lawyers and judges.

Honored to be recognized by the Corporate Law Section of the National BarAssociation-an organization that since 1925 has fought for opportunities forattorneys of color in the legal profession and equal rights for persons in thecommunity of color. Special to be recognized by your peers who appreciate thechallenges required to excel in this profession and yet are often time over-looked by majority legal associations.

Want to thank my late parents who instilled in this boy from the projects ofBrooklyn that he could excel to any heights notwithstanding no one in ourfamily had ever attended college. ALSO, want to thank my wife and partner for37 years for making this all possible.

I have been guided throughout my career my the example and words of twogiants in the legal professions and former NBA members-Justice ThurgoodMarshall and Dean Charles Houston Hamilton. Justice Marshall oftenreminded us- particularly those high brow Negroes as he was want to say-that no one got to where you are solely by pulling oneself up by the bootstraps.We got here because someone bent down and helped us pull up the boot.Dean Charles Hamilton Houston, responsible the brilliant legal strategies thatlaid the groundwork for many legal victories securing our rights, noted that we,attorneys, can be either a social engineer-using our skills for solving problemsand helping the underprivileged and those in need or a selfish parasite onsociety. I chose the former and to always be reminded of how I got to where Iam.  There are many of you in the room today who by your actions andcommitment have chosen the same course despite the personal  andprofessional sacrifices required.Given the challenging and threatening times in which we live I wouldencourage us all to think about how we can further the mission of the NBAas well as protectors of the rights that so many fought and died for. The senseof urgency is real as I for one would not thought that in my lifetime I would seea display in public where white men AND white women acted as if they wereat a Ku Klax Klan rally and be hailed as patriots by the President of the UnitedStates.

Those fearful of the “other” and losing their privileged status will go toany lengths to maintain the status quo.

Again I am honored by this special award and look forward to our workingtogether to ensure progress and not dread. Thank you.

Robert A. Marchman,Senior ExecutiveChampioning Customer Protection, Regulatory Compliance and Diversity & Inclusion at FINRA, NYSE & SEC