John Payton, the sixth President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), passed away on March 22, 2012, after a brief illness. He was 65. Well known for his tireless advocacy for civil rights, equality and justice, Payton spearheaded LDF’s involvement in landmark cases that addressed significant issues including diversity, discrimination and disenfranchisement.

Mr. Payton was selected by the National Law Journal as one of the last decade’s most infl uential lawyers in the area of civil rights. His exceptional law career was only heightened when he presented a strategic defense as the lead counsel for the University of Michigan. The University’s use of race-based admissions in its law and undergraduate schools were being challenged. Ultimately, he argued Gratz v. Bollinger in the Supreme Court. His strategy was to build a case that focused on the educational benefits of diversity spanned over six years in development. Despite the Supreme Court ruling against the University in Gratz, he was vindicated with the Supreme Court’s decision in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger – a case he did not argue before the high court, but many believe that he laid significant ground work that helped turn the tide.

When he took the helm of the country’s first and finest civil rights law firm in 2008, he led LDF involvement, as either lead counsel or co-counsel - in a number of cases before the Supreme Court that generated significant victories including voting rights in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder and employment discrimination in Lewis v. the City of Chicago.

Payton’s career track highlighted his expertise in civil rights cases and his abilities as a strong litigator. Prior to his position at LDF, he was a Partner at the Washington D.C. firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr. In addition to heading the firm’s Litigation Department, his practice ranged from complex commercial matters to the most challenging of civil rights matters. With this background, he was well prepared for the LDF and took on civil rights cases with significant societal implications. He was widely considered as one of the country’s most skilled members of the Supreme Court Bar and he brought a resurgence to the LDF that the organization had not experienced since its founding by the late Thurgood Marshall, who went on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.

Payton, who hailed from Los Angeles, California, graduated from Pomona College and Harvard Law School. He was active in civil rights issues beginning at Pomona as well as Harvard and that commitment to advocate for justice and equal rights never wavered. The Washington D.C. Bar Association awarded Payton the prestigious Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit for his staunch defense of equality and the belief that everyone was entitled to a true democracy.
Payton is survived by his wife, Gay McDougall; two sisters, Janette Oliver and Susan Grissom; and a brother, Glenn Spears. The legal profession has lost a true champion.