News & Events: Delaware Campus

Paulette Sullivan Moore Speaks to Black Law Student Association on the Delaware Campus

Web Editor - Published: February 2, 2011

“That’s what all of us have to do – have the courage of our convictions,” said Paulette Sullivan Moore as she spoke to students from the Black Law Students Association on the Delaware campus on February 1st.

Moore – the first African-American woman to pass the Delaware bar – helped kick off the Black Law Students Association’s celebration of Black History Month.

After asking the students a bit about their backgrounds, Moore talked about her own career, beginning with her work at Community Legal Aid. She also discussed her work as General Counsel for the New Castle City Council as well as her time with the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and her current work as the vice president of public policy for the National Network to End Domestic Violence in Washington, DC.

“Don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone,” she encouraged the students in attendance. She also urged them to find mentors and “create a pool of people who you can call when you’re thinking about making a move in your career.”

Following her remarks, she answered questions from the audience, including one on her thoughts about why it took so long for an African-American woman to pass Delaware’s bar exam. She cited the Delaware bar’s preceptor system – in which a young lawyer must find a sponsor who has been a member of the Delaware bar for at least ten years– as one potential obstacle, but said, “I think it was simply time,” of her own success.

A graduate of Wheaton College (MA), Moore earned her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law and passed the Delaware bar exam in 1977. She is a leading force on a number of local, regional and national policy initiatives. She has served on the coalition’s Women of Color Task Force, various Delaware State Bar Association committees, the ACLU of Delaware Board of Directors and the Delaware Girls Initiative’s Advisory Board.

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