Conrad K. Harper (born December 2, 1940) is an American lawyer. He is a retired partner at

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions and private equity, with approximately 1,500 attorneys in 1 ...

LLP, a former president of the

New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...

, and an emeritus member of the Council of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...

Early life and education

Harper was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, on December 2, 1940. His father was an attorney and his mother was an

English teacher English Teacher are a British music group from Leeds and Lancashire, who formed in 2020. They consist of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden. In September 2024, the group were announ ...

. Harper received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, where he was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. He received his law degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Harvard University in 2007.

Career

Harper began his career in 1965 as an attorney with the

NAACP Legal Defense Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Although LDF ca ...

. There he worked on a number of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

cases, including ''Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver'', the first case in which the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

ruled on '' de facto'' school segregation that had not been ordered by law. In 1971, he joined the firm

. When he became a partner in 1974, he was one of only two

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

partners at a major law firm in New York City. At Simpson Thacher, Harper concentrated on

product liability Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Although the word "product" has ...

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

, and civil rights.

Other public service

Harper was also active in a number of

bar associations Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar *Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of ...

. Sponsored for membership in the

by Francis E. Rivers, the Association's first African-American member, Harper served on a number of the organization's committees, including those on Federal Legislation, Civil Rights, Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, and the Executive Committee. He also served as chairman of the board of the Association's ''

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

'' initiative, Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS). He served as the City Bar's first African-American president from 1990 to 1992, where he worked to increase ethnic and gender diversity within the Association's committees and governance. Harper was a member of a number of other bar associations, including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association,

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, and the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

. From 2000 to 2005, Harper served as the first African-American member of the

Harvard Corporation The President and Fellows of Harvard College, also called the Harvard Corporation or just the Corporation, is the smaller and more powerful of Harvard University's two governing boards. It refers to itself as the oldest corporation in the Western ...

, the highest governing body of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2005, he controversially resigned from the board in protest over the leadership and high salary of Harvard President

Lawrence Summers Lawrence Henry Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as the director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010. He also served as presiden ...

, releasing a statement saying “I have reached the judgment that I can no longer support the president, and therefore I have resigned from the Corporation.” Harper has served on the board of trustees of a number of prominent cultural and political organizations, including the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

, and the New York

Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

. He has also served as Chancellor of the

Episcopal Diocese of New York The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.

and as

Legal Adviser of the Department of State The Legal Adviser of the Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State. The legal adviser provides legal advice on all issues (domestic and international) arising in the course of the department's activities. ...

. Harper was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1992 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2002.

Law reform work

Harper is a longtime member of the

and was elected to the ALI Council in 1985. He served as the Institute's First Vice President from 2000 to 2004, and as Second Vice President from 1998 to 2000. He has served as an Adviser on several ALI law reform projects, including Recognition & Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, and Transnational Rules of Civil Procedure. He currently serves as a Counselor on the Restatement Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States.Restatement Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the U.S. - Project participants

References

Sources

The Committee to Celebrate Black History Month. “Conrad K. Harper.” ''Pioneering African-Americans in the Courts and Legal Community Past and Present'' New York, NY: Privately Published, February 1992. P. 8
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/education/29harvard.html?pagewanted=print “A Harvard Governor, Dissatisfied, Resigns.” ‘’The New York Times''. July 29, 2005.* Morris, Jeffrey B. ''“Making Sure We are True to Our Founders”: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 1980-1995''. New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Conrad K. 1940 births Living people Howard University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Detroit Members of the American Philosophical Society New York (state) lawyers People associated with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Presidents of the New York City Bar Association Simpson Thacher & Bartlett partners United States Department of State officials