Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., a Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and prominent legal theorist, will serve as keynote speaker at the Friday, September 22 luncheon of the State Bar of Michigan's 65th Annual Meeting.

Professor Ogletree's keynote address will focus on the topic of "Attorney Speech and First Amendment Rights." He will also serve as a moderator for a program on this topic following his luncheon address. Ogletree has made a reputation by taking a hard look at complex issues of law and by working to secure the rights of all citizens. He has not only examined these issues in the classroom and in the pages of prestigious law journals, but also in the everyday world of the public defender in the courtroom and in forums where these issues can be dramatically revealed.

Ogletree comes to the Annual Meeting armed with an arsenal of facts, ready to present and discuss the challenges that face our justice system and its attempt to deliver equal treatment to all citizens. He has served as the moderator of four of producer Fred Friendly's ten-part series, "Ethics in America" which aired on PBS in 1989 and also in the PBS production Hard Drugs, Hard Choices in 1990. Since 1990 he has moderated dozens of similar programs, including Liberty & Limits: Whose Law, Whose Order? which aired on PBS in April 1997 and Credibility in the News, which aired in April 1998.

Ogletree has also served as legal commentator for NBC on the O.J. Simpson case and as legal counsel to Professor Anita Hill during the Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas.

After earning a Masters and Bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University, he went on to be appointed the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and received Honorary Doctor of Laws from the New England School of Law in 1998 and North Carolina Central University in 1999.

The Bar's 65th Annual Meeting will be held Wednesday through Friday, September 20-22, at the Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center in downtown Detroit.

More information on the State Bar's 65th Annual Meeting will be mailed to State Bar members with the July issue of the Michigan Bar Journal. Also look for information coming soon to the State Bar's Web site, www.michbar.org.