3/21/02

The Executive Director of the State Bar of Michigan John T. Berry has been chosen by the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of State for a consulting mission to the west African nation of Nigeria. Together with Judge William Wagner of Gainesville, Florida, Berry will confer with top leaders of the African country on issues relating to lawyer and governmental ethics and how to deal with corruption.

The two-member team will fly to the Nigerian capitol, Abuja on March 31, 2002, to begin their two-week long mission for the U.S. Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. The trip is sponsored by the Justice Department's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training. Nigeria is a country of 125 million people and is led by President Olusegun OBasanjo who was elected in 1999.

The trip to Nigeria is a first for Berry, who was tapped by the U.S. government because of his work nationally in the area of governmental and legal ethics, as well as white collar and organized crime prosecution experience.

"I am very proud and excited to go. The opportunity to serve your government in a developing democracy and to be able to be of some service to them is very exciting to me and my family," Berry said.

Berry was appointed executive director of the State Bar of Michigan in November 2000. Previously, he served as director of the Center of Professionalism at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law. He has also held positions as assistant executive director of the State Bar of Arizona (1998-2000), and as staff counsel and Legal Division director of the Florida Bar (1983-1998). While at the Florida Bar, Berry supervised lawyer regulation, unauthorized practice of law, ethics, professionalism, and the advertising departments. He served for seven years as Florida assistant State attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Fraud Division, Orlando, handling white collar and organized crime cases. Berry is a frequent lecturer throughout the state and the nation on ethics and professionalism. He is a member of the American Bar Association Ethics 2000 Implementation Committee whose charge will be to help all states implement new ethics rules.

William Wagner currently serves as a magistrate for the United States Courts. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Wagner served as the chief American diplomat for the Department of Justice at the American Embassy in Liberia. There he led a diplomatic mission charged with strengthening democracy and the rule of law. During his career in public service, he has provided international assistance to the justice sector institutions of numerous countries on four continents. Prior to his diplomatic service, Wagner served as a senior United States prosecutor, overseeing all appellate litigation for the Office of the United States Attorney. He also successfully prosecuted hundreds of important cases involving some of America's most dangerous criminals. Wagner has also served as legal counsel in the U.S. Senate, and as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Michigan legislature.

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