Dennis W.
Archer is Chairman and CEO of Dennis W. Archer PLLC and Chairman Emeritus of
Dickinson Wright PLLC. Mr. Archer served two four-year terms as mayor of
the city of Detroit (1994-2001) and earned national and international respect
for his success in changing Detroit's image and direction. In 2000, Mayor
Archer was named Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine and has also
been named one of the 25 Most Dynamic Mayors in America by Newsweek magazine.
Mr. Archer has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Powerful Attorneys in the
United States by the National Law Journal. In 1985, Governor James Blanchard
appointed Archer an Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and he was
elected to an eight-year term the following year. In his final year on the
bench in 1990, Mr. Archer was named the most respected judge in Michigan by
Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Mr. Archer has long been active in the organized bar.
He was the first person of color elected President of the American Bar
Association (2003-2004) as well as the State Bar of Michigan. He has also
served as President of the Wolverine Bar Association and the National Bar Association.
Archer is a Life Member of the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation and the
National Bar Association, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers,
a Fellow of the College of Law Office Management and Life Member of the Sixth
Circuit Judicial Conference. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in
Education from Western Michigan University and taught learning-disabled
students in the Detroit Public Schools. Mr. Archer earned his Juris Doctor from
Detroit College of Law in 1970. He began practicing law thereafter, working as
a trial lawyer and a partner in several Detroit firms, serving as associate
professor of the Detroit College of Law and adjunct professor at Wayne State
University Law School.