TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama Law School held the 2004 Farrah Law Society Alumni Banquet at the Harbert Center in Birmingham this past Friday, Feb. 27.

The banquet featured Dennis W. Archer, president of the American Bar Association, as the keynote speaker for the event. Archer is the first African-American lawyer elected to the ABA’s highest office.

After working for several years as a trial lawyer and law professor in Detroit, Archer was appointed in 1985 as an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. In 1994, he was elected as mayor of Detroit and served two four-year terms.

In 2000, Archer was named Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine and was named one of the 25 most dynamic mayors in America by Newsweek magazine. After leaving the mayor’s office, Archer was elected chairman of Dickinson Wright PLLC, a 200-person, Detroit-based law firm with offices in Michigan and Washington, D.C. He sits on the corporate boards of Johnson Controls Inc., Compuware Corp. and Covisint, and North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Archer has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine; and one of the 100 Most Powerful Attorneys in the United States by the National Law Journal.

The banquet also featured the Sam W. Pipes Distinguished Alumnus Award that was presented to Fournier J. “Boots” Gale III, a 1969 UA Law School graduate. Gale and his firm, Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C., of which Gale is a founding shareholder, continue to take a leadership role in generously supporting the Law School through the Building Excellence Campaign, scholarships, and the Farrah Law Alumni Society. Alabama law graduates in the firm belong to Farrah, through Maynard, Cooper & Gale’s benevolence.

Gale has served the Law School in several capacities, including as treasurer of the Law School Foundation since 1996, as president in 1987-88, and as a member of the Building Excellence Committee.

Gale also serves the state, community and profession through a variety of organizations. He was special counsel to Gov. Don Siegelman (1999-2003) and is general counsel of the Business Council of Alabama. He is a member of the UA President’s Cabinet and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (chairman, 1998-2000). Gale served on the Jefferson County Judicial Nominating Commission from 1994-2000.

John McMahon Jr., a 1968 Law School graduate and president pro tempore of the UA Board of Trustees presented the award to Gale. The award is named for the late Samuel Wesley Pipes (’38) who was a partner in the Mobile law firm of Lyons, Pipes & Cook until his death in 1982.