Atlanta, Ga. – Carlton Fields’ Atlanta attorney M. Derek Harris was appointed co-chair of the new Diversity Initiatives Subcommittee of the American Bar Association (ABA) Litigation Section’s Commercial & Business Litigation Committee. Harris will serve a one-year term.

The primary goal of the Diversity Initiative Subcommittee is to develop strategies for increasing minority representation and participation within the committee and the Litigation Section.

In addition to Harris’ new role with the ABA, he is a Fellow with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, is a Board of Director for The Law Pipeline Program, Inc., a member of the State Bar of Georgia, Children & the Courts Committee, and an advocate and mentor with the Truancy Intervention Project—a program that works in conjunction with the Fulton County Juvenile Court, Atlanta City and Fulton County Public School Systems to resolve truancy issues and aids children to get back on track to achieve academic and personal success. Harris has represented more than a dozen students between the ages of six and 16 years old since 2004.

In his practice, Harris represents clients in multiple businesses and industries, including finance and banking, real estate development, residential management, technology, telecommunications, and title insurance. He has particular experience with real estate litigation handling creditors’ rights claims, construction cases, and zoning disputes.