A special two-day symposium on "The Black Lawyer in America Today" will begin Friday at the Law School, Walter J. Leonard, assistant dean of the Law School, announced yesterday.

More than 20 influential black judges, professors and lawyers will participate in the seven panel discussions scheduled for the symposium, which, Leonard said, is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

The conference is designed to answer questions asked by the first sizeable groups of black law school graduates who are entering the job market, Leonard explained in an interview yesterday.

"The question isn't as strong now whether he [the black student] can get into law school," he said. "The question is whether he should go into the law."

Leonard, who came to Harvard from Howard University last year and is one of two black members of the 67-man Law School faculty, single-handedly organized the symposium over the summer and only recently secured funds from foundations for the conference.

The panelists, all of whom are black, will take part in discussions covering the role of the black lawyer in private practice, government, business and industry, judiciary, legal education, and the human and civil rights movement.

The Harvard Law School Bulletin will publish the papers delivered by participants on the seven major topics.

Among the panelists are Assembly-woman Yvonne W. Brathwaite from the 63rd district of the California State Legislature; Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Otis M. Smith, a member of the Office of General Counsel for General Motors Corp.; Judge Edward F. Bell of the Wayne County Circuit Court, Detroit, Mich., president of the National Bar Association; and Donald L. Hollowell, regional director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and former private attorney to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Visiting lawyers, professors, and judges, and Law School professors will also take part in the activities.

Leonard said in a prepared statement released last night that some have suggested that the symposium is planned as a "black only" affair.

"This is an erroneous assumption," he said. "While it is a fact that most of the participants will be black, it is also a fact that the subject matter of the symposium- which concerns everyone in the legal profession- deals with problems peculiarly requiring those with particular knowledge to deal with them."

He said yesterday that he had worked on a conference at Howard University in 1966 which had focused on the black lawyer but that symposium, he said, had discussed the shortage of black lawyers and the need to increase their numbers.

In explaining the background behind the Law School's symposium, Leonard sketched the brief history of black students at predominantly white law schools.

"Beginning in '65, '66, and '67, particularly in '66-67," Leonard said. "there was an affirmative and concentrated effort on the part of a great many law schools- many of which had been completely closed and a few of which had been tokenly open to black students- to acively recruit and enroll minority group students."

"These students recruited in '66 and '67 are now finding their way into the job market and into the legal profession," he continued, "and they are asking such questions as 'Can I make a living in the law?' 'Is law socially relevant, particularly to the problems faced by minority groups?' 'What opportunities will I have in the law?'"

No Role Models

"There have been so few black lawyers in these years that black students at the Harvard Law School have not had role models ... or an opportunity to meet people in the law with whom they could identify," he added.

"This (symposium) would give black and white students alike the opportunity to meet, hear, and talk with black lawyers from across the country."

Derek C. Bok, dean of the Law School, echoed Leonard's comments concerning the doubts which many black law students feel about their legal education.

"There was last year, and has always been, a particular amount of questioning among black law students asking 'What am I in law school for,' 'What do I use my law degree for?'" he said.

"The alternatives are posed in a very sharp way for black students, given the kind questions they have about their role in society," he said.

Invitations

Leonard said yesterday that he had sent some 300 invitations to lawyers across the country, about half of whom he said he was sure would attend the symposium.

The panel discussions will be open and free, although visitors will have to pay for tickets to attend the scheduled luncheons, dinner and reception.

The conference, which will begin at 9 a.m. Friday and run through Saturday afternoon, is being sponsored by several foundations, including the Philadelphia Bar Foundation and the Fuchsberg Family Foundation.