Northbrook attorney Vanita Maria Banks was installed as the 65th president of the National Bar Association on Aug. 11 during its annual convention in Atlanta.

An attorney in the Allstate Insurance Co. Corporate Litigation Division, Banks is a 1980 graduate of the Valparaiso University School of Law who has a master's degree in taxation from the DePaul University College of Law.

A founding member of the Allstate Law and Regulation Department Diversity Committee, she developed a summer internship program for minority law students and a collaborative effort with law firms to promote legal career opportunities.

Banks has served several terms as chair of the National Bar's Corporate Law Section. She is a member of North Shore Labor Counsel.