McLaughlin named to head Hale House By DWIGHT R. WORLEY THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: December 16, 2004) Randolph McLaughlin, a Pace University law professor and civil rights attorney who became famous for a successful lawsuit against the Tennessee Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s, is the new executive director of Hale House in Harlem. McLaughlin, who is leaving a law practice in the Bronx, served 3 1/2 years as Hale House's general counsel and interim director before taking the helm of the troubled charity, which provides shelter for drug-addicted and abandoned babies. He was appointed general counsel of the agency in 2001 to help fix problems caused by then-executive director Lorraine Hale, daughter of the agency's late founder, Clara Hale. Lorraine Hale and her husband pleaded guilty in 2002 to stealing $1 million from the agency. A new board of directors was appointed by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as part of a settlement with the charity. McLaughlin, 51, is also known locally for his work in a class-action voting rights case in New Rochelle in the early 1990s. The lawsuit led to the creation of a majority African-American City Council district in the city. He said yesterday that Hale House will continue its original mission, but will also begin operating a preschool education program and homeless shelters early next year.