ABA Announces Nominations for Two Highest Offices and 12 Board of Governors Seats
Photo of James R. Silkenat and other nominees by © Kathy Anderson 2012.
The Nominating Committee of the ABA House of Delegates announced in February its candidates to hold the association’s top two leadership posts.
The Nominating Committee also announced its choices for 12 seats on the Board of Governors, which oversees the ABA’s administrative operations and addresses certain policy matters between meetings of the policymaking House of Delegates.
The House will vote on the nominees in August when it convenes at the 2012 annual meeting in Chicago. The Nominating Committee’s selections are virtually assured of being elected by the House.
Under the ABA Constitution, the association’s presidents are not actually elected to that office. Rather, the House elects a candidate—invariably, the choice of the Nominating Committee—to the office of president-elect. After a year, the president-elect automatically becomes ABA president.
Accordingly, James R. Silkenat will serve as president-elect after he is formally elected by the House in August. He will then serve a one-year term as president starting in August 2013 at the close of that year’s annual meeting in San Francisco. Silkenat will be the 21st ABA president from New York—the most from any state—and, like all his predecessors, he is from New York City.
Robert M. Carlson of Butte, Mont., on the other hand, will be the first lawyer from his state to chair the House (although William J. Jameson of Billings served as ABA president in 1953-54). Carlson will begin serving a two-year term starting at the close of this year’s annual meeting.
The nominees to the 38-member Board of Governors will serve three-year terms starting in August. Seven of the nominees will represent regional districts. Two nominees will represent sections. One of the nominees will serve as a judicial member-at-large, one will serve as a minority member-at-large, one will serve as a young lawyer member-at-large.
JAMES R. SILKENAT
PRESIDENT-ELECT
WHO HE IS: Partner at Sullivan & Worcester in New York City. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1990 (currently represents New York State Bar Association). Member of House Select Committee. Served on Board of Governors in 1994-97. Member of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession and Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fundraising Committee. Secretary of Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. Past chair of Section of International Law (1989-90) and Section Officers Conference (1990-92). Past member of Commission on Women in the Profession (2008-11). Past chair of Latin America and Caribbean Law Initiative Council. Chaired board of directors of the World Justice Project in 2008-09, and currently serves on board. Received JD in 1972 from University of Chicago Law School and LLM in 1978 from New York University School of Law.
ROBERT M. CARLSON
CHAIR, HOUSE OF DELEGATES
WHO HE IS: Member of Corette Pohlman & Kebe in Butte, Mont. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1990 and serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Montana. Chairs the House’s Drafting Policies and Procedures Committee. Served on Board of Governors in 2001-04. Member of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. President of State Bar of Montana in 1993-94. Received JD in 1979 from University of Montana School of Law in Missoula.
THOMAS R. CURTIN
DISTRICT 3
WHO HE IS: A founding shareholder of Graham Curtin in Morristown, N.J. Member of ABA House of Delegates in 1998-2011 and served on Nominating Committee as New Jersey state delegate in 2001-11. President of New Jersey State Bar Association in 1993-94. Received JD in 1968 from University of Notre Dame Law School. (District 3 encompasses New Jersey and Pennsylvania.)
WILLIAM T. COPLIN JR.
DISTRICT 5
WHO HE IS: Sole practitioner in Demopolis, Ala. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1997 (currently represents Alabama State Bar). Received JD in 1977 from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. (District 5 encompasses Alabama, Kentucky and North Carolina.)
JOHN S. SKILTON
DISTRICT 9
WHO HE IS: Managing partner of the Madison, Wis., office of Perkins Coie. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2011 and serves on Nominating Committee as state delegate from Wisconsin. Member of House Select Committee. Chaired Consortium on Legal Services and the Public in 2000-02 and Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services in 1997-2000. President of State Bar of Wisconsin in 1995-96. Received JD in 1969 from University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison. (District 9 encompasses Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.)
LAURA V. FARBER
DISTRICT 14
WHO SHE IS: Hiring partner at Hahn & Hahn in Pasadena, Calif. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2002 (currently represents Los Angeles County Bar Association). Chairs Credentials and Admissions Committee of the House. Member of Nominating Committee in 2004-07. Immediate-past chair of Commission on Youth at Risk. Member of ABA Journal Board of Editors. Chairs General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division. Chaired the Young Lawyers Division in 2001-02 and held several posts in Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. Member of Governance Commission in 2003-05. Received Spirit of Excellence Award in 2003 from Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. Received JD in 1990 from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. (District 14 encompasses California.)
KENNETH G. STANDARD
DISTRICT 15
WHO HE IS: Member of Epstein Becker & Green in New York City. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2003. Elected to Board of Governors in 2010 to fill out the term of the late Steven C. Krane. Member of Board’s Program, Evaluation and Planning Committee. Board liaison to Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Center for Professional Responsibility and Commission on Ethics 20/20. Member of Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession in 2009-11. Received Alexander Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 from Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline. President of New York State Bar Association in 2004-05. Received LLB in 1962 from Harvard Law School and LLM in 1971 from New York University School of Law. (District 15 encompasses New York.)
TIMOTHY W. BOUCH
DISTRICT 16
WHO HE IS: Managing partner at Leath, Bouch & Seekings in Charleston, S.C. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2001 (currently represents Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section) and serves on Delegate Involvement Committee. Member and immediate-past chair of Standing Committee on Specialization. Past member of Standing Committee on Professional Discipline (2000-02). Chaired Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section in 2008-09. Chaired editorial board for ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct in 1994-95. Past chair of Commission on the Rules of Professional Conduct for the South Carolina Supreme Court (2002-05). Adjunct professor at Charleston School of Law. Received JD in 1979 from University of South Carolina School of Law in Columbia. (District 16 encompasses Delaware, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia.)
PAUL T. MOXLEY
DISTRICT 17
WHO HE IS: Member of Parsons Kinghorn Harris in Salt Lake City. Member of ABA House of Delegates in 1995-2009, including term on Nominating Committee. Member of Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Member of Governance Commission in 2003-05. President of Conference of Bar Presidents in 2003-04. Past president of Utah State Bar (1994-95). Received JD in 1973 from University of Kansas School of Law in Lawrence. (District 17 encompasses Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.)
TIMOTHY B. WALKER
SECTION OF FAMILY LAW
WHO HE IS: Firm leader at Walker & Associates in Centennial, Colo. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 1999, representing Section of Family Law. Member of Select Committee of the House. Chairs Standing Committee on Specialization. Member of coordinating council for the Center for Professional Responsibility. Chaired Family Law Section in 1995-96. Served as editor-in-chief of section’s Family Law Quarterly in 1983-92. Member of editorial board for Family Advocate since 1983. Professor emeritus at University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. Received JD in 1967 from University of Denver.
KENNETH W. GIDEON
SECTION OF TAXATION
WHO HE IS: Partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C. Chaired ABA Section of Taxation in 2004-05. Served as chief counsel for the Internal Revenue Service in 1981-83 and as assistant secretary of the treasury for tax policy in 1989-92. Received JD in 1971 from Yale Law School in New Haven, Conn.
JODI B. LEVINE
JUDICIAL MEMBER-AT-LARGE
WHO SHE IS: Administrative law judge in Social Security Office of Disability Adjudication and Review in Oklahoma City. Past chair of ABA Judicial Division (2005-06) and the division’s National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary (2001-02). Council member for Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. Co-chairs the section’s Benefits Committee. Council member for Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. Vice-chair of the section’s First Amendment Rights Committee, and member of section’s AIDS Coordinating Committee. Member of Com mission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Recipient of ABA’s Grassroots Advocacy Award in 2010. Received JD in 1982 from University of Texas School of Law in Austin.
Photo courtesy of KBK Enterprises.
MICHAEL E. FLOWERS
MINORITY MEMBER-AT-LARGE
WHO HE IS: Vice president and chief legal counsel at KBK Enterprises in Columbus, Ohio, which provides real estate development services in urban markets. Incoming member of ABA House of Delegates. Past chair and member of House Committee on Scope and Correlation of Work (2000-05). Member of Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity. Served on ABA Journal Board of Editors in 2005-11. Chaired Section of Business Law in 1999-2000. Represents American Law Institute on board of directors for ALI-ABA Continuing Professional Education. Received JD in 1979 from the Michael E. Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University in Columbus.
WILLIAM FERREIRA
YOUNG LAWYER MEMBER-AT-LARGE
WHO HE IS: Founding partner of Ferreira & Herbert Law Group in Englewood, N.J. Member of ABA House of Delegates since 2009, representing the Bergen County Bar Association. Member of Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Service. Vice-chair of Diversity Committee in Law Practice Management Section. Liaison to ABA Board of Governors for Young Lawyers Division. Received JD in 2007 from Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, N.J.
