ABA

Congress moves to reauthorize laws targeting domestic violence, human trafficking

Even as it was still settling in, the 113th Congress moved quickly to break a logjam that had delayed reauthorization of two laws that have had strong backing from the ABA and an array of human rights organizations. On March 7, President Barack Obama signed a bill that reauthorized the…

May 1, 2013 6:30 AM CDT

ABA announces nominations for president, secretary, treasurer and the Board of Governors

A political reporter who revels in the rowdiness of political campaigns in the public arena would be greatly disappointed in the ABA’s process of electing its leaders. ABA elections are sedate, civil and generally lacking in suspense, especially since any contentiousness that might occur—and it rarely does—is dealt with behind…

May 1, 2013 6:20 AM CDT

Lawyers giving back

Know someone in the legal field who gets a charge out of helping others? Snap a photo at their next event and please submit them to Julie Brown c/o Lawyers Giving Back. We welcome your “action” photographs of lawyers—whether ABA members or not—giving back to their communities. Send jpeg files…

May 1, 2013 6:10 AM CDT

ABA Announcements

NOTICE BY THE SECRETARY OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION REGARDING ELECTION OF DELEGATES-AT-LARGE Pursuant to § 6.5 of the ABA Constitution, six Delegates-at-Large to the House of Delegates will be elected at the 2013 Annual Meeting for three-year terms beginning with the adjournment of that meeting and ending with the…

May 1, 2013 6:00 AM CDT

Simpler, tougher bar passage accreditation standard to be considered by ABA committee

An ABA committee has agreed in principle to a proposed new law school accreditation standard that would raise and simplify the current bar passage requirement. Under the proposed new standard, a law school would be required to show that 80 percent of its graduates who sat for the bar exam…

Apr 29, 2013 9:57 PM CDT

More websites lawyers love

We previously shared with you a few of our favorite sites from the always crowd-pleasing session “60 Sites in 60 Minutes” at ABA Techshow. Below we’ve got a few more from the session’s speakers Britt Lorish, Eric Mazzone, Lincoln Mead and Mark Rosch. Let us know in the comments favorite…

Apr 29, 2013 4:38 PM CDT

How to force change at law schools? Little agreement emerges at ABA conference

Should the ABA tighten law-school accreditation standards to force change? Or loosen them to allow for more experimentation? No consensus emerged on that question and several others debated on Wednesday during a conference sponsored by the ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education. The National Law Journal covered…

Apr 25, 2013 12:30 PM CDT

Quicker route to JD, uniform bar exam on ABA task force agenda; session will be live-streamed

Should law school be shortened with lower credit or time requirements for a JD? Should bar admissions officials offer the bar exam before law school graduation? Or create a unified national licensing system to reduce entry costs for new lawyers? Or create a category of limited-license legal professionals? Those are…

Apr 23, 2013 6:23 PM CDT

John Sutton, lawyer who drafted ABA’s Model Code, has died

John F. Sutton, a one-time dean at the University of Texas Austin School of Law, FBI special agent and drafter of the ABA’s Model Code of Professional Conduct, has died at age 95. Sutton died Friday of complications due to old age, his family told the Austin American-Statesman. Born in…

Apr 22, 2013 1:25 PM CDT

Law bloggers round up ABA Techshow’s highs and lows

ABA Techshow 2013 wrapped up this past Saturday, and law bloggers were out in force. For a comprehensive list of news stories and blog posts that previewed and covered Techshow, you can check out this list of links (that may still be being updated) at Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites. For more…

Apr 8, 2013 6:35 PM CDT

Select tweets from ABA Techshow

Even those who didn’t get a chance to go to this year’s ABA Techshow had plenty of opportunity to follow along. The ABA Journal covered the event, from LexThink.1 to the close of sessions on Saturday. And bloggers rounded up sessions, offering critiques and impressions of all four days of…

Apr 8, 2013 5:37 PM CDT

Connecting the digital dots to catch the ‘Craigslist Killer’

When police responded to the April 14, 2009 murder of a young woman in an upscale Boston hotel, they had little to go on. Besides the victim, who was found face down in the doorway of her room, her hands bound with plastic ties, with three 9-mm bullet wounds to…

Apr 8, 2013 1:40 PM CDT

Websites lawyers love (and you will too)

The always crowd-pleasing session “60 Sites in 60 Minutes” closed the ABA Techshow Saturday as speakers Britt Lorish, Eric Mazzone, Lincoln Mead and Mark Rosch shared their top websites for lawyers. A few of our favorite sites include: • Viivo and Sookasa: If you share and store documents in the…

Apr 8, 2013 1:38 PM CDT

Which law schools fared best and worst in the latest ABA data?

The University of Chicago Law School tops a list of accredited schools with the highest percentage of 2012 grads in full-time, long term jobs that require bar passage. The National Law Journal created the list and several others in an analysis of ABA data for the class of 2012 that…

Apr 8, 2013 12:32 PM CDT

‘Talking about work-life balance is fraud’ says ABA President Laurel Bellows

Work-life balance? Fuhgeddaboudit. For ABA President Laurel Bellows, a visit to a restaurant or a vacation with family always includes a work component. Bellows tells the Chicago Grid that she is “wired wherever I go,” including vacations. Even a meal at a restaurant can be a business development tool. “There…

Apr 8, 2013 11:00 AM CDT