Annual Meeting

Restore college-funding eligibility for prisoners, ABA leaders urge Congress

The ABA’s House of Delegates easily passed a resolution Tuesday urging Congress to restore Federal Pell Grant eligibility for prisoners with qualifying needs. Resolution 108B, sponsored by the Criminal Justice Section, would expand on a current Department of Education pilot program unveiled last week. The Second Chance Pell Pilot is…

Aug 4, 2015 11:48 AM CDT

ABA must ‘change rapidly to be relevant,’ President-elect Linda Klein says

On Tuesday morning, the ABA House of Delegates elected Linda Klein of Atlanta as ABA president-elect for 2015-2016. In her brief speech, she called for ABA members to spread the word among lawyers about the many worthwhile things the ABA does. And, she said, the ABA must “change rapidly to…

Aug 4, 2015 11:27 AM CDT

‘What will be the tipping point?’ Legal Services Corp. chair asks in appeal to ABA for funding help

The ABA’s support has been indispensable over the years of the Legal Services Corporation’s existence, John G. Levi told the House of Delegates on Tuesday—but that support is still desperately needed. Levi, chair of LSC’s Board of Directors, spoke to the House of Delegates about the organization’s continuing funding challenges.…

Aug 4, 2015 11:10 AM CDT

Avvo founder tells lawyers to ‘get rid of UPL’ if they want innovation and access to justice

Corrected: At the close of the first day of the ABA’s House of Delegates meeting, the House’s Committee on Issues of Concern presented talks that were “intended to be provocative.” The talks, entitled “Issues of Concern to the Legal Profession” in the day’s program, grew out of the research of…

Aug 3, 2015 8:45 PM CDT

Paulette Brown announces ambitious plans as she assumes the ABA presidency

Introducing Paulette Brown, outgoing ABA president William Hubbard joked that Brown clearly has the strength and stamina to take up the presidency—because if you try to join her on her daily walks, “your ankles will burn like fire.” Brown, a partner at Locke Lord in Morristown, New Jersey, made good…

Aug 3, 2015 6:40 PM CDT

Bar licensing groups urged to tread carefully when asking about mental health

Over some opposition, the ABA’s House of Delegates passed a resolution Monday urging lawyer licensing entities to focus on behavior rather than diagnoses when asking about mental health. In the winter of 2014, the Louisiana Supreme Court and Vermont Human Rights Commission received Department of Justice letters advising them that…

Aug 3, 2015 1:46 PM CDT

‘Justice is our calling,’ outgoing ABA President Hubbard says, remembering Charleston

Outgoing ABA President William Hubbard opened his speech to the House of Delegates by contrasting the association’s Magna Carta festivities on June 15 with the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina days later, in which an avowed white supremacist killed nine people meeting for Bible study at an African-American church. Hubbard…

Aug 3, 2015 11:24 AM CDT

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel relates education, community policing to fighting crime

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was upbeat as he opened the House of Delegates session at the 2015 Annual Meeting. Emanuel related core civic issues—economic revitalization and education—to the future of criminal justice in his speech. “You want to pursue justice? You want to pursue liberty?” he asked rhetorically. Then, he…

Aug 3, 2015 10:11 AM CDT

Three candidates vie for 2017 ABA treasurer spot

Three candidates have emerged in what has become a contested race to serve a three-year term as ABA treasurer starting in 2017. The candidates made their first formal presentations to the Nominating Committee on Sunday during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. Michelle A. Behnke, Timothy W. Bouch and Kara…

Aug 2, 2015 7:45 PM CDT

5 women with extraordinary careers honored by Margaret Brent Awards

Corrected: Women who have brought change to the legal profession by cutting paths that might ease the journey for those following can plot and plan all they want, but sometimes their achievements result not only from hard work and smarts but also how they respond to challenge and adversity. That…

Aug 2, 2015 7:35 PM CDT

Top 10 ways to manage your finances and navigate student debt

Everybody from Moses to David Letterman has had a top 10 list. But Edward N. Tucker, a CPA and founding partner at the Baltimore accounting firm Ellin & Tucker who also serves as secretary of the governing council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar,…

Aug 2, 2015 4:22 PM CDT

Texas troupe puts lawyer ethics to words and music in ‘Scamalot’

CLE programs—especially when the topic is legal ethics—are not supposed to be this much fun. But the show that was put on Saturday by a group of musically talented lawyers from Texas (along with a few professional ringers) during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago was not a typical legal…

Aug 1, 2015 10:45 PM CDT

Legal ed council votes to keep ban on academic credit for paid externships

For the second time in little more than a year, the governing council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has rejected a proposal to lift the ban in the law school accreditation standards on students receiving academic credit for paid externships. But the council,…

Aug 1, 2015 10:28 PM CDT

Loretta Lynch touts sentencing-reform success; association’s first woman president accepts ABA Medal

The General Assembly of the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago on Saturday afternoon featured two women whose accomplishments have made significant history: Roberta Cooper Ramo, the first of now several women to become the association’s president, was presented its highest honor, the ABA Medal; and Loretta Lynch, who earlier this…

Aug 1, 2015 9:47 PM CDT

Community involvement is key in preventing the next Ferguson

There have been multiple reports of black Americans dying in police custody this summer, often in seemingly dubious circumstances. On Saturday an ABA panel focused on addressing the issue, with much of the discussion centering on community involvement in politics and on social media. “It starts with the policymakers we…

Aug 1, 2015 9:04 PM CDT