Annual Meeting

Retired general wins ABA medal; DHS secretary calls immigration system ‘broken’ in keynote

The ABA General Assembly on Saturday in the capacious Veterans Memorial Auditorium at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center was a patriotic affair, with a fife and drum rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner”; the emotional and passionate speech of a 95-year-old retired Marine general who fought in three wars and was later…

Aug 10, 2014 12:11 AM CDT

You don’t need perfect tech knowhow for ethics’ sake—but a reasonable grasp is essential

So-called low-tech lawyers who pine for the bygone days before the Internet, the cloud and social media will have to get used to the fact that there is no turning back from technology. But the future may not be as intimidating as it might seem. That was the broad message…

Aug 9, 2014 11:00 PM CDT

Ensuring immigrant detainees have lawyers also benefits court system, DOJ official says

Immigration detainees face an uphill battle to avoid deportation, and oftentimes they have to face government lawyers without representation of their own. A Saturday panel that took place during the ABA Annual Meeting explored some of the reasons why so many immigrants are forced to go pro se, and spoke…

Aug 9, 2014 10:37 PM CDT

‘We shouldn’t treat shootings like ... natural disasters,’ ABA President Silkenat says

Two days before his term as ABA president comes to an end, James R. Silkenat made one more impassioned plea for action by the legal profession and other groups to address the continuing epidemic of gun violence in the United States. “Gun violence is a difficult and emotionally charged topic,”…

Aug 9, 2014 7:10 PM CDT

Legal hackers use coding to help users navigate law’s intricacies and find solutions

It’s easy to become so overwhelmed by the deluge of available data that information impedes rather than enhances legal representation. That doesn’t have to be the case. According to a panel of lawyers and legal hackers during a Saturday session at the ABA Annual Meeting entitled “Cracking the Code: Everything…

Aug 9, 2014 4:06 PM CDT

Winning apps in ‘Hackcess to Justice’ help write wills, navigate disasters and calculate jail time

A disaster-relief mobile app that provides individuals with legal information, resources, and forms for assistance. An interactive tool that calculates whether a user is eligible for indigent legal services, as well as how much prison time criminal defendants face. A game that determines whether a user is in need of…

Aug 9, 2014 2:16 AM CDT

Are old ethics rules stifling innovations in legal services delivery and marketing?

The legal services delivery environment is changing with supersonic speed as technology brings new innovations. But these new methods of delivering and marketing legal services still must pass muster under ethics rules that have been in effect for years if not longer. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but…

Aug 8, 2014 10:45 PM CDT

States with stand-your-ground laws have seen an increase in homicides, reports task force

“Stand your ground” laws hinder law enforcement, are applied inconsistently and disproportionately affect minorities. Those were the main findings from the ABA National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws. In a preliminary report (PDF) that was officially unveiled during a Friday session at the ABA Annual Meeting, the task…

Aug 8, 2014 9:40 PM CDT

Part of access to justice gap is that Americans don’t know when to seek legal help, says study

Corrected: The findings of a study released Friday by the American Bar Foundation provide additional evidence of a serious gap in access to legal services for many Americans. But those findings also suggest that the reasons for the gap can’t be blamed entirely on the usual suspects. Using a list…

Aug 8, 2014 6:28 PM CDT

Lawyers offer tips on how to adapt to the ongoing disruption in the legal market

It’s no secret that the legal industry has undergone a radical shift over the last few years as clients are demanding better, faster and cheaper legal service. It’s a shift that continues to develop and could yet take some unexpected twists and turns. While that can be scary for many…

Aug 7, 2014 11:54 PM CDT

Illegal trafficking of animals is becoming a growing issue in global trade

Efforts by the Obama administration in recent months to focus on illegal trafficking of wildlife and related activities undermining wildlife conservation have not received widespread attention. But that could change in the near future. The under-the-radar nature of the issue may help explain why only a dozen people attended a…

Aug 7, 2014 11:16 PM CDT

ABA Annual Meeting to feature Chief Justice Roberts, Magna Carta exhibit and new scheduling format

As the ABA gathers this week for the Annual Meeting in Boston, one event and one idea likely will get the most buzz: Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.’s speech launching the association’s yearlong, 800th-anniversary commemoration of Magna Carta; and a sweeping new scheduling format with flexible fees for events…

Aug 6, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

‘Hackcess to Justice’ teams will devise new tech to improve access to justice

As the ABA Annual Meeting gets underway in Boston, teams of law students, lawyers, and computer programmers will be gathering at nearby Suffolk University Law School to help solve a problem that continues to vex many in the legal community: While advances in technology have helped increase the availability of…

Aug 5, 2014 8:00 PM CDT

Traveling Magna Carta exhibit debuts at ABA Annual Meeting

Lawyers visiting the ABA Expo during the ABA Annual Meeting in Boston will get the first look at a traveling Magna Carta exhibit commemorating the 800th anniversary of the signing of the document that helped establish the rule of law. The ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress…

Aug 4, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Center studying law and culture moves to NYU

The Forum on Law, Culture and Society has a new home. This summer the forum—along with its director, Thane Rosenbaum—moved to the New York University School of Law, where it will carry on its tradition of telling the story of the law through movies, novels and other cultural works. “I…

Aug 1, 2014 9:40 AM CDT