New Commission Aims to Improve Access to Justice for Fast-Growing Hispanic Population

The ABA’s new Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities will look at how to improve access to the justice system for Hispanics but also at how to bring a deeper understanding of the culture of the rule of law to the nation’s biggest and fastest growing minority population, ABA…

Oct 14, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

US Lags Well Behind Other Wealthy Nations on Rule of Law, Report Says

A U.S. justice system already pummeled by blows from the Great Recession is getting more bad news this morning. A report released by the World Justice Project—a 3-year-old initiative sponsored by the ABA and a number of other organizations representing various disciplines—says the United States lags behind other leading developed…

Oct 14, 2010 1:00 PM CDT

‘Many Small Steps’ Lead to Happy 20th Birthday for ABA Rule of Law Initiative

Two decades ago, volunteer lawyers staffed an American Bar Association project to help rebuild legal institutions in central Europe, following the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Today, that project has morphed into the ABA Rule of Law Initiative, which administers programs in more than 40 countries throughout the globe with…

Oct 13, 2010 9:45 PM CDT

ABA: New Law Would Help Soldiers Focus on Missions Abroad Instead of Legal Problems at Home

For years, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act has helped protect those on active duty, allowing them to, among other things, terminate leases and capping the interest rate creditors can charge at 6 percent. But to invoke these protections military personnel may need a lawyer. Yet even with representation, some creditors…

Oct 8, 2010 5:35 PM CDT

Law Giving BP Cleanup Responsibility Created ‘Cognitive Dissonance,’ Admiral Says

The admiral in charge of overseeing the response to the BP oil spill says federal laws that put the company in charge of the cleanup created a perceived conflict between the company’s duties to the public and to its shareholders. Speaking in New Orleans last week at a meeting of…

Oct 5, 2010 4:35 PM CDT

Law Dean Points to Encouraging Labor Report, But Paralegal Deans Should Be Happier

The dean of a new law school slated to open in Nashville, Tenn., next year is optimistic about the legal job market, providing a stark contrast to the assessment by the chairman of an ABA committee studying the impact of the recession. Belmont University will open Nashville’s third law school,…

Oct 5, 2010 3:53 PM CDT

ABA President to Senate: Confirm 16 Judges Now

The U.S. Senate should immediately confirm 16 judicial nominees who have received no on-record opposition, ABA President Stephen N. Zack writes on The Hill’s Congress Blog. There are more than 100 vacant judgeships in the federal trial and appellate courts. “The nomination [process] is needlessly divisive, contributing to the critically…

Oct 5, 2010 2:14 PM CDT

Minority Report

Hispanics must be integrated into our profession, our law schools and our courts

Oct 1, 2010 9:00 AM CDT

The Ultimate Field Trip

Senior Lawyers Division helps make admission to the Supreme Court bar a special moment

Oct 1, 2010 6:30 AM CDT

Lingering Wounds

The ABA enlists in efforts to help homeless veterans deal with their burdens

Oct 1, 2010 6:10 AM CDT

ABA Announcements

Oct 1, 2010 6:00 AM CDT

Beware of Fact-Specific E-Mail Discussion, Says ABA Ethics Opinion re Law Firm Websites

Guidance for lawyers advertising on the Internet is offered by a new ethics opinion announced by the American Bar Association in a press release today. The ethics opinion (PDF), which was issued by the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, points to a number of potential website pitfalls.…

Sep 29, 2010 7:53 PM CDT

Battle of the Titans: Divorce Lawyer’s Fee Suit Backfires in Bar Prez Battle

A former president of the Virginia Bar Association came out the loser when he sued a former client for additional attorney fees and the client fought back, using expert testimony from another ex-bar president. The lawyer who sued, Glenn Lewis, “is an acknowledged titan of the D.C. area divorce bar,”…

Sep 27, 2010 2:13 PM CDT

50 Years Later, Harper Lee’s ‘Mockingbird’ Still a Cautionary Tale for Our Times, AG Holder Says

It’s been 50 years since Harper Lee published her now-famous book To Kill a Mockingbird. But her fictional tale of racial injustice, focused on a Southern lawyer’s efforts to defend an unpopular client at trial in a rape case, is still a cautionary story for our times, said U.S. Attorney…

Sep 21, 2010 11:44 PM CDT

ABA Group Backs Uniform Bar Exam

One country, one bar exam? That is far from the situation in the United States right now, and that is not likely to be the reality at any point in the foreseeable future. Yet while individual states regulate the activities of their own lawyers and administer their own bar exams,…

Sep 15, 2010 9:38 PM CDT